Restraining order sought to block 26th Senate appointment amid legal fight
A request for a temporary restraining order seeking to prevent Barrington Hills Trustee Darby Hills from being sworn in as the next state senator for the 26th District was filed Wednesday.
It’s the latest salvo in an Algonquin woman’s campaign to stop Hills’ appointment to the seat that was held by Republican Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods until Feb. 2.
The request was filed Wednesday morning in McHenry County court, records indicate. Judge Kevin G. Costello will rule on the matter.
Hills’ Feb. 14 appointment to the Senate by a group of suburban Republican leaders should be nullified because she doesn’t meet the state’s definition of a Republican, plaintiff Brittany Colatorti asserts in her lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday afternoon.
Under state law, a Republican must fill the post because McConchie, who resigned to lead a nonprofit group, is a Republican.
According to the suit, Hills hasn’t signed a Republican candidate petition or a statement of candidacy as a Republican, voted in a Republican primary or run for office as a Republican in at least 23 months. Those activities are among the ones that, under the law, determine a candidate’s political party for such appointments.
Hills was appointed to the nonpartisan Barrington Hills village board in 2022.
Colatorti, whose husband ran for McHenry County sheriff as a Republican in 2022, also alleges the GOP committee formed to choose McConchie’s successor failed to properly notify the public of its meeting or the application process.
The lawsuit names Hills and the Republican legislative committee for the 26th Senate District as defendants.
Colatorti’s attorney is Thomas Devore, a downstate Greenville resident who ran for Illinois attorney general in 2022. DeVore has been critical of Hills’ appointment in social media posts.
The 26th District encompasses much of southern, central and western Lake County; a portion of northwest Cook County; and smaller parts of Kane and McHenry counties.
Neither Hills nor Colatorti could be reached for comment.