DuPage Democrats reelect party chair

DuPage County Democrats have reelected Reid McCollum to head the local party organization for another two years.

Democrats also reelected Diane McGuire as first vice chair and Ilse Messner as treasurer. McGuire and McCollum were first elected in November 2024, and Messner was elected in April 2024.

McCollum and his running mates were uncontested for reelection at the DuPage Democratic County Convention on Wednesday, April 15.

“I’m honored and humbled for the opportunity to continue to lead the Democratic Party of DuPage County,” McCollum said in a news release. “We have a lot of work to do, but I’m confident that together we can win every single race across DuPage up and down the ballot this fall.”

During McCollum’s first term, he helped further the blue wave, with Democratic candidates winning township offices in all 49 contested races in the spring 2025 elections. A month after the election wins, he spearheaded a 30-mile protest called “Hands Across Chicagoland” that stretched from Aurora to Chicago in opposition to President Donald Trump.

Governor JB Pritzker joined McCollum and other Democratic leaders last August at the DuPage Democrats’ office for a news conference when Texas lawmakers fled their state to stall efforts to gerrymander districts.

In February, McCollum and DuPage Democrats held their largest fundraiser, which featured David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in 2018 and co-founder of March for Our Lives.