Lake County Gazette

With roughly 60 percent and by approximately 15,000 votes, state Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) retained his 26th District seat on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Kelly Mazeski and vowing to continue his work in the General Assembly.

McConchie is a businessman by trade, advising a private-sector purchasing company. He served in the Army National Guard for eight years as an infantryman and military police officer. 

A resident of Hawthorn Woods, McConchie took over the Senate seat on Apr. 20 when Republican Dan Duffy of Lake Barrington resigned to lead the nonprofit Prevent Child Abuse America. Duffy subsequently endorsed McConchie in March's three-way Republican primary.

| Contributed photo

A staunch supporter of pension reform, McConchie refused to accept the legislator pension offered to him and said Illinois needs to test the constitutionality of moving current employees into defined-contribution plans while still protecting the pension benefits they have accumulated.

McConchie also supports redistricting, term limits and education, and was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner to the Education Funding Reform Task Force Commission, an initiative aimed at finding a solution to education funding.

McConchie said the election's results present proof that voters want a broad approach to leadership. Whereas Mazeski focused on one issue in her election challenge — McConchie's pro-life stance — he said the public wants a leader able to address a multitude of matters, stating that the election was "not just a litmus test on one issue."

“It’s been a great night,” McConchie told the Lake County Gazette. “We had a lot of late money put into the race, and all indications are that the (negative ad results) are completely flat. We find that to be not only encouraging, but also refreshing — that people, despite having hundreds of thousands of dollars of TV and mail sent their way, were able to see through the negative tactics. They decided they want somebody who talks about all the issues that they care about — not just the one issue that my opponent was fixated on.”

Comparing winning the election to having been previously appointed, McConchie expressed appreciation for the support.

“It’s really great to have the people’s vote of confidence in such a resounding way, and that is very meaningful, obviously,” McConchie said. “The people have given their stamp of approval to what it is that I stand for and working to … do for our state.”

Regarding the next chapter, McConchie said it comes down to whether (House Speaker) Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) is willing to sit down and cooperate — not only with Rauner, but also with members of the state Senate.

“(Madigan) has historically just done whatever he wanted to do, and even members of his own party in the Senate have felt like he hasn’t negotiated with them in good faith,” McConchie said. “We’re going to see what his response is going forward, but I certainly hope that the speaker will become more amenable to actually trying to get some things done, rather than just simply stonewalling.”

Regarding top priorities in his new term, McConchie listed school funding first, followed by term limits and redistricting issues. For the latter two, McConchie suggested that actions would again depend on how Madigan decides to approach the issues now, especially now that he no longer has a state House supermajority for leverage.

“It depends on whether he actually allows some of these common-sense measures to go forward or if he … stonewalls on them,” McConchie said. "I think the ball is largely in the speaker’s court.”

McConchie said school funding is important not only for families per se, but also specifically for property owners, as approximately 75 percent of property taxes in Illinois is allocated to school systems, and Illinois is widely known to have the highest property taxes in the nation. In fact, he brought up the topic well before the campaign stretched into its final weeks, calling it “the first thing” on his list earlier this year.

“The only way we’re going to get substantive property tax relief is to fundamentally change the way in which we help support our schools,” McConchie said. “Every single day when I go out to talk to voters, the number one issue that they complain about is property taxes.”

The 26th District covers southeastern McHenry County, central and southwestern Lake County, and areas of Kane and Cook Counties.