New GOP candidates for 52nd District seat

A pair of Republicans with prior political campaigns under their belts have announced they're running for the state House 52nd District seat in 2012.

Barrington Township resident David McSweeney and Island Lake resident Danielle Rowe are seeking the post formerly held by longtime Republican lawmaker Mark Beaubien, who died earlier this year.

Republican Kent Gaffney was appointed to the post after Beaubien's death.

A former investment banker now working as a financial consultant, McSweeney won the GOP nomination for the 8th Congressional District seat in 2006, but lost to Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean in the general election.

Rowe, who moved to Island Lake from Wauconda last month, unsuccessfully ran for the Wauconda village board in 2008.

In the news release announcing his candidacy, McSweeney referred to the state's ongoing financial problems as a motivator for his bid.

“The future of our state depends on citizen legislators who are committed to the hard decisions that bureaucrats and politicians have failed to make,” he said.

McSweeney's announcement included endorsements from notable elected officials and GOP activists, including Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod, former congressional candidates Dirk Beveridge and John Dawson and Wauconda Township Supervisor Glenn Swanson.

Rowe, a marketing executive for a Chicago company, said she's been active in the tea party movement. Illinois families have been hurt “by the Democrats and the Republicans that have just been going along,” she said.

Assuming they make it onto the ballot, Gaffney, Sweeney and Rowe will face off in a GOP primary in March 2012.

A Democratic candidate has not yet surfaced.

Set to be redrawn because of population changes discovered in the 2010 Census, the 52nd District includes parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.