Antioch Township Republican Committeeman Mike “Mickey” Scornavacco from the cover of his book Litterbox Nation. | Mike Scornavacco
Antioch Township Republican Committeeman Mike “Mickey” Scornavacco from the cover of his book Litterbox Nation. | Mike Scornavacco
If you live in Lake County and you are struggling to keep up, if grocery prices feel higher every week, if your paycheck does not stretch like it used to, and if your SNAP benefits have been cut, this is your wake-up call.
Not a lecture. A reality check.
This is what happens when government dependency replaces personal independence. The Democrat Party wants you dependent. They want you worried, waiting, and willing to trade your vote for your next benefit. Dependency is not kindness. It is control.
Lake County Deserves Better
Families here in Antioch, Fox Lake, Round Lake, Waukegan, and across our communities are working harder than ever just to stay afloat. Property taxes are punishing, grocery bills are crushing, and state leadership in Springfield keeps finding new ways to punish producers and reward dependency.
Meanwhile, Democratic-led officials such as Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart and members including Gina Roberts and Mary Ross Cunningham have repeatedly voted for property-tax hikes and expanded budgets. In 2024 they approved a 659 million-dollar budget with a tax levy increase of more than 2 percent. The year before, they pushed through a 640 million-dollar budget with a 5 percent tax levy increase, the highest allowed by law.
These choices have raised the cost of living for every family in Lake County while expanding bureaucracy and creating new departments that do nothing to lower your bills or improve your quality of life.
Democrats have controlled this county and this state for decades, and what has it brought? Higher taxes, fewer jobs, and more people leaving Illinois every year.
Lake County deserves better.
Democrats Built the Trap
Every new Democrat-backed program adds more government employees, more bureaucracy, and more dependency. Every dollar taken from the private sector is another dollar that could have gone to families, small businesses, and local growth. Democrats keep people trapped in the same cycle while pretending to help them escape it.
They call it “equity.” In reality it is control. They claim to “lift people up.” In practice they make you more dependent on government handouts that can disappear at any time.
The Party That Actually Believes in You
Republicans believe in work, not welfare. Faith, not fear. Opportunity, not dependency.We believe that every man and woman in this county, no matter your background, has the power to rise above government control.
We want to empower people, not trap them. We want local small businesses to thrive instead of drown in regulation. We want parents to choose their children’s schools, not bureaucrats in Springfield. And we want every able-bodied person to know the dignity of earning their own way.
That is real compassion. That is real freedom.
It Starts Right Here
I am not writing this from Washington. I am writing it from Antioch, right here in Lake County, where we are building something real. The Republican Party is not a club for the powerful. It is a movement for everyone who has had enough of being ignored, overtaxed, and controlled.
If you have been voting Democrat because you thought they cared about people like you, it is time to look at what is really happening in your wallet, your grocery cart, and your neighborhood. The truth speaks for itself.
Join us.Not because we promise handouts, but because we offer a hand up.Not because we will take care of you, but because we will fight for your right to take care of yourself.
Vote for Change
In November 2026, Lake County has a chance to change direction. Republican candidate John Muellner is running for the Lake County Board to fix this mess. He stands for lower taxes, responsible budgets, and policies that reward hard work instead of dependency. John Muellner represents the future of a freer, stronger, more accountable Lake County.
Freedom begins when dependency ends. Right now, Lake County needs leaders who believe in the people, not the system.
Vote Republican. Vote John Muellner in November 2026.
Michael Scornavacco
Republican Committeeman, Antioch 6
Lake County, Illinois
Scornavacco is the author of Litterbox Nation : How Coddling Crazy is Killing The American Dream.
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