Will County Recorder Election Results: Just 576 Votes Separate Candidates With More to Be Counted

The Will County Recorder of Deeds has a slim lead over a Republican challenger at the end of election night.

Incumbent Karen Stukel tallied 96,533 to challenger Kristin Cross' 95,957. But a canvassing of votes must still be completed, absentee ballots postmarked by midnight, Nov. 8 have to be counted, and provisional and grace period ballots still need to be added up.

The results will not be made official until Nov. 29.

As of the end of Election Night, Stukel held a 576 vote lead.

Stukel is seeking her third term in office.

Cross actually worked under Stukel, according to her campaign website, and left the recorder of deeds office in 2014.

“After my departure, I looked upon my time serving the people of Will County and those who I worked for during that time,” Cross, a Joliet resident, said on the site. “While I worked for Laurie McPhillips, the Recorder of Deeds office ran efficiently and effectively. More importantly, it worked with complete transparency and integrity to process required to ensure proper expenditure of taxpayers’ hard earned dollars.”

The Will County Democratic Party’s website said Stukel “cross-trained her staff to promote greater efficiency in the office.”

Stukel cut her office staff by 60 percent, the site said, and she “has also been working closely with the Veteran’s Assistance Commission and the Illinois Department of Employment Securities to educate veterans of the importance of recording their military discharge papers (DD-214)."