Endorsement: Didech for Illinois House Dist. 59

When Daniel Didech first ran for the Illinois legislature in House District 59 in 2018, he beat his Republican opponent 61% to 39% and inherited the seat from the popular Carol Sente. He ran for re-election in 2020 with no Republican stepping up to challenge him. In 2022, he ran for re-election again, and beat GOP standard-bearer Charles Roeske by 66.5% to 33.5%, an even greater margin than in his first election.

Didech’s margin of victory tells us that voters believe he continues to be the right candidate for House District 59, which contains much of Buffalo Grove, Green Oaks, Gurnee, Indian Creek, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Mettawa, Mundelein, Northbrook, Riverwoods, Vernon Hills and Wheeling.

A Buffalo Grove Democrat, Didech says he is 100% pro-choice, and that he would fight any attempt to limit a woman’s decision-making power to end a pregnancy. Didech supports full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, believes that the many immigrants who live in District 59 are valuable additions, and overall he embraces Illinois’s rich diversity.

Those views appear to be in line with most voters in House District 59. Moreover, Didech is the kind of legislator who initiates talks with a Republican colleague when he believes that together they can get something good done. He calls his mayors, school board members, park board members and other officials from the House floor when he wants to know how potential legislation might affect the communities in his district. That kind of two-way communication between Springfield and the suburbs is vital to having effective, thoughtful legislation.

Didech is a former Vernon Township supervisor and his legal practice is in local government law, acting as attorney to municipalities, school districts, park districts and community colleges.

His Republican opponent on Nov. 5 is attorney Christopher Henning of Mundelein, an intelligent, informed man who follows the expected GOP line of thinking about abortion, guns, immigrants and other national social issues. But he isn’t so dogmatic that he can’t see the basic humanity at the root of all the disagreement.

Still, Didech has performed well in office, and he gets our endorsement for a fourth term in Springfield.