Chris Slusser soundly defeated Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler for the GOP nomination on Tuesday — virtually assuring Slusser of election to the office in November.
Slusser, 46, the Madison County treasurer, won the primary over his former ally 62% to 38%. Slusser said at a watch party that Prenzler called to concede.
“The voters spoke overwhelmingly tonight,” said Slusser of Wood River. “I didn’t expect this big of a victory, but it’s rewarding and refreshing to see.”
No Democrat has entered the race so far, and Slusser may run unopposed in the November general election. In denying Prenzler, 68, another four years in office, his victory signals a stylistic change in the Metro East county’s Republican politics.
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Slusser said he will spend more of his time focusing on issues typically under the purview of the board chairman, rather than meddling in local library issues or fighting COVID-19 mandates from the state.
Prenzler, who was censured by the GOP-dominated board earlier this year, served as the county’s chief executive since winning the chairmanship in 2016. Prior to his election, Prenzler and Slusser were allies. However, the two grew distant during Prenzler’s first term, the candidates said.
In 2022, Slusser and the other GOP countywide officials supported the county board’s vote to strip Prenzler of some of his powers. They did so after Prenzler backed primary opponents to sitting board members and repeatedly nominated the same people for county positions whom board members had previously voted down.
Slusser and a number of other Republican officials also grew critical of Prenzler for a recent ethics violation.
Prenzler said he doesn’t know what his next steps will be when his term ends in November.
“I think we'll turn that page tomorrow,” Prenzler said. “I worked hard on this, and I received a lot of help from a lot of folks. That's a question for another day.”
This December will be the first time since 2010 that Prenzler has not held a countywide office.
In all, 18,860 voters cast ballots in the GOP primary race this year, which is about average for primary contests in Madison County. In primaries in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020, Madison County voters cast between 8,000 and 31,000 ballots. Those previous primary races were all uncontested.
While Madison County Democrats did not have a candidate running in Tuesday’s primary, Randy Harris, the county party chairman, said they are actively recruiting candidates for all countywide offices.
Slusser first ran for the chairmanship in 2012, losing to longtime Democratic Board Chairman Alan Dunstan, whom Prenzler would beat in 2016. Prenzler, a two-term treasurer himself, appointed Slusser to the post he vacated in 2016.
One of the top priorities for Slusser will be reducing property taxes. He’s opposed to the Property Tax Extension Limit Law. The state program caps the amount taxing districts can levy for property taxes every year at either the lesser of 5% or the rate of inflation. At least 39 other counties in Illinois use PTELL.
Instead, Slusser said he and other county officials from across the state would lobby state lawmakers to adopt policy changes similar to those of Indiana, which does not allow local taxing districts to levy property taxes for salaries and pensions. Indiana also raised its sales tax to make up for the lost tax revenue.
Economic development will follow as Slusser’s second priority. Particularly, the communities on the Mississippi River could use some focus, Slusser said.
“We have a diverse population and a diverse workforce,” Slusser said. “And they're just desperate for some leadership to point us in the right direction, and that's what my goal is.”
