The Will County Board might have gained only one additional Republican seat Tuesday but that could be enough to give the GOP a two-thirds veto-proof majority over Democratic County Executive Larry Walsh, who appeared to win a fourth term.

Eighteen of the board's 26 seats were up in this election. The county was redistricted in 2012 and switched from three representatives in nine districts to two members each from 13 districts. To maintain staggered terms, in four of the nine districts, candidates were elected to two-year terms, while others will have the standard four-year term.

The Republicans held 15 of the 26 seats going into Tuesday's election, but may now have a 16-10 margin.

Vote totals remain unofficial pending the tallying of provisional and mail-in ballots on Nov. 22, and the official canvass on Nov. 29.

According to the Will County Clerk's website, 3,001 mail-in ballots have been returned, but not yet counted, and there are 797 provisional ballots — ones that have been questioned. Another 3,460 mail-in ballots were never returned.

Voter turnout was 72 percent, officials said.

Walsh, who led with 53.2 percent of the vote over his Republican opponent and friend, Laurie McPhillips, said “the coattails of Mr. (Donald) Trump and the strength he showed in Will County probably cost us a number of votes.”

The seat was lost in District 10 in Joliet, where longtime Democratic incumbents Joe Babich and Steve Wilhelmi did not seek re-election. They were poised to be replaced by Democrat Tyler Marcum and Republican Gloria Dollinger, both of Joliet.

But Walsh said the veto-proof Republican majority is “almost irrelevant” because it has been used “very few times.”

“We work well together. We feel it is better to talk about the issues and solve our differences,” he said.

Republican caucus chair Chuck Maher, R-Naperville, concurred. In his 14 years on the board, “we've never really had a situation where that was important,” he said of the new majority. “We've been working across the aisle to get things done. I don't expect that will change much as we go forward.”

Walsh said he also was “proud” that, unlike national and statewide races, the campaigns in all Will County races were “well-conducted” and “issue-oriented” with no personal attacks.

According to unofficial results, Democrats are holding onto all six countywide seats, including executive, recorder of deeds, circuit court clerk, auditor, state's attorney and coroner, with the last two being unopposed.

McPhillips said she “expected a tough race” and knew it would be a “challenge” to unseat a well-known Democrat.

“It's always disappointing when you lose,” she said Wednesday afternoon. She served one term as recorder of deeds from 2004-08, was defeated twice in her re-election bids, losing to current Recorder Karen Stukel in 2008 and 2012.

The 2004 election was the last time Republicans were elected to a countywide office, McPhillips said, citing her election as recorder and Steve Weber as auditor.

“Will County is getting more Democratic every year. It's getting tougher,” she said.

Maher said he was “impressed” with the Democrats use of early voting.

Before those votes were tallied, it appeared that Republicans might gain three board seats and the circuit court clerk's office. But all that changed once the early votes were factored in — after the precinct ballots were all counted Tuesday night.

Maher wasn't sure he could explain why early voting heavily favored Democrats.

“Trust me. I would like to figure it out,” he said. “They were more organized than we were.”

But within the board's individual districts, there are pockets of Republicans that were successful in increasing their majority on the board in this election cycle.

Will County voters also chose four new board members, among the 18 who were elected, including two Democrats and two Republicans.

Three incumbents did not seek re-election, Babich and Wilhelmi in District 10, who will be replaced by Marcum and Dollinger, and Republican Liz Collins in Plainfield/Joliet District 13, whose seat will be filled by fellow Republican Tim Kraukidis. Democratic incumbent Mark Ferry also appeared to have won re-election in District 13.

But an upset occurred in District 1, in eastern Will County, where Democratic incumbent Bob Howard appeared to finish last among four candidates for two, two-year terms. Filling his seat is fellow Democrat Laurie Summers, a registered nurse from Crete, who has been active in the local community. Republican Judy Ogalla, of Monee, seems to have retained her seat, according to unofficial vote totals.

Howard, the only county incumbent to lose a re-election bid, blamed the influence of Trump and the high number of women voters, but said he was not surprised by the results.

“I was one of the few who said Trump would win,” he said. “The nature of politics has changed. It's based on entertainment value, not policy. We are in unchartered waters right now.”

“Laurie (Summers) will do great. She will bring a fresh perspective,” Howard said. “And Judy (Ogalla) is committed to the residents in eastern Will County.”

Having one member from each party to represent the district “is a good thing,” he said.

Howard said he plans to remain politically active “especially in these times,” and may consider running for his old seat as Washington Township supervisor in April.

The county board's Democratic caucus chair Herb Brooks Jr. said his party was hoping to at least maintain the board seats they had if not pick up some additional ones.

Losing a Democratic seat in District 10 was a “shock,” and Howard's loss in District 1 was a “surprise,” he said, calling him a “good public servant.”

“But given the national scene, nothing is a surprise,” Brooks said. “I wish our numbers were different, but we have to work together. Any time there is division, the taxpayers get hurt.

“We have a lot of major projects going on in the county and it will take all of us to get the jobs done,” he said, referring to the new public safety complex now under construction and the plans for a new courthouse and health department facility.

Brooks said he welcomes newcomer Marcum, who is the son of the late Glen Marcum, a longtime public servant in the Joliet schools, park and community organizations, who died a week before the election.

One pleasant surprise, he said, was seeing how well 21-year-old Kyle Killacky did in Homer/Lockport District 7 against two strong Republican incumbents, Steve Balich and Mike Fricilone. Killacky lost in the three-way race, but had a strong showing with 27 percent of the vote, Brooks said.

“We hope he sticks around,” he said.

To recap other county races, unofficial results indicated that Democrat Andrea Lynn Chasteen had a slim lead over Republican Marlene Carlson in the race for circuit court clerk; Democratic incumbent Recorder of Deeds Karen Stukel was edging out Republican Kristin Cross; and incumbent Auditor Kevin “Duffy” Blackburn was on his way to another term, topping Republican Gary Good.

In other district races, Democratic incumbents who appeared to have retained their seats were Beth Rice and Don Moran for four-year terms in District 3, Jackie Traynere and Ken Harris in District 4 for two-year terms, and Brooks and Denise Winfrey for four-year terms in District 8.

Republicans who could be on their way back to the board include Don Gould and Ragan Freitag for two-year terms in District 7, and Tom Weigel and Ray Tuminello for four-year terms in District 12.

slafferty@tribpub.com