Kane County Reporter

Longtime Geneva resident Doug Warlick wants to put all the election questions to rest in his run for Kane County Clerk.

Running as a Republican challenger to longtime incumbent John “Jack” Cunningham, Warlick lists election integrity and regaining public confidence in the Kane County elections as his top priority.

“There should be transparency and improvements in the management of the Clerk’s Office to ensure election integrity,” Warlick wrote on his website. “I want the citizens of Kane County to have confidence in our election process so we don’t question the results. Through dedication and hard work, we can restore integrity in our local elections with a system of checks and balances instead of permitting irregularities that invite skepticism. No provisional ballots, no spoiled ballots and thousands of ballots without initials among other things were torrent problems that plagued Kane County in the 2020 elections.”

Warlick comes to battle after having spent the past 40 years as a trial attorney. He said all the experiences he’s had managing diverse and complex litigation have going a long way in preparing him for the moment.

“I have been a family law and trial attorney since 1981,” he said. “I have chaired and been a long-standing member of the Kane County Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, along with other legal associations. In 2019, the Kane County Bar Association awarded me the prestigious Community Service Award, which is given to one attorney who stands out in the community at large.”

While having always worked in the private sector, Warlick has made the time to be active public service, serving over the past two decades as an elected precinct committeeman in both DuPage and Kane counties. He also was elected vice chair of the Geneva Township Republican Central Committee for the past five years, and he has been an active member of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce.

Through it all, Warlick says he has always found the time to give back, handling countless cases for DuPage County Legal Aid and Administer Justice, as well as pro-bono cases for Prairie State Legal Services.

Insisting he "understands the challenges residents face,” Warlick also vows to work to bring the kind of fiscal responsibility to local government that he argues is long overdue.  

“The incumbent told me four years ago that he would retire and not seek re-election if I did not oppose his run at that time,” he said. “He has now served for 20 years after being first elected at the age of 63. Twenty-years is long enough to hold one office, especially when one does not devote the attention to the office that is required I pledge that I will not serve more than two or three terms in order to permit other individuals to continue to bring fresh ideas to this office.”

Honored with various awards and citations over the years for his service and leadership, Warlick has a simple philosophy, posting on his website “the leader of any group must be the hardest worker in the office and set the example for the staff.”

According to Warlick, his motto is "happy wife, happy life" and says he is incredibly lucky to be married to Collen Thomas, who is also an attorney with offices in Carpentersville. His oldest daughter, a 2005 Geneva High School graduate, and his middle child both live in Sarasota and are happily married. Douglas' youngest is in his last semester at UNL and is married with baby girl on the way.