What could be the closest and most interesting countywide race this election cycle pits the incumbent Democrat against a well-known Republican in the contest for Sangamon County recorder.
The Sangamon County Recorder’s Office is the county’s official land records office and files deeds, mortgages, releases and assignments, property liens, veteran discharge papers, corporation papers, and instruments pertaining to the Uniform Commercial Code. The recorder’s office is also responsible for the recording and storage of subdivision plats, land surveys and monument records.
It’s hardly exciting and heady stuff, yet two well-known local political figures, Democrat Josh Langfelder and the current Springfield city clerk, Republican Frank Lesko, are vying for the position.
The 64-year-old Lesko, who “has always been interested in the recorder’s office,” has been hand-delivering licenses and death certificates as city clerk and wants to do the same thing when possible as county recorder.
“As Springfield city clerk, instead of mailing out licenses where many would get lost in the mail or damaged, I take those to the business owners myself. It stops them from having to come all the way downtown to pick them up, plus I’m able to talk to the business owners,” Lesko said. “I use my own personal car to do this. I feel that when you’re elected to a position like this, it’s not a job, it’s a service to the community.”
The 54-year-old Langfelder, who has been the county recorder since 2008, also believes in service to the community and has implemented changes to make it easier for people to deal with his eight-person office.
“We established electronic recording so individuals don’t have to come into the office to record a document anymore. Now title companies, banks and law firms go through a portal that submits the documents to us,” Langfelder said. “We have also streamlined the process of updating the assessor on new property owners, and now that information gets updated within 48 hours. The more efficient and economical you can be, the more successful the office can be.”
Langfelder wants to continue expanding the property fraud alert program that he put in place in 2009, “which is similar to Title Lock, except it’s free,” he said. “Right now, we have about 20,000 people signed up for the program, and want more people in Sangamon County to take advantage of it.”
For his part, Lesko would like to expand the outreach to veterans. If elected, Lesko pledged to talk to them about how the recorder’s office could help when they file their discharge papers for veterans’ benefits.
“I will also set up meetings throughout Sangamon County to ask citizens, financial institutions, title companies and board members what changes they’d like to see in the recorder’s office,” Lesko said. “I’ll see what works, what doesn’t work, and then try and make their transactions a little more convenient and efficient.”
Lesko has served as a Springfield Park District trustee and Ward 4 Alderman and was first elected city clerk in 2016. His most recent term began May 2023, and when he saw the opportunity to run for Sangamon County recorder this year, “I went ahead and threw my hat into the ring.”
Sangamon County recorder is the only elected office that Langfelder, a former banker, has held, and he questioned why Lesko wanted to seek his fourth elected office so soon after being reelected city clerk.
“He just got elected as city clerk – sworn in May 2023 – and in September 2023 he started passing petitions for the recorder’s office,” Langfelder said. “I don’t think that’s right for an elected official to say you’re going to run for one thing, get elected, and jump right away to a run for another office.”
Langfelder’s father and brother, Ossie and Jim respectively, both served as Springfield mayor and Josh is often asked if he will follow in their footsteps.
“I’ve been asked to run for mayor, circuit clerk, auditor, county clerk and state representative,” Langfelder said. “But I’ve chosen to run for reelection as recorder. My dad always told us, run for an office you’re qualified for.”
Langfelder opined that “there are zero issues in this campaign.” Lesko said he finds “no fault in how the current officeholder is running the recorder’s office, but I think change is always good. You have new ideas coming in, and that can be a very positive thing.”
“My opponent is a nice guy, and I have no intention of going in and cleaning house” if elected recorder, Lesko said. “The people who are there have learned their jobs, and their jobs are safe. There are temporary positions in that office, and I would love to work with community organizations to hire youth or young adults for those positions to give them some experience and help them decide on a career path,” he said.
The Sonya Massey killing reverberated throughout all Sangamon County departments, and Langfelder’s office window gave him a close view of the protests that occurred at the county building.
“I think it energized people to get involved,” Langfelder said. “I think more people will be putting their names in for races and on boards and commissions to make their voices be heard.”
Lesko said the Massey homicide “has impacted me in the way that I look at employees to make sure they are vetted properly, to make sure that the employees are qualified and will do the job they are hired to do,” he said. “If they’re having issues that come up, maybe interact with them and encourage them to go get help from an employee assistance program.”
Sangamon County Democratic Chair Bill Houlihan said Langfelder and his predecessor have proven track records of being effective campaigners for the recorder’s office.
“As Democrats, we’ve got to win in the city and not get killed in the county,” Houlihan said. “Josh Langfelder, and Mary Ann Lamm before him, did well in the county and they were able to win. Josh has put that same sort of campaign together. He works hard, he gets out and talks to folks, and people know who he is.”
Lesko’s name can be seen on mass transit benches across Springfield, accompanied by a tree logo that has nothing to do with his park board service, as many believe. Lesko said the tree pertains to an Abraham Lincoln quote, “Character is like a tree, and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Sangamon County Republican Chair Dianne Barghouti Hardwick said of Lesko’s campaign style, “Frank walks and talks to people, shakes hands all over the county,” she said. “He has talked to so many people door-to-door, and I think that is very important.”
Lesko said he currently does not have aspirations for higher office if elected recorder, although “I don’t know what will fall in line for my life tomorrow.”
If he wins in November, Lesko said he will work with Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher to appoint a new city clerk. “I’ve had a lot of people who are interested and have submitted their names,” he said.
Langfelder is happy where he is and hopes to be elected for another four-year term as recorder.
“I always tell people I’m a full-time recorder. I don’t have any job outside of this,” Langfelder said. “I’m here pretty much every day. I love my job, I’m not just a user of the office.”
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This article appears in Finding a way forward.
