Kane County Undersheriff Amy Johnson has announced she will run for sheriff in the 2026 election, with outgoing Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain backing her.

She will be seeking the Democratic nomination for Kane County sheriff next April in advance of the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.

Johnson first became a deputy at the sheriff’s office in 2004, according to past reporting. She’s since worked in the county as a patrol deputy, recruitment officer, detective, crime scene evidence technician, grant writer, field training officer and juvenile officer.

She said she had not thought about becoming sheriff until she was selected to be undersheriff and it became possible that she could take over for Hain when he stepped down.

“That was where that light bulb went off on, ‘Yes, this is actually a very plausible situation that I very could well consider and I really want to, in being based in Kane County all my life,’” Johnson said.

She said she went public with her intention to run Tuesday, but that she and Hain had been discussing it for a few months.

“I’m pretty much doing the same things day-by-day as the sheriff,” Johnson said of her current role. “Kind of got trial by fire with that aspect of it.”

Johnson filed for a campaign committee with the Illinois State Board of Elections in January, according to the State Board of Elections website.

Hain, for his part, was first elected in 2018. He is serving his second term as sheriff and will not run for a third in 2026, he said.

“It’s just enough,” he told The Beacon-News Tuesday, but did not say what would be next for him after he finishes out his term next year.

He said the last seven years have been “very unique” to be the sheriff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unrest in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and major changes to state public safety policies.

Johnson becoming sheriff eventually was “always a conversation,” according to Hain, who appointed Johnson to be undersheriff in 2022.

He says he’s behind her campaign and plans to help with strategy for the race. He is listed as the chair of her campaign committee according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

“She knows our traditions, she knows the office,” Hain said on Tuesday, noting that Johnson plans to continue current substance abuse programming and vocational and job placement initiatives meant to reduce the jail population in the county.

In addition to backing these initiatives, Johnson said she wants to give equal focus to public safety initiatives.

“Public safety was kind of left in the dark because we were always focused on corrections,” Johnson said on Wednesday.

She said that equal focus could look like more updated training for officers — including training on mental health and de-escalation to reduce their reliance on social workers with already-high caseloads — and having more deputies out on the streets engaging with the community.

And while the county faces impending budgetary issues due to the apparent failure of its sales tax referendum question earlier this month, Johnson said they will work within those possible constraints, and that their training, because it’s operated in-house, wouldn’t cost extra.

Johnson’s campaign is officially launching at an event on May 14, she said on Wednesday, at Alley 64 in St. Charles, per her campaign website.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com