Updated on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 2:55 p.m. CT
Michelle Jett is poised to be the next Champaign County executive.
The county’s director of administration maintained 60% of the vote in the Democratic primary over her opponent, Sanford Hess.
In a statement on social media, Jett thanked voters for their support.
“With 60% of the vote you have spoken loud and clear and we will be moving forward on protecting the Mahomet Aquifer, affordable housing, a coordinated effort to address domestic violence, providing quality County services to our residents, and more. I want and need your input and support on these efforts,” she wrote.
In a video posted on social media, Hess said he called Jett to concede the race and wish her luck in running county government.
“”I ran for office because I felt like I had something to contribute to my community,” he said. “I still feel that way, but ultimately the voters disagreed, but I think that it’s an important exercise of our right as members of this democracy — that if you think you could do a good job in office, you should run. It’s one of the most enlightening things that I’ve ever gone through.”
With no Republicans running for the position, Jett will take office in December following the November general election.
Updated on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 2:47 p.m.
Michelle Jett is poised to be the next Champaign County executive.
The county’s director of administration maintained 60% of the vote in the Democratic primary over her opponent, Sanford Hess.
In a statement on social media, Jett thanked voters for their support.
“With 60% of the vote you have spoken loud and clear and we will be moving forward on protecting the Mahomet Aquifer, affordable housing, a coordinated effort to address domestic violence, providing quality County services to our residents, and more. I want and need your input and support on these efforts,” Jett wrote.
In a video posted on social media, her opponent Sanford Hess said he called Jett to concede the race and wish her luck in running county government.
“I ran for office because I felt like I had something to contribute to my community,” Hess said. “I still feel that way, but ultimately the voters disagreed, but I think that it’s an important exercise of our right as members of this democracy — that if you think you could do a good job in office, you should run. It’s one of the most enlightening things that I’ve ever gone through.”
With no Republicans running for the position, Jett will take office in December following the November general election.
Update on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 11:23 p.m. CT:
Michelle Jett still holds the lead in the race for Champaign County Executive, holding nearly 60% of the vote. Her opponent, Sanford Hess has a little over 40%.
The Champaign County Clerk’s Office told IPM News Tuesday night that about 7,700 mail-in ballots still need to be counted.
Jett is currently the director of administration for the county. She said she is grateful for everyone who braved the cold to vote in local races.
“It really provides us with feedback on what the people want when we can look at the voting and see based on what the candidates were talking about in their platforms, who’s getting the votes. That gives you direction as to what the community wants,” Jett said.
The county executive runs the day-to-day of the county administration.
Jett said she wants to continue current executive Steve Summer’s approach to service for county residents.
She also wants to protect the drinking water in the Mahomet Aquifer. In an IPM News forum, Jett said that means approaching development of any data centers with caution, since they require a lot of energy and water.
Jett said Tuesday that her third top priority is affordable housing.
“We just don’t have enough housing here,” Jett said. “We don’t have enough homes being built and what we have being built isn’t necessarily within a reasonable price range.”
Both Jett and Hess are Democrats running in the primary. Whoever wins will become the executive as no Republicans are vying for the position.
Both candidates said Tuesday evening that they plan to wait for all the mail-in votes to be counted by the county clerk’s office before ceding the election.
“I wouldn’t call it over until it’s called over by the official people,” Hess said.
Hess said he is happy with how he ran his campaign, as it avoided sending out robocalls and texts, noting he feels both of those methods are annoying. He is also pleased with the dialogue on issues between two candidates.
“One of the frustrations for me is that so many of the races on the ballot had only one candidate. And you don’t really get the dialogue that you get when you have two candidates,” Hess said.
Hess said he would be disappointed if he loses, saying he wants to contribute to the county. He said he will continue to support local governments in his job as a consultant, helping them transition to new software, for example.
If Hess wins, one of his top priorities would be to provide multiple proposals for each county board action, so elected policymakers have options and can see the full thinking process behind the measures that staff recommend.