The race for the seat in Illinois State Senate District 26 pits Democrat Kelly Mazeski against Republican Dan McConchie, who was appointed to the seat on April 20, 2016 to replace fellow Republican Dan Duffy, who resigned to take leadership of a child advocacy group.
Mazeski has been involved in local politics for a decade, serving on the North Barrington Zoning Board of Appeals, Barrington Hills Plan Commission, and as a North Barrington Village trustee.
Mazeski graduated from St. Mary’s College with a B.S. in Biology and minors in business and chemistry. She worked as a product-development chemist and, later, as a financial advisor for an investment firm.
Mazeski identifies as a moderate on social and economic issues. She has called for pension reform and making Illinois more business-friendly while at the same time working to preserve the environment. She advocates a property tax freeze and for fewer taxes. She is in favor of more gun regulation, including tighter background checks, eliminating the gun show loophole and banning so-called assault weapons. She is in favor of a woman's right to choose, and stands against any restrictions on legal abortion services.
McConchie has a bachelor’s degree in from Central Bible College and an M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is a Senior Advisor to the Shelby Group, a procurement optimization service. Before that he spent eleven years, including as vice president for government affairs, at Americans United for Life, and has held positions at similar organizations. He currently serves on the boards of The Fund for American Studies, Informed Choices Pregnancy & Parenting. He also served nine years in the Army National Guard.
McConchie identifies as a staunch social and economic conservative. His career has mostly been spent on pro-life issues, and he continues to advocate for that position. He says pension reform is the state's number one priority, and advocates moving from a traditional pension system for state workers to a defined contribution one. He wants to freeze property taxes, cut other taxes, reduce spending, and reduce or eliminate mandates and other rules and regulations on business, local governments and public universities. He opposes any further restrictions on guns. He also favors the Fair Maps initiative to reform redistricting, and putting term limits on the ballot.
Endorsements
Mazeski has been endorsed by and the Chicago Sun-Times, the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club and Equality Illinois.
McConchie has been endorsed by The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald and the National Rifle Association, among others.
- This report was compiled by WNIJ's Guy Stephens
