The Republican challenger for the Lake County Board District 16 seat wants to bring political “balance,” but the incumbent says he’s the right one for today’s “political climate.”
District 16 includes Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, and portions of Round Lake and Round Lake Park. It is represented by Esiah Campos.
Campos first joined the board in 2022 as its youngest and first Latino member in the county’s history. He’s a Round Lake Beach resident and Navy veteran who until recently worked on the pension board for the Teamsters union. He has since stepped back to work for the County Board full time, he said.
Now running as an incumbent, Campos said he has got a track record, noting various infrastructure projects that have moved forward during his tenure. The other big issues are “always affordability, it’s always representation and constituent outreach,” he said.
Lake County has been “very fiscally responsible,” he said, pushing back on talking points he’s heard from Republicans on the county’s tax rates. “They don’t understand how Lake County, specifically board members, can affect taxes and affordability,” Campos said.
However, he discussed permit-fee reductions and “taking away unneeded or overlapping units of government” as ways to help reduce burdens on residents.
“Their way of addressing the affordability issue is to throw everything out the window and start again,” Campos said. “It’s just a political talking point”
Newer issues that have come up in the district include the planned T5 data center, which Campos has repeatedly voiced concerns about, including voting in support of an eight-month data center moratorium for the county earlier this year.
He also raised concerns over Baxter Healthcare Corp., which has been settling lawsuits accusing the company of allegedly carcinogenic emissions. While he didn’t want the factory shut down, he said there needed to be “strong enough regulations” and penalties to “keep bad actors from continuing to do bad acts.”
Campos also warned about national issues that have hit locally. Lake County and Round Lake specifically were swept up in Operation Midway Blitz, with dozens taken into custody by federal immigration officers over a several-month period.
Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted in Waukegan and Round Lake, rekindling local fears.
Campos said he has achievements under his belt as the incumbent, something he said his opponent lacks.
“Somebody new, whether they be on the Democratic or the Republican side, would have to start at Day Zero, and that is not what we need right now in our current climate and in the current state of our country right now,” he said.
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Rodriguez’s values “don’t align” with the district’s, Campos said, and he considers her a “disingenuous” candidate that was put up without a primary.
“The support behind her from the Republican Party is just not there,” Campos said.
Rodriguez has lived in Round Lake since 2020. She has not previously held public office, but ran over concerns about property taxes. As someone who has been living on disability benefits and Social Security for about six years, she’s felt the impact, she said.
“I just figured it was time for me to stop complaining and get involved,” Rodriguez said.
Professionally, she worked for about two decades at Little Friends Inc., a social services organization, Rodriguez said.
The board, which is a supermajority Democratic and likely to remain that way, is “kind of imbalanced,” Rodriguez said. “There needs to be a voice to just say ‘no.’”
Beyond property taxes, Rodriguez also said people have concerns about gas prices, inflation, safety, and even local schools.
“I would support empowering police, repealing the SAFETY Act, and trying to allow some of the dangerous people around her to be taken out of here,” Rodriguez said.
She also voiced support for starting neighborhood watches in areas that don’t currently have them.
Rodriguez said she would also push for the county to ask the governor to suspend the state tax, which “everybody would benefit from,” and encouraged residents to vote against the county sales tax hike on the November ballot.
Despite being a Republican, while campaigning, Rodriguez said everyone she spoke with was “very nice” and “positive.” And regardless of party, on the board, she is “sure we can all work together on things.”
“I would hope we can all know what our constituents need,” Rodriguez said. “There’s plenty we could agree upon, I’m sure. So I would say we start there.”