This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the Aurora area in the Nov. 5 general election.
The race for state senator in the 25th District this fall is between incumbent Democrat Karina Villa and challenger Heather Brown, a Republican.
The general election is set for Nov. 5.
Villa, 46, of West Chicago, is seeking her third term in the state Senate and said in her district, the top issues on voters’ minds include housing, the cost of living and immigration-related concerns.
“Housing – we’re working hard to meet with stakeholders and bring policy changes that would directly impact families,” Villa said. “One of the things I’ve already done was to pass a piece of legislation to protect tenants’ rights against retaliation from landlords.”
The cost of living, Villa said, remains a concern “as people are worried about paying property taxes.”
“It’s a regular thing being said to me – not just at the doors, but when people come to seek out assistance at my district office,” she said.
Immigration issues continue to be raised “by people who have lived and worked in this community for so long and being able to have access to work permits is a priority for people in the district.”
Villa refutes the notion that illegal immigrants are siphoning off resources noting they “continue to go to work and were deemed essential workers during COVID.”
If reelected, Villa said she would like to work on making sure “we are fully funding the evidence-based formula for education” as well as making sure “we’re helping the working-class community and making sure we are being fiscally responsible and continuing to increase the credit rating for the state of Illinois.”
“The third goal would be mental health which is at the top of my mind always, making sure there is parity with health care and mental health,” she said.
In terms of education, Villa said that “evidence-based funding is working.”
“We are seeing communities like Aurora and West Chicago that were severely underfunded in the past are now able to have more resources for their students,” she said.
Fiscal responsibility means increasing the state’s credit rating, she said, “something that has been happening and needs to continue to improve.”
Health care, she said, “needs to include mental health care and we need to make sure we are putting our resources there.”
For Brown, 36, of West Chicago, this is the second time she has run for state Senate and says residents in the district are concerned about the economy, safety and mental health.
“The economy involves fiscal responsibility and the state spending within its means,” she said. “I’m an independent alderman in the city of West Chicago and we’ve had issues with grants that are not delivered on time and we can’t push projects through. This has been happening all over DuPage County and many of the mayors and managers have been reaching out to senators.”
Safety issues, Brown said, include the impact of the SAFE-T Act and also the “opioid crisis.”
“People are concerned because a lot of people are being released in 24 hours,” she of the SAFE-T Act.
Brown said she would like to see changes to the act that some area law enforcement officials support.
“Some things can stay but we need to make a better outcome for people in the future,” she said.
Mental health needs to be addressed in schools more, Brown said.
“We need more social workers as well as in our police departments because as of right now we don’t have enough in either and that would make a huge impact on our children’s lives as well as our community,” she said.
If elected, Brown said she “would like to work with our elected officials that everyone has chosen and actually listen to the constituents as well as the mayors and managers.”
“As of right now, I know that a lot of those people are being ignored,” she said.
Fiscal responsibility, Brown said, remains important.
“As a past accountant I would like to definitely make sure that money is allocated to the correct organizations and obviously help taxpayers so they know exactly where their money is being spent,” she said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
