Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage County Board Member Kari Galassi is calling for DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to step down and has endorsed Republican Patricia Kladis-Schiappa in the 2026 clerk’s race, following a legal victory for the County Board that requires Kaczmarek to comply with its accounting procedures.

The ruling comes as Kaczmarek is also facing a separate criminal investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office over alleged misconduct related to election contracts and budget management.

With legal and political pressure mounting, Galassi says it’s time for new leadership.

DuPage County Board Member Kari Galassi | Facebook / Kari Galassi for DuPage County Board District 3

“What's the best for the taxpayers and the people of DuPage right now would be that Jean should step down, but I don't see that happening,” Galassi told the DuPage Policy Journal. 

Judge Bryan Chapman’s recent summary judgment confirmed that while Kaczmarek has authority over how her office spends its budget, she must follow county procedures when submitting bills for payment. 

Galassi said the judge’s ruling was long overdue and that Kaczmarek has wasted taxpayer dollars fighting a “ridiculous” case.

“It’s been a ridiculous situation that this should have gone to court, and the fact that we’ve been paying legal fees to fight a ridiculous case like this is unfortunate,” Galassi said. “Because it is taxpayer dollars that we’re [using] to fight a case that should not have even gotten to this point. So, we’re very pleased that the judge finally ruled in our favor and very thankful and hoping that it gets the clerk to do her job that she was elected to do.”

However, Galassi noted that little has changed in the clerk’s conduct since the ruling.

“Unfortunately, we are not seeing that yet, because she did not prepare a budget and did not show up to the meeting that she went to present her budget at, which was yesterday,” she said. 

Galassi said Kaczmarek’s absence was nothing new. 

“I've never seen her,” she said. “She's not attended a board meeting since I've been on the board, which has been since November of '22.” 

Kaczmarek has already vowed to appeal the decision, something Galassi says will only cost taxpayers more money.

“She's just going to cost taxpayers more dollars, so it's ridiculous that she's going to appeal because it seems pretty cut and dry,” Galassi said. 

The legal battle began in 2023, when the DuPage State’s Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit against Kaczmarek for refusing to provide budget line items when funds were insufficient to pay bills. 

Galassi confirmed the county has already spent $112,000 in external legal fees alone to resolve the issue—a figure she says doesn’t account for internal staff costs.

“That number is only the external legal fees that we've had to pay,” Galassi said. “It does not include the state's attorney's staff time, the finance department staff time, or the auditor's time. There are a lot of internal expenses that are somewhat hard to quantify because it's someone's salary that they are using for this case. But it's still costing the taxpayers money because it's the staff that has to spend their time on all this.”

Galassi warned that failing to use competitive bidding may also raise serious ethical red flags.

Beyond the financial misconduct, Kaczmarek is under criminal investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office for allegedly awarding $229,000 in no-bid election contracts—another issue Galassi says damages public trust in her leadership.

“In addition to not potentially getting the lowest bid, the lowest price on a project, there is the question of whether there is an ethical issue if they're not properly bidding it out,” she said. “That's the whole reason why it's a law, so that it helps prevent and protect the taxpayers from elected officials potentially utilizing their preferred vendors when that might not be what's best for the county.”

Galassi expressed concern about what the ongoing criminal investigation might imply for the overall management of the clerk’s office.

“If she’s been this nefarious with her bidding process to the point of it now going to the Attorney General for criminal investigation, that to me just speaks to the general integrity of her office,” Galassi said. 

Galassi noted the disarray within the office, which is responsible for running the county’s elections, has raised concerns.

“I can’t necessarily link that to the overall election integrity or election results,” she said. “But if the office is being run this poorly, it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence.”

In the meantime, Galassi is throwing her support behind newly announced Republican candidate Patricia Kladis-Schiappa, a Burr Ridge attorney currently collecting signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

The DuPage GOP formally announced her candidacy just days before the ruling against Kaczmarek.  

“Because of what's been happening in the clerk's office, I will be supporting Patricia Kladis-Schiappa,” Galassi said. 

The 2026 race for DuPage County Clerk is expected to be a political flashpoint. Kaczmarek, the first Democrat to hold the clerk’s office in nearly 90 years, has already announced her reelection bid.

However, she faces opposition not only from Republicans but also from within her own party—DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy is backing Democrat Paula Deacon Garcia.

As the campaign season approaches, Galassi said the focus must remain on accountability and restoring the public’s trust.

“Outside of censuring [Kaczmarek], there's not really anything more that we can do,” she said. “We're putting as much pressure on her as we can from a legal standpoint. Now that this legal ruling has been decided in our favor, we will continue to try to get her to abide by the ruling. But unfortunately, if she's not willing to do the job she was elected to do, show up, prepare a budget, and properly pay her bills, it's just difficult. We don't have a lot of options as far as what we can do.”