District 95 parent, Dan McConchie, is running for State Senate after winning the Republican primary on March 15.

McConchie won the State Senate Republican primary for the 26th Illinois Senate District, which serves Lake Zurich and surrounding towns. The general election will be held on November 8, and the victor will replace the current state senator, Dan Duffy.

“I decided to run for office because our state is wasting our money every single day. Our taxes are already some of the highest in the Midwest, but instead of changing some basic rules to bring down the costs for taxpayers like us, many of those in charge want to raise our taxes even higher. That doesn’t work for me,” McConchie said.

Taxes are one of the many issues that are important to McConchie, along with being involved in the community. McConchie is involved through the local pregnancy help center, Informed Choices; the Board of Regrets for the The Fund for American Studies, an international educational organization; and he has served on the Hawthorn Woods Public Works committee.

“One of my top issues is what can we do to we encourage young people to stay in Illinois. There are many incentives to move out of state – high tuition rates at state universities, some of the highest taxes in the Midwest, instability in our state government, and the fact that the summers here are too short, “McConchie. “Well, we can’t do anything about the weather, but we can get our house in order to keep education costs low and encourage businesses to locate here and provide great jobs again.”

McConchie’s teenage daughters, Sophie, sophomore, and Kristi, 8th grade, have supported him throughout his campaign, says Sophie.

“I was pretty surprised [when he said he was going to run for State Senate]. People had told him he should [run] before, but [now] he actually did it,” Sophie McConchie said. “I’d say I was a mix of surprise and pride. This is a new thing and we will just see where it takes [our family].”