Republican Robert Vrankovich, 52, faces Democrat Erica Bray-Parker, 56, in this DuPage County district, where Republican state Rep. Amy Grant is retiring.
Vrankovich, a small-business owner, brings a welcome focus on fiscal restraint and strikes us as a particularly strong Republican candidate. He advocates property tax relief, consolidation of local government services and structural reforms at Chicago Public Schools before additional state funding. “We cannot keep paying into a broken system and children deserve a better chance to succeed,” he told us.
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Bray-Parker, a former Wheaton City Council member and longtime educator, has valuable public service experience. But her ties to teachers unions raise questions about whether she would provide an independent check on Springfield’s powerful education interests.
Illinois needs more lawmakers willing to challenge the status quo and resist the reflex to raise taxes. Vrankovich offers that perspective.
Robert Vrankovich is endorsed.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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