In northwest suburban District 51, Democrat Jenny Levin, 36, a registered nurse, faces Republican Lori Smith, 54, a longtime educator and former school administrator.
Smith brings more than two decades of experience in special education, including working with children with significant disabilities. She supports school choice, greater accountability for education spending and reforms to Illinois’ burdensome public pension system, and while we like her position on limiting electronic monitoring, she goes a bit further on public safety reform than we’d prefer.
We particularly appreciate her insistence that Chicago Public Schools demonstrate better results and address underused buildings before seeking additional state funding. “More money without accountability is just a more expensive failure,” she told us.
Levin brings valuable healthcare experience, but her openness to higher taxes and greater spending gives us pause.
Smith’s combination of hands-on education experience and commitment to fiscal restraint would be welcome in Springfield.
Lori Smith is endorsed.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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