Bertino-Tarrant Pursues County Exec, As Patch Predicted

JOLIET, IL - This week, four people have taken out nominating petitions to circulate for the 2020 race for Will County Executive. As of Thursday afternoon, three petitions were obtained on the Democrat side and one on the Republican side. The three Democrats are: State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, Larry Walsh's chief of staff, Nick Palmer, who has worked on Walsh's staff since 2004, and Bill Thoman, who also took out petitions for recorder of deeds.

Also, Nick Ficarello, who recently left as Braidwood's chief of police, following the election of a new mayor, now plans to run for Walsh's job as a Republican.

Ficarello has been retired from the Will County Sheriff's Department, and he lost a close race in the 2014 Republican primary to the late Ken Kaupas.

Last week, four-term Will County Executive Larry Walsh Sr., a Democrat from Elwood, announced he will not seek a fifth term because of his health. Walsh has battled a recurring bout with cancer since last December.

Back in April, Joliet Patch scooped the competition by revealing how plans were in the works within the Will County Democratic Party to persuade Larry Walsh to step down as County Executive and for Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant to step in and replace him, thus, making her the incumbent on the 2020 election ballots.

Now, it appears that Bertino-Tarrant will have to do considerable campaigning if she wants to become Will County's next executive officeholder.

Several sources have told Patch that Bertino-Tarrant and Walsh's chief of staff, Nick Palmer, are considered rivals.

On one hand, Bertino-Tarrant has far more name recognition across Will County than Palmer. Working in his favor, Palmer knows the ins and outs of Will County government, after gaining 15 years of experience working directly under Walsh's mentoring.