Will County Board Candidate Back On Ballot After Appeal

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Will County Board Member District 11 candidate Tyler Giacalone's name will appear on the ballot after an appeal.

Giacalone is a Democratic candidate running for the District 11 seat, which represents the Bolingbrook area.

Currently, District 11 is represented by Jacqueline Traynere and Elnalyn Costa. Candidates who have filed to run for the March primary include Democrats Giacalone, Barbara Ann Parker, Jacqueline Traynere, Sheldon Watts and Republican Steven Smith.

In November, the Will County Electoral Board sustained an objection to Giacalone's nominating papers; the objection was filed by fellow candidate Parker. Parker currently serves as DuPage Township Clerk.

According to the county clerk's website, Parker's objection alleged that Giacolone has not lived in the District for at least a year before the primary, and so was ineligible to be a candidate.

The objection was first heard on Nov. 14, and further on Nov. 18. According to the ruling, the parties agreed that Giacolone had moved to the county board district in June 2025. The Electoral Board had to decide if the "election" referred to in the county code is the primary or general election.

The primary will be held in March 2026, while the general election will be in November 2026.

Two board members —Kimberly Fladhammer and Andrea Chasteen — voted to sustain the objection, while one, Scott Pyles, voted to overrule.

However, Giacalone filed an appeal, and appeared in front of Judge Bennett Braun, who restored Giacalone's access to the 2026 ballot after a brief hearing, Giacalone said in a statement to Patch.

"This is another example of elected officials who are so desperate to cling to power that they will ignore the law and work relentlessly to serve their own interests," Giacalone said. "This is the third time the Will County Clerk’s office have found themselves on the wrong side of the law, wasting public funds to simply delay the next generation of candidates coming into office."

In his statement, Giacalone called out current County Board Member Jackie Traynere, saying, "the interesting part is that it wasn’t the objector who showed up to the hearings, it was County Board Member Jackie Traynere, who also failed to garner her own party’s endorsement, and thus supported this waste of taxpayer money."

Giacalone also mentioned Traynere's ongoing court cases, including charges for computer tampering from accessing a fellow County Board Member's email.

Giacalone said the whole process was "another example of our elected officials failing spectacularly," and cited the recent County Board budget fight.

"My name is Tyler Giacalone, and I’m running for Will County Board in District 11 because I’m tired of all the excuses our politicians have given us about why things are the way they are. I will be on the ballot. I will be knocking on doors and communicating with as many voters as I can over the coming months. And I will, with your help, bring the next generation of leadership to Will County. No more excuses, we deserve better.”