Retired judge announces run for St. Charles mayor
Clint Hull has wanted to be mayor of St. Charles since he was a little kid.
But his job as a Kane County judge precluded him from doing that.
Now that he is retired, the lifelong St. Charles resident says it is time.
“St. Charles has invested in me, and now it is time for me to show the city of St. Charles a return on its investment,” Hull said.
Hull announced his campaign at a fundraising event Thursday night in the packed Rainbow Room ballroom at Hotel Baker.
He spoke of being influenced by his teachers, sports coaches and former longtime Mayor Fred Norris growing up. He credited his mother with instilling an interest in local civic news by asking him to turn from the sports page of the local paper to the front page.
He and his wife raised four children here, with Hull coaching their sports teams and working with the St. Charles East High School Booster Club. Hull also served on the St. Charles Park Board for eight years, including being its president.
He spoke of the love for the city his parents instilled in him, such as stopping to admire the streetside Christmas decorations downtown in the 1970s. “Nobody does it like St. Charles. St. Charles does it better than anybody else,” he said.
Hull retired Aug. 16 as a felony court judge. He was a judge for 15 years, including a four-year stint as chief judge.
Before that, Hull was a prosecutor in the criminal division of the Kane County state’s attorney’s office, starting in 1992.
Current Mayor Lora Vitek is seeking a second term. She is the executive director of the Delta Dental Foundation of Illinois and has lived in St. Charles since 2012.
Vitek was elected alderman in 2017, then mayor in 2021. She cited a platform of positive energy, excitement and progress, including an increase in tourism during her terms, when she announced her reelection bid in July.