The Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education president is attempting to seek a seat on the DuPage County Board.

Dennis Brennan, a resident of unincorporated Hinsdale and member of the DuPage County Health Board, filed petitions Monday with the DuPage County Election Commission. He will run for the Republican nomination for the District 3 seat in the February primary election.

As of Thursday Brennan and former Downers Grove Mayor Brian Krajewski were the only two Republican candidates who had filed petitions to run on the Republican ballot.

No Democrats had filed as of Thursday, according to the Election Commission Web site.

“I’d like to carry over the success I have been part of on the DuPage County Health Board and the District 86 Board of Education to the county level,” Brennan said.

Brennan said the Health Board has reduced its reliance on county funding from $23 million to $17 million while serving on that board since 1999. Now serving in his second term in District 86, student test scores have risen since he was elected in 2005, he added.

If Brennan succeeds at the primary level and eventually is elected to the County Board in November 2010, he said he was unsure if he would be allowed to hold both offices simultaneously.

“I would like to serve both boards but am not sure if that is possible,” he said.

Brennan is the president of Brennan Realty Corp., and also served for four years on the Maercker School District 60 Board of Education.

Krajewski served as mayor of Downers Grove from 1999 to 2007, served on the DuPage County Water Commission for five years while serving as mayor, and also is the chairman of the Downers Grove Township Republican Organization.

“I announced my candidacy in August, and think my experience and relationships with many of the elected county officials and current board members will be a great benefit if I am elected,” Krajewski said. “My financial background also can be useful in serving the county when it comes to preparing budgets.”

Krajewski is a certified CPA, he said.

Krajewski also said he has the endorsements of 10 elected county officials — including Joe Birkett, DuPage County state’s Attorney — and has had conversations with several DuPage County mayors, including Woodridge’s William Murphy and Burr Ridge’s Gary Grasso.

The seat Brennan and Krajewski seek is  held by Tom Bennington, who recently was named by County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom to replace  former member Kyle Gilgis. Brennan, Krajewski and 12 other candidates — the list did not include Bennington, who was chosen after having previously served on the County Board — applied to fill the remaining term of Gilgis.

Bennington already has announced he does not plan to run for election.