Lake County Gazette

Dan McConchie, a Republican running for the state Senate seat for District 26, hopes to contribute to his district and the state by cutting spending, lowering taxes and fighting current political corruption.

McConchie recently was endorsed by current state Sen. Dan Duffy (R-District 26), who is retiring. 

“State Sen. Dan Duffy joined our team and endorsed our campaign because he knows I have the courage to fight the status quo in Springfield and advocate for the conservative principles our district needs.” McConchie recently told the Lake County Gazette.

Some of the issues McConchie wants to address include pension reform, fiscal responsibility and transparency, transportation, the condition of education, and affordability of state colleges.

“The No. 1 thing that faces our district is the state's overspending and unfunded mandates on local governments,” McConchie said. “Both of these leads to demands for higher taxes at the state level, higher property taxes at the local level and creates uncertainty overall. It's that high tax burden and uncertainty about where tax rates are going in the future that are driving people out of the state in record numbers.”

McConchie argues that the state has to live within its means, just like every Illinois family has to.

“Additionally, we are suffering from a brain drain,” he said. “The No. 1 question high school students have of me is, ‘What can you do about the price of tuition?’ Too many of our kids are leaving the state because of the high cost of tuition in our state schools compared to surrounding states.”

McConchie explained that when students leave to go to college elsewhere, most of them don't return.

“This breaks up families and sends our future taxpayers to pay taxes and invest elsewhere," he said. "We need to remove the state rules that are driving up the costs at our schools, especially rules that govern purchasing and procurement."

McConchie is running against two other Republicans in the primary, Casey Urlacher and Martin McLaughlin. He explained that the people in his district are not happy and are looking for a conservative who will go to Springfield to represent their values and their interests, and he is the best person to do this.

“I'm a life-long conservative with a track record of defending our principles," he said. "Voters are rallying to our cause because they share our desire for an outsider who will bring reform to Illinois by taking on the Springfield political class.”