Democrat Party: 'Republican' Talbot Couldn't Beat Summers

JOLIET, IL — The Will County Democratic Party made sure that a long-time Republican voter, Sean Talbot, did not win Tuesday's Democratic primary race for Will County against Laurie Summers. Talbot ran for the office as a Democrat even though he has consistently voted in Republican primaries, according to Democrats.

Less than three weeks ago, the party's central committee issued a rare candidate endorsement, urging all Democratic voters not to circle Talbot's name on their ballots when they went to the polls Tuesday.

"At a candidate’s forum hosted by the DuPage Township Democrats, Talbot suggested that he is running as a Democrat as a political strategy, rather than because he holds Democratic values," the Will County Democratic Party posted on its website Feb. 28.

Sure enough, Talbot was shellacked on Tuesday night just as Will County's Democratic Party had hoped.

With 100 percent of the unofficial votes tabulated in Tuesday's Will County Democratic primary, Summers coasted to an easy victory over Talbot, a Bolingbrook Police sergeant, in her bid to succeed her boss Patrick O'Neil as the next elected Will County Coroner.

According to Tuesday night's unofficial totals:

• Laurie Summers: 55,073 votes, 78.6 percent of vote
• Sean Talbot: 15,028 votes, 21.4 percent of vote

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When reached for comment late Tuesday night, Summers told Joliet Patch she was blown away by the huge margin of her victory over Talbot. She said she ran a grassroots campaign and had several dear friends who worked on her campaign.

"It was getting out and knocking on doors and talking to people," Summers told Joliet Patch. "If I can represent you, you need to know who I am.

"I had a lot of help because people believed in me."

Summers admitted she did not expect to win Tuesday's primary by such a lopsided amount.

"I never take anything for granted," she said. "I'm just grateful beyond words."

The winner of Tuesday's Democratic primary will still have to beat another opponent in November's general election to win the office.

James Piacentini, of Steger, ran coroner as the lone Republican candidate in the primary.

Summers told Patch on Tuesday night that, "I still have another race. It ain't over."

On March 17, for the first time since the early 1990s, voters of Will County went to the polls and Coroner Patrick O'Neil's name was not on the ballot.

In December, after seven terms of office, the Lockport Democrat announced he would not run for another four-year term.

O'Neil endorsed Summers, who previously served on the Will County Board and now works as a deputy coroner for O'Neil.

Summers, 61, lives in Crete. She grew up in Beecher and attended Zion Lutheran School. She graduated from Beecher High School and calls herself a proud graduate of the Prairie State College Nursing program. She has been a registered nurse for 24 years.

Summers served as an elected officeholder on the Will County Board from 2016-2019. When O'Neil named her the deputy chief coroner, she resigned from her elected office.

"Because I have the background of serving on the County Board, I understand the process or steps needed to accomplish this," Summers told Joliet Patch for her candidate questionnaire.

Summers maintained that Will County needs more space for its morgue because the county continues to grow in population.

"I have already begun the process of obtaining a new space by reaching out to the county departments that are critical in making this happen. I also reached out to the Public Heath and Safety Committee, which I chaired on the County Board," Summers wrote. "By doing that, two of our deputy coroners and myself spoke and began the process of addressing the coroner's needs and brought awareness to the day in and day out functions of the Coroners office."

Talbot is a 53-year-old Shorewood resident and a long-time member of the Bolingbrook Police Department.

"The single most pressing issue facing the Coroner's Office is the opioid epidemic," Talbot explained in his Patch candidate questionnaire. "I intend to try and attack this head-on with early education, prevention, enforcement and treatment. I would like to continue the education program the office has now, but expand it to be county-wide in our schools and communities."

Talbot said he has worked part-time as a death investigator with the Will County Coroner's Office.

"In that position at the coroner's office, I responded to the scene of the deceased, was responsible for removal of the deceased, paperwork regarding the death, working with the law enforcement agency involved and notifying next of kin of the death," Talbot wrote. "During that time, I conducted hundreds of death investigations ranging from homicides, suicides, traffic fatalities, overdoses, nursing home deaths, correctional institution deaths, sudden infant deaths (SIDS), accidental deaths, fire deaths, and natural deaths.

"My opponent has no death investigation experience, she has only worked in the confines of a hospital as a nurse, taking care of sick people. She was hired by the coroner's office in October, 2019 as a deputy chief coroner. The position she currently holds was offered to me twice in the last four years by Pat O'Neil; I was unable to take the position because the incumbent would not commit to whether or not he would seek re-election. During my 18 years with the coroner's office I have assisted in autopsies, collected specimens, and facilitated the donation of long bones, tissue, and corneas between families and Gift of Hope.

"I've made death notifications to families in the middle of the night, stood with them in the morgue because they request to see their loved one shortly after the incident, and called them on the phone to give them autopsy results. I have 20 years of CSI experience, I am a lead Homicide investigator and was part of the Will/Grundy Major Crimes Task Force. I am currently part of the MABAS division 15 Fire/Arson investigation task force which is comprised of fire departments from Will County."

Summers completely disagreed with Talbot's characterizations about her work experience.

"My opponent has indicated that my medical background does not apply to this position. 'She is just a nurse, she took care of sick people,'" Summers informed Patch. "I wish that was all my job consisted of, contrary to what he is trying to portray, death and dying was part of the job. Notifying families of the loss of their loved one was part of the job, holding the hand of someone who was dying and had no family around was part of the job, I did this with compassion and respect in other words I treated everyone the way I would want my loved one to be treated.

"Compassion is the key to make you a good nurse and coroner because no matter the circumstance of death the deceased and their families deserve respect and dignity," Summers wrote.

"I feel my extensive background as a registered nurse working in every aspect of the profession from the floor to administration is the qualification that is required, as eighty percent of our cases are medical/natural deaths. If a doctor will not sign a death certificate it is the Coroners job to investigate and find the cause, that requires researching hundreds of pages of Medical records and understanding terminology which is second nature to me. As the current Deputy Chief Coroner I work hand in hand with our current Coroner to find that cause."