North Barrington woman seeks to unseat U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley
A North Barrington woman who ran for a local school board seat last year has turned her sights on Congress.
Malgorzata McGonigal has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating she's running as a Republican for the 5th District seat now held by Democrat Mike Quigley of Chicago. She also has launched a Facebook page and a website for the campaign, but neither has much activity.
With the primary election scheduled for June 28, McGonigal is the lone Republican candidate in the race so far. She didn't respond to questions about her campaign Friday.
Last spring, McGonigal was among 11 candidates for four seats on the Barrington Area Unit District 220 board. She finished sixth.
In that race, McGonigal was one of three candidates backed by the Barrington Township Republican Organization and a political committee called ACTION, or "Advancing Change Together In Our Neighborhood."
During the school board campaign, McGonigal criticized District 220 leaders for how they addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, and she supported fully opening schools rather than using remote learning.
Based on population changes revealed by the 2020 U.S. census and political factors, congressional districts in Illinois and across the nation were redrawn last year. The new boundaries go into effect with this year's election and will last until after the 2030 census.
For the past decade, the 5th District included part of Chicago's North Side and some Western suburbs in Cook and DuPage counties.
It now runs from the lakeshore on Chicago's Near North Side to the Barrington area through parts of Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Palatine, Deer Park, Lake Zurich and other towns.
Congressional candidates will make their campaigns official by filing nominating petitions with the Illinois State Board of Elections in March.
Quigley has represented the 5th District since a special election in 2009 and now is in his sixth full term. He succeeded Rahm Emanuel after Emanuel left Congress to become President Barack Obama's chief of staff.
Quigley is a former Cook County commissioner who also worked as an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago and Roosevelt University.
Democrat Raleigh Bowman of Chicago is set to challenge Quigley in their party's primary. However, Bowman's campaign Facebook page hasn't been updated since last July.