Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the March 17 primary election.
In the upcoming primary election, two Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination in the race for Kane County clerk: Brian Pollock and Brenda Rodgers.
Whichever candidate wins will face off against Republican incumbent John “Jack” Cunningham in November. Cunningham has served in the role for more than two decades.
Early voting for the primary began in February, and will extend through March 16. The election is on March 17.
Brian Pollock
Brian Pollock, a lifelong resident of Aurora, is an attorney, a former Kane County Board member and currently works as a deputy clerk and the chief of staff for the Kane County Clerk’s Office, he told The Beacon-News in a recent interview.
He’s been working in the Kane County Clerk’s Office for the past nine years, he said, during which time the office initiated vote-by-mail and ballot tracking efforts, made upgrades to voting equipment and spearheaded the use of a tool that allows voters to see the wait times at polling places in advance of the upcoming primary.
Before that, he served from 2012 to 2016 as Kane County’s District 4 board member, where he chaired the Legislative Committee.
As for his decision to run for clerk, Pollock said it’s “time for a little bit of a philosophical and generational change in the office.”
He pointed to his interest in increasing transparency, noting the existence of “misinformation out there and the election deniers,” and said that though he thinks most voters in Kane County trust the election process, the more the office communicates with voters, “the less likely that (they) give oxygen to those types of conspiracy theories.”
One thing he’d look to do if elected clerk is create a citizen academy that would educate residents on the functions of the Clerk’s Office and enable them to share that information with the community.
He said the office also needs to “up (its) social media game,” making use of things like video to show how the office works, and should look into how AI could be used within the office.
Pollock also pointed to having experience on “both sides of” budgeting — as a board member and within the Clerk’s Office — as part of what prepares him for the role.
Acknowledging the county’s current financial situation, Pollock said the majority of the services the Clerk’s Office provides are mandated — other than its passport services, which generates revenue for the county — but that the office still needs to “live within the budget” allocated to them by the county board.
As for securing additional funds for the Clerk’s Office, he pointed to the possibility of the office looking for possible revenue-generating offerings like its passport service, and “being aggressive” in seeking out grants.
Pollock also noted that “protecting voting rights” and “increasing accessibility” for voting in the county are priorities of his.
“Go to where the voters are,” Pollock said.
He said that he intends to, if elected, make sure the county runs its elections in a way that “reflect(s) how people actually vote.”
Brenda Rodgers
Brenda Rodgers has lived in Elgin for more than four decades, she told The Beacon-News in a recent interview. A longtime Realtor, Rodgers previously served as a member of Elgin’s City Council, during which time, she noted, she helped with negotiations to keep a big box store in the community and with reintegration efforts for those who committed felonies.
Rodgers hasn’t served in an elected role since then — she ran unsuccessfully in 2024 for Kane County recorder as a Democrat — but has remained involved in local community organizations, she said, like the League of Women Voters.
Now, she’s throwing her hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination for county clerk. Rodgers pointed to her experience as a Realtor and on the Elgin City Council and said she wants to “carry that over into the Clerk’s Office.”
Among the major issues Rodgers hopes to address if elected is ensuring the proper functioning of election equipment — through doing test runs and maintaining contact with representatives from the companies providing the technology.
“It’s very important to restore individuals’ faith in our … elections,” Rodgers said.
Another priority of hers is increasing residents’ knowledge of the services the Clerk’s Office provides.
She pointed to, for example, the genealogy services the Clerk’s Office offers that many residents may not know about, and that tax extensions are handled by the office.
“Most people just think of it as elections,” she added.
As for getting out information on how the Clerk’s Office handles elections, Rodgers said that, if elected, she would plan to offer tours of the Clerk’s Office to residents, so they could see “how (their) ballot is handled from the beginning to the end, to when it’s counted.”
And she would also look to meet with neighborhood groups, providing updates about the Clerk’s Office. She cited the recent postmark changes, for example, which she thinks many are not aware of.
As for the county’s current financial issues, Rodgers noted that — in part because of passport fees — the Clerk’s Office has been “pretty good with their budget.” But she hopes to increase “transparency” for the office’s budget, making it easier for residents to find and look through.
And she emphasized that, if elected, she would represent a new voice in the role.
“You will definitely not only have a new person in the position, but you will also have new ideas in the position,” Rodgers said. “And I think that’s very important.”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
