Our endorsement for Illinois House District 65: Ugaste

This endorsement is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

In his 3¾ years in the Illinois legislature, Dan Ugaste has been a reliable Republican vote, siding with Democrats only on those few issues where most of his fellow Republicans did too.

In fairness, being part of a super-minority in the Illinois House does not lend itself to much independent action. Still, Ugaste, of Geneva, has worked across the aisle on legislation, fully cognizant that the way for an Illinois Republican to have an impact in Springfield is to attract Democrats to their legislation.

We appreciate Ugaste's practical approach, and the fact he is more likely to compromise than engage in political bombast. For these reasons we are confident that Ugaste is the candidate who is closest in touch with the consituency of the 65th House District, a largely rural Kane County-based district both before and after the redistricting.

In 2020, like most collar counties, Kane County voted Democratic in national races. Biden and Durbin won Kane relatively handily as did Democratic congressional candidates: Casten in the 6th; Krishnamoorthi (8th); Foster (11th) and Underwood (14th).

Legislatively, however, Kane sent a mixed bag of Republicans and Democrats to Springfield, and Ugaste won reelection with 51.64% of the vote.

The Democratic candidate is Linda Robertson of St. Charles, who did not run in the June primary and was appointed to the November ballot by the local Democratic organization. Robertson is a retired environmental/industrial microbiologist who makes a decent point when she says the legislature could use fewer lawyers and more scientists.

Still, Ugaste is endorsed.