McLean County Circuit Court Clerk republican primary race

Photo provided by Jason Dazey

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Two candidates in McLean County are running for the republican nomination for McLean County Circuit Court Clerk. The position entails a master record keeper of laws, witnesses and other roles essential to the overall function of the county.

Jason Dazey discussed why he wanted to step into this role and why it holds importance to him. 

“I have always wanted to do this I started in the county in April 1998. I worked for the Circuit Clerk and then I worked for the circuit clerk until December of 2012,” he said. “When my former boss, Sandra Parker, retired in 2008 I really wanted to run then, but I was young, and my youngest son was only 6 years old at the time so I didn’t think it was the right time. So now I’m at a good point in my life where I can give it a go.”

Dazey shares how he envisions him stepping into this role will overall benefit all of McLean County. 

“I would like to be able to get the office out into the public because right now I don’t think a lot of people know what we do you know other than being official record keeper from the courts, but we also can do a lot for people with genealogy they can come and look up their family history and try to find old wills and trust and go to those so yeah that’s what I would like for the future,” he said.

More specifically, Dazey discusses how he would like to incorporate social media into his role to help get more residents in the county more involved and more familiar with exactly what the Circuit Clerk role entails.

He said, “I would love to get maybe a Facebook page or even Instagram page out there for you know to post different things we do. When I went out to get signatures for my petition, I got the most of ‘what does the office do and who’s in there now’ so I kind of had to explain what the rules and functions. I think we need to get out on social media that way we can keep the public informed on what’s going on with the county and what’s going on with the office.” 

Many residents in McLean County will look for experience and what qualifies a candidate for this position before showing their support, but, this is not new for Dazey. He explains how the nearly decade and a half working in the office has prepared him enough to step into this role.

He said, “I think just working in the office for the first 14 years I did. And Sandra Parker, the circuit clerk before, was I would call ‘a working circuit clerk’ where she worked in the office and then moved her way up and then was elected for Circuit Clerk. That’s what I would like to do. I want to be involved and, interacting with the attorneys and the public is where I really found my passion I want to help more in the Circuit Clerk’s Office.”

Dazey shares his thoughts regarding stepping into this role and what he hopes residents will take away from him overall.

“I’m here to serve a lot of people. People talk about being Republican or Democrat, and I just want to serve the people in McLean County. It doesn’t matter what you are I’m here to serve you as a citizen of McLean County. We want the best for the county to go forward, and I think I’m the right person to do it,” he said. 

Don Everhart was not available for an interview.