Let’s Keep DuPage County Thriving:
Re-elect Lynn LaPlante.

My name is Lynn LaPlante and I am running for re-election to the DuPage County Board, District 4.

DuPage County deserves a government that believes in progress, embodies our values, and fights to ensure this is one of the best communities in the United States to work, raise a family, and enjoy a strong quality of life.

I have had very productive and successful first and second terms, creating brand new initiatives and actions for DuPage County:

  • Appointed Chair of the Community Development Committee, where we passed a $5 Million dollar initiative to fund the county’s first-ever permanent homeless shelter.
  • Served as Vice-Chair of Collective Bargaining, where we negotiated a fair agreement for the employees of the DuPage County Care Center.
  • Served on the Environmental Committee, during which time I added a budget line dedicated to creating a partnership for sustainability for the businesses of DuPage County, bringing them onboard for our environmental goals.
  • Served on the Health Equity and Access Response Team (HEART) Task Force, focusing on building vaccine-confidence in underserved communities. I helped create two highly visible and successful PSA’s targeting hard-to-reach communities, encouraging vaccination amongst hesitant residents.
  • Appointed to the DuPage County Board of Health, where I am currently working on creating the first Insulin Bank for DuPage County. I am also focusing on the connection between positive mental health outcomes and the arts.
  • Created and chaired a brand new Ad Hoc Fine Arts Committee, fostering a bipartisan effort that grew support with the private sector, bringing together local and state leaders focusing on driving economic development through the arts.
  • Envisioned, planned and implemented the Inaugural DuPage Community Arts Festival, creating a revenue positive event that featured an intentionally inclusive and proactively diverse group of artists and presenters.
  • Successfully envisioned and solicited a donation of architectural renderings for a first-class performing arts center on County-owned land, through establishment of public-private partnerships with the business community.
  • Grew and fostered bipartisan relationships, working easily across the aisle to increase productivity of the county board.
  • Supported public safety by voting to fund our Sheriff’s department with tasers and body cameras.
  • Appointed to the following boards: Arts DuPage; Wheaton Art, Business & Culture Committee; and the Illinois Arts Leadership Council, through Illinois Arts Alliance.

DuPage County needs a strong voice.

My family taught me the importance of support from those around you. The expectations in my family were high, but even greater was their support of each and every person who walked in and out of our lives.

I grew up the caboose of eight children, and my parents welcomed a constant stream of foreign exchange students to live with us. They showed us that there was always room for one more seat at the table, and that we were all equal.

My church pianist Mom and my Dad, the teacher, expected everyone in our family to learn an instrument. I grew up playing piano and violin alongside my Mom in church every week. My Dad was an expert in childhood literacy and traveled extensively, helping to develop educational systems for countries around the world. At the dinner table, we were expected to know about the news here at home and across the globe.

These were our family values: faith and equality. Service and education. Music, writing, reading, and leadership. Values I try to emulate every day.

Because of that, I’ve always been involved in my community. I started a dynamic group for professional women leaders in my town to help support working moms. I am a proud union member and professional musician. I volunteer my time at school and extracurricular activities, and I play my violin for hospice patients and in Alzheimer’s units.

These ingrained family values also taught me that I would not be able to accomplish as much as I have without support from my friends and family.

I was elected to the DuPage County Board in 2020, after first running for office in 2018 when I saw that no one else from our party was willing to stand up and make a difference.

That first race was a true grassroots campaign, run with the help of my friends and family who believed in me and shared a common vision for a better DuPage. Some couldn’t imagine how a political outsider like me stood a chance against the Republican machine and a longtime incumbent, but I came closer than any other Democratic candidate in DuPage County history.

I’m running for re-election to lead a government that will be fiscally responsible AND make critical investments in community services for the most vulnerable members of our county. We can pass a plan to combat climate change in the long term, and promote economic development we need in the short term. We can recover from Covid-19, and be even better than before.

I will move our community forward, not backward, by focusing on building bridges, not walls. That’s important because even as we fight for our Democratic values, we have to do it in a way that takes the temperature down. Now, that doesn’t mean we concede our values in this campaign. I don’t think we can win if we Democrats go about this race the same old way we have before. We have to put forward a vision freed from the politics of the past in Springfield, or in DuPage.

I’ve been Lynn the Room Mom, Team Mom, Girl Scout Leader, soccer and softball coach, gun sense advocate, activist, and concert violinist. And now, I want to continue to be your voice on the DuPage County Board.

I believe in public service, and that science should guide it. I believe new leaders can bring people together to overcome adversity. I believe DuPage County can lead the way, but I can’t do this without your support. If you share these values and want to help move our community forward, please join us!