Fresh off starting a second term on the Naperville City Council, Ian Holzhauer has announced plans to run for DuPage County Board next year.
Holzhauer made the announcement on his personal Facebook page Sunday night just hours after being sworn in for another four years on the council.
“The number one duty of candidates and elected officials is to be candid with voters,” his post read. “Many have asked about my future intentions. Rather than be cagey, I will be straightforward: I will be running for DuPage County Board in District 5 in the midterm election.”
District 5 comprises most of Naperville and sections of Aurora in DuPage.
Reached over the phone Tuesday evening, Holzhauer confirmed his plans to run as a Democrat, saying the County Board is a place where he feels like he “could make a contribution.”
“I’ve been an admirer for the last couple of years of the leadership on the County Board (and) of how collaboratively the board is able to work,” he said. “I look forward to applying some of the lessons I’ve learned from governing in Naperville and learning new things in DuPage County.”
Holzhauer was first elected to the council in 2021.
He said he had been “mulling this for a while” but the decision to run is one he made within the last week. He also said that the “composition” of the council he’d be leaving behind should he get elected was “certainly a major factor in my decision process.”
Holzhauer’s announcement comes just over a month after the April 1 consolidated election, where he emerged as the third-highest vote getter in the eight-way race for council.
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Holzhauer was reelected alongside fellow incumbent Benny White and newcomers Ashfaq Syed and Mary Gibson. Before they were elected, the group had aligned themselves and together received the backing of both prominent Naperville Democrats and the party itself.
All four were inaugurated Sunday afternoon. The first meeting of the new council was held Tuesday night.
“The results of the Naperville election were a big influence because I believe that with the current composition of council that we have, we’re going to be able to accomplish a huge amount of things in the next couple of years,” Holzhauer said. “It makes me very comfortable that the council will be in good hands beyond that point.”
If elected to the County Board, he’d focus on expanding countywide mental health initiatives, he said.
“The county has this unique position to deal with what I consider to be our nation’s single biggest crisis right now, which is the mental health crisis. … We’ve done what we can in the city, and I’m really proud of that work,” he said. “But this is just taking it to another level.”
Holzhauer said he would also focus on tackling development challenges that the county faces “being almost fully filled out.”
District 5 seats are currently held by Democrats Sadia Covert, Dawn DeSart and Saba Haider. Haider, of Aurora, was just elected to the board last fall after unseating former Naperville City Council member Patty Gustin. Her term is up in 2028.
For Covert and DeSart, both of Naperville, their terms are up in 2026. The seats, however, would be elected separately, according toDuPage County Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson.
Term limits for the board are staggered, Johnson said. For each of the board’s six districts, there are three seats. Those are divided into two, four-year terms and one two-year term. How those terms are divided between members is decided by a lottery system held each redistricting year, Johnson said.
The last time the county decided term lengths for its 18-seat board was in 2022. Per the results of that lottery, DeSart’s seat is up for a two-year term next year while Covert’s seat is up for a four-year term.
Holzhauer said that he would be seeking the four-year seat.
Should more than one candidate from a party vie for the seats, there would be a primary election to decide who gets the nomination.
DeSart said in a call that she intends to run for the two-year District 5 seat. Covert could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
As for what would happen to Holzhauer’s council term if he’s elected to represent District 5, state statute dictates the process. It states that if a vacancy occurs in a municipal office with a four-year term and there remains an unexpired portion of the term of at least 28 months, then the vacancy could be filled through the next general municipal election — as long as the vacancy occurs at least 130 days before that election takes place.
Asked how the process could shake out in Naperville, city attorney Michael DiSanto said it was too early to say.
In response to Holzhauer’s bid for the board, DuPage County Republicans called the move “absolutely ridiculous.”
“Not even 24 hours after being sworn in as a Naperville City Councilman, Ian Holzhauer announces a campaign for another office,” DuPage GOP wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
“Wouldn’t the transparent and ‘not cagey’ thing to do … have been to have told the voters he was running for another office before they voted him in for another term as their councilman? There’s a reason many people do not trust politicians. This is a good example as to why.”