Republican Sue Rezin, part of the GOP leadership team in the Senate, has represented this district just south of the Chicago metropolitan area since 2010. The district includes parts of Kendall, LaSalle and Bureau counties.
Rezin ran unopposed in 2022 and easily beat her Democratic opponent in 2018. The Democrats are taking another shot at this seat in this cycle. Ernie Marcelain, 51, a manager at a Yorkville printing company, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Marcelain tells us the most pressing issue in the district is data centers. He backs requiring data-center operators to supply their own electricity.
He also supports the 3% surcharge on incomes over $1 million, backed by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and wants to try again for a graduated income tax after Illinois voters rejected it in 2020.
Rezin, 63, has been a leader in Illinois on energy issues and an ardent supporter of nuclear power. Her district is home to the Braidwood and LaSalle nuclear stations, two of six such Illinois plants owned and operated by Constellation Energy. After years of advocacy, she succeeded in lifting the state’s long-standing ban on new nuclear plants in 2025. Under a new power-purchase contract with Google, Constellation is investing heavily in boosting power-generation capacity at the two plants in her district as well as others in Illinois and elsewhere.
As to data centers, Rezin tells us they should “pay their own way and local communities should have a strong voice in whether and where they are built.”
Rezin has consistently been a strong voice on behalf of taxpayers and deserves reelection. We endorse Sue Rezin.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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