Activist running for Yingling's House seat in Lake County
Ingleside activist Denise Rotheimer announced Monday she's once again running for elected office - this time a state House seat.
Rotheimer, the founder of a group called Mothers on a Mission to Stop Violence, is seeking the Republican nomination for the 62nd District seat held by Democrat Sam Yingling of Grayslake. The primary is in March 2018.
"In the past 14 years, I have gained valuable insight and knowledge into the workings of the Illinois General Assembly," Rotheimer said in a news release. "I am running for office because I want to assist the residents in the 62nd Representative District in their efforts to make laws that improves our community and quality of life."
Last week, Grayslake resident Bob Bednar announced he's running for the GOP nomination, too.
Reached Monday, Yingling said he plans to seek re-election. He's held the post since 2013.
The 62nd District includes all or parts of Grayslake, Hainesville, the Round Lake communities, Lake Villa, Gurnee, Wauconda, Wildwood and Gages Lake.
As an activist and mother of a violent crime victim, Rotheimer has campaigned for state laws that strengthen victims' rights.
She last ran for the Republican nomination for the Lake County Board's 5th District seat in March 2016. She lost to Judy Martini, who eventually won the post.
In 2014, Rotheimer briefly ran for the 62nd District seat as an independent. She was removed from the ballot because of problems with her candidate petitions.
In 2008, she ran as a Democrat for the county board's 17th District seat when she lived in Barrington.
Bednar served as a Lake Bluff Park District commissioner from 2003 to 2005. He ran for Lake County Recorder of Deeds in 2012 but lost to Democratic incumbent Mary Ellen Vanderventer.
In 2014, Bednar unsuccessfully ran for the GOP nomination in the 51st state House District. Bednar lived in Mundelein at the time, as he did in 2012.