From left: Madison County Clerk Linda Andreas and Madison County Coroner Nick Novacich
EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County's incumbent clerk and recorder has won another chance to secure another term in office, after staving off a primary challenge from Madison County's former county board chairman.
On March 17, Linda Andreas prevailed in the Republican primary election over former Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler.
According to unofficial election results from the Madison County Clerk's office, Andreas secured 8,418 votes, or about 53% of the vote, to 7,509 votes for Prenzler.
Andreas will advance to face Democratic nominee Rachelle Bauerle, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
While the race was no easy win, Prenzler conceded the contest on March 17, saying he called to congratulate Andreas on the win.
On Facebook, Andreas simply said: "Thank you, Madison County! On to November!"
Andreas is seeking her second term as county clerk and recorder. She was first elected in 2022, when she defeated former county clerk Debra Ding-Mendoza, a Democrat, amid a Republican surge to claim a sweep of Madison County offices.
At the time, Prenzler served as Madison County Board Chairman and a prominent figure in the Madison County conservative movement.
Prenzler, however, lost in 2024 to current County Board Chairman Chris Slusser in that year's Republican primary.
The beginning of this year's Republican primary contest between Andreas and Prenzler was marked by controversy, as Andreas needed to stave off a move by a supporter of Prenzler to remove her name from the ballot.
During exchanges in the campaign, Prenzler later accused Andreas of mismanaging the voter rolls in the county and of not adequately answering questions concerning her statements of economic interest, among other claims.
Last fall and this year, Andreas has signaled strong support for Republican-led efforts to increase election integrity, including efforts to purge voters who have either died or moved away from the county from the voter rolls and calling on federal lawmakers to approve the so-called SAVE Act, which would require voter ID and other measures to increase citizenship verification before voting.
The SAVE Act is strongly supported by President Donald Trump.
Democrats have called such measures "voter suppression," asserting too many American citizens can't prove their citizenship using documents that would be required by the SAVE Act.
That measure has not yet received a vote in the U.S. Senate.
