Daniel Alejandro Lomeli: 2026 candidate for DuPage County Board District 5 (2-year term)

Bio

Office sought: DuPage County Board District 5 (2-year term)

Party: Republican

City: Aurora

Age: 23

Previous offices held: None

Q&A

Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

As a lifelong resident of DuPage County, I am running to represent the only home I've ever known. Through DuPage, I have received a strong primary education, earned my bachelor’s degree from North Central College, helped open a family business, and more.

To give back to the community of hard-working taxpayers for funding my development, I want to serve them and fight for safe communities, small business support, and better constituent communication.

DuPage County is special in that it is one of the few counties in Illinois that has the power to acquire, sell, and transfer real property, such as land in our unincorporated areas, for the development of affordable housing. That said, one of our biggest issues now is how we can use this power to potentially fight housing insecurity in our county while also listening to residents who live in those unincorporated areas.

As a community, we have only grown by only a few thousand people this decade, with the many barriers to entry for people looking to become DuPage residents. Therefore, we need to have conversations on housing.

If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you’ve led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?

As a challenger, I want to show my willingness to work with my fellow board members as a teammate.

Growing up in DuPage County, a large and vastly diverse part of our state, I have become familiar with many political ideologies and opinions. Through experiences such as attending college and gaining local work experience, I have learned to appreciate and respect people with differing viewpoints.

In other words, I have lived my whole life as a team player.

On the local level, being capable of working with people who you do not always agree with is crucial when serving your constituency. Whether our county board elections are partisan or not, putting differences aside and building relationships matters to me. Therefore, my priority would be to foster those healthy relationships with my fellow elected officials and the people within my constituency.

If our shared goal is to make DuPage a better place, then that comes before your political beliefs. Once we build that trust, working on the issues that matter becomes much easier.

What initiatives would you support to increase revenue and/or save money?

In 2026, DuPage County saw a sales tax revenue shortfall, with sales tax revenue falling about $8 million below the budget for the year.

As someone who helps run my family’s local business, I have come to believe that lowering barriers to entry for potential small businesses can boost our revenue.

When you purchase an item in DuPage, the county receives a small portion of the sales tax.

Because the county has people with so many educational and experience backgrounds, we have a workforce available for businesses such as advanced manufacturing, tourism infrastructure, and other sectors that don't have a strong presence here.

By bringing in new business sectors to DuPage, we can expect people from outside the county to buy our products.

By investing in new business ventures, we could see not only growth, but more attention and potential for DuPage.

Is there a specific service or amenity that is lacking in the county? If so, how do you propose to provide and fund it?

Because of the increase in housing insecurity and growing poverty-stricken populations, one service that needs to be supported is our support systems for those impoverished and homeless.

In the county, we have seen an increase of over 850 people placed in housing programs, up from just under 600 six years ago. On some streets, I have seen more people going car-to-car asking for donations recently than I did just a few years ago.

That being said, we need to push for amenities that allow more of our homeless population to seek shelter, but we also need to push for better quality support for people who are at risk of becoming homeless.

One of the most effective ways to support these groups is to fund food pantries. This was recently done through a $2.5 million distribution to benefit Loaves & Fishes in Aurora, so expanding these efforts can be effective if needed.

To fund initiatives to support our communities, we can look to receiving grants from the state that can help us reduce their risk of homelessness,

Does there need to be more bipartisanship and cooperation on the county board? If yes, what would you do to help make that happen?

Now, bipartisanship and cooperation on our county board is more important than ever.

We live in a significant time in our nation’s history, when almost everything seems to be a hot-button topic. With easy access to real-time news and information, it is also incredibly easy to get swept up in issues in Washington, D.C., and lose focus on our local government.

Since the county often works with Springfield and the federal government to earn grants and fight for DuPage County’s interests, arguing that we should avoid communicating or working with anyone outside our county is easier said than done.

So, I would argue that the board should set clear goals for when we work with entities outside our county. Instead of investing in controversial issues, DuPage can focus on topics that need support, such as modernizing our transportation infrastructure and supporting our small business environment.

Let’s ensure that we keep our resources broad, but our goals and intentions local.

What is your stance on county board members' pay? Is it too high, too low, or just right? Would you propose any changes?

In 2026, each member of the DuPage County board makes roughly $50 thousand annually. By 2030, however, that number is set to increase to over $60 thousand.

That new salary may not seem like a huge increase by itself. However, given the county’s current context, raising our county board members’ salaries to that level goes a bit too far.

As a county, we are now fighting rising food and housing insecurity and have been trying to address those issues through actions such as investing money in food pantries. That, coupled with a budget that has ballooned by $200 million over the last 5 years, means we must allocate every penny with precision and respect for our residents.

Therefore, I believe the eventual pay of $60 thousand annually will become too heavy a burden to justify. After all, an elected official’s job is to look after their constituents before themselves, and I believe these new salaries fail to meet that objective.

What is the most important issue facing the county in your district and how should it be addressed?

As I have visited DuPage’s various unincorporated areas, I see more and more that we need to modernize our transportation infrastructure.

From our roads and the need for new lighting in some areas to a complete lack of sidewalks in several residential zones, our unincorporated areas need an upgrade. This is crucial not only to make transportation more accessible, but also to make our existing options safer.

In speaking with voters, I have learned these issues have been persistent, and while there are plans to address these issues in the future, they need to be addressed as soon as possible.

With the current plan in place to pursue these changes, I believe it is only right that we start to see improvements in our infrastructure shortly.