Race for 42nd House District gets crowded

The race for the 42nd District seat in the Illinois House is getting a little more crowded.

Just days after political newcomer William Adams said he would be the first Democrat to enter the campaign, former DuPage County prosecutor Chris Hage on Monday announced his candidacy for the GOP primary.

Hage becomes the fourth Republican to enter the race in the newly redrawn district in central DuPage County that covers all or parts of Winfield, West Chicago, Carol Stream, Warrenville, Wheaton, Lisle and Naperville.

Hage will face off in the March 20 Republican primary with Wheaton City Councilwoman Jeanne Ives, Winfield businessman Gary Saake and Laura Pollastrini, a government relations

manager who lives in Carol Stream.

All candidates must file their completed nominating petitions between Nov. 28 and Dec. 5 with the Illinois Board of Elections.

Adams said he chose to run to give residents of the district a choice.

“I'm tired of, in the last four years, going to the ballot and seeing only one competitor,” the 40-year-old North Central College student said. “The democratic process should be a primary, then an actual competition in campaigning to see who is better qualified to represent the district.”

Adams said he has worked on several local, state and federal campaigns.

Hage was a former prosecutor under former DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett.

He announced his candidacy in front of about 50 supporters at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2164 in Wheaton. He said state Democrats had pushed jobs out of the state and that he would be a “voice to roll back the (Gov. Pat) Quinn tax cuts.”

“Mike Madigan will absolutely hear me when I say, ‘No,'” he said.