Endorsement: Bucholz for DuPage recorder of deeds

Incumbent Republican Fred Bucholz of Wheaton is challenged by Democrat Moon Khan of Lombard. Khan is a swing-for-the-fences reform candidate who wants to abolish the office he seeks, saying the recorder's office is fraught with nepotism and performs functions that could be taken on by other departments.

Khan also complains that the GOP machine challenged his petitions and temporarily got him thrown of the ballot. Bucholz offers evidence that Khan's nominating petitions deserved the scrutiny.

Khan's nepotism claim seems weak. (Bucholz is a cousin of his predecessor, Rick Carney; the wife of a county board member has a lower-level job in the office.) It is also true that there is talk in other counties of rolling the recorder's job into other departments.

But Bucholz is a leader in his field, implementing a raft of technology advancements, including being the first recorder's office in the state to digitally scan and archive recorded documents. There might be a good reason to discuss consolidating the clerk's office, but tearing it down upon election doesn't seem like the most constructive approach.

We recommend staying the course with Bucholz.