Endorsement: Karina Villa for Senate Dist. 25

Illinois Senate District 25 has historically voted conservative.

For two decades, it was the fiefdom of current Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen and for the past eight years, the Senate seat has been occupied by Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove.

With this election, we're about to see whether that may change amid a recent suburban trend to the left. Oberweis is running for Congress rather than for reelection to the Illinois Senate, and says he would have term-limited himself out of the Senate even if the congressional race didn't beckon.

Running instead are state Rep. Karina Villa, the Democrat, and Jeanette Ward, the Republican, a former member of the Elgin Area District U-46 school board.

Each is from West Chicago, meaning that some change is certain. Whatever happens, the seat will be occupied by someone from outside Kane County for the first time in memory.

We prefer Villa, also a former school board member. She has been an able and approachable legislator with common-sense views and a clear commitment to equal opportunity.

Ward brings energy into the race, as she did during her term on the school board. But her politics are fairly strident and sometimes combative, and for a Republican to make a difference in Springfield, collaborative skills are essential.

We endorse Villa in Senate District 25, which takes in some or all of Aurora, Bartlett, Batavia, Big Rock, Campton Hills, Elburn, Elgin, Geneva, Geneva, Lily Lake, Montgomery, Naperville, North Aurora, Oswego, Plano, Prestbury, South Elgin, St. Charles, Sugar Grove, Warrenville, Wayne, West Chicago, and Yorkville.