North Aurora trustee enters race for Foster's 11th Congressional District seat
The race for the Republican nomination in the 11th Congressional District has a new candidate - and the first with elected experience.
North Aurora Trustee Mark Carroll announced Sunday that he's seeking the post now held by Democrat Bill Foster of Naperville.
Carroll's entry into the contest brings the GOP field to seven candidates.
The other Republicans who are actively campaigning or have filed campaign paperwork with the Federal Election Commission are: Woodstock resident Catalina Lauf; Cassandra Tanner Miller of Elgin; Warrenville music teacher Jerry Evans; Andrea Heeg of Geneva; Grace Greene of St. Charles; and Dean Seppelfrick of Aurora.
Their political target, Foster, is seeking his seventh full term in Congress.
Carroll, an attorney in the financial services industry, has served as a North Aurora trustee since 2014. He previously was an appointed member of the village's plan commission.
Carroll filed a statement of organization with the FEC last week, records show.
In a news release announcing his candidacy, Carroll said he seeks to unite people and heal divisions.
He said he will present "a message of optimism and hope" that is "blind to race, gender, religion or economic condition."
The release also noted Carroll, while a congressional intern and staff assistant in the mid-1990s, "was honored" to work on controversial legislation including federal restrictions on abortion and the law that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman - a law ultimately ruled unconstitutional.
Redrawn for the 2022 election, the 11th District encompasses parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties.
Candidate petition filing begins March 7 and ends March 14.
The primary is June 28. The general election is Nov. 8.