Facing lawsuit, Republicans reopen applications for McConchie’s suburban Senate seat

Hoping to resolve a legal challenge, a group of suburban Republican leaders announced Friday that it is reopening applications for the vacant 26th Senate District seat.

The maneuver halts Barrington Hills Trustee Darby Hills’ appointment to the post, which was held by Republican Dan McConchie until his Feb. 2 resignation.

Hills and the other three original applicants will be considered for the seat and won’t have to reapply, said Lake County Republican Party Chair Keith Brin, who leads the legislative committee overseeing the appointment process. Any additional applicants will be interviewed before a public vote is taken at 1 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Palatine Township Republican Organization headquarters, 765 N. Quentin Road, Palatine.

The original applicants were Hills, state Rep. Martin McLaughlin of Barrington Hills, Ela Township Trustee Tosi Ufodike of Hawthorn Woods and Long Grove Trustee Chris Borawski. None have withdrawn, Brin said.

The 26th District encompasses much of southern, central and western Lake County; a portion of northwest Cook County; and smaller parts of Kane and McHenry counties. The five-member committee formed to appoint McConchie’s successor consists of Republicans representing those regions.

The committee appointed Hills to succeed McConchie last week. But before she could be sworn in, Algonquin resident and Republican voter Brittany Colatorti sued Hills and the committee in McHenry County court, saying the appointment should be nullified because the meeting wasn’t properly advertised to the public.

Colatorti’s complaint also claims that Hills is ineligible to be appointed because she lacks qualifying GOP activity. Brin subsequently sought to rectify that by appointing Hills this week to an open Republican precinct committee post in Ela Township. Hills lives in nearby Cuba Township, but appointees to precinct posts don’t need to live in the precincts they serve.

A request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Hills from being sworn in was withdrawn Friday morning by Colatorti and her attorney, former Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore, after the committee agreed to reopen the application process, Brin said.

Vacancies in the General Assembly must be filled within 30 days. If the committee fails to meet that deadline, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker will appoint a Republican of his choosing to the post, and GOP leaders don’t want that to happen.

“Hopefully, this will satisfy all the parties,” Brin said.

DeVore called Friday’s development a win.

“I got everything my client wanted,” he said in an email.

Neither Colatorti nor Hills have responded to multiple interview requests.

The committee was scheduled to take a second vote on McConchie’s successor Friday at the Palatine Township GOP office. The committee still met briefly, but the vote was rendered moot by the agreement and didn’t occur.

When the committee votes again, Brin’s choice will have the most weight because more of the people who voted for McConchie in 2022 live in Lake County. He backed Hills for the post last week.

Brin said he hopes Republicans will “rally around” the eventual appointee and help that candidate win the 2026 general election.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. To apply, contact Derek Murphy at 630-901-6126 or derek@isrvf.com.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250221/illinois-state-politics/republicans-reopen-applications-for-mcconchies-suburban-senate-seat/