Laura Hruska realizes she may not have the campaign committee and war chest her opponent in the Illinois House of Representatives District 2 electoral race has.
But she does have experience from the last time she ran for the office, back in 2024, a race she lost to current incumbent Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez.
“It’s not going to be an easy race,” the UIC graduate and Republican candidate admitted. “Every evolution, [I’m] trying to get better. A lot of it is awareness.”
District 2 includes Brookfield, Riverside, Lyons, Stickney, Berwyn, McCook, Summit and a small part of the city of Chicago. Hruska is a lifelong resident of the area, having grown up in Berwyn and lived in Brookfield since 2001. She’s also a current member of the Board of Education for Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208.
Hruska is a substitute teacher in Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 and works as a part-time supervisor in dispatch at UPS. She said District 2 residents should consider her at the ballot box Nov. 3 because of her commitment to “wanting to make this a safe, affordable place for an entire lifetime, where you can meet your lifetime goals – education, business and social. That’s what Illinois offers.”
The issues are many in District 2, believes Hruska, who was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune. Take property taxes, for one.
“They increase every three years whether [or not] you do something to your house,” she said. “My taxes have tripled since I bought this house, but my income has not tripled. Now I’m paying my taxes, which are twice the amount of my mortgage, which is crazy to think about.
“We fund education through property taxes, which is wrong. Your child’s education shouldn’t be an accident of their birthplace. If you’re a resident of Illinois, education should be the equalizing factor.”
Her work on the District 208 school board and training for that position through the Illinois Association of School Boards has taught her plenty about education around the state.
“Teachers in southern Illinois are struggling,” she said. “Springfield wants to pass a law that teachers make $40,000 minimum. In this part of Illinois, that’s unheard of. In southern Illinois, they have to work two jobs.”
The Wednesday Journal was not able to reach Hernandez to gauge her views on those issues.
Hruska said that while Illinois is a left-leaning state, as she collected signatures as part of the candidacy certification process she emphasized that “the work in front of us is non-partisan and [on] making the state affordable.”
“No party ever fits you completely,” she said. “We have so many layers of government in Illinois and our budgets are huge. We can’t afford to sustain that. That’s not us against them. That’s everybody’s problem. I am a lifetime resident of this state. I want to retire here; how do I find a solution to make that happen?”
The Illinois Policy Institute asked her to run in 2024 against Hernandez, a race she lost 72-28% despite a Chicago Tribune endorsement. The institute asked her once again to run this election cycle, and she complied, with the realization that the experience she gained two years ago would be an aid in her current campaign.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, she said.
“I think we’re getting to the breaking point,” she said. “Two people working in a household and they can’t make ends meet. That’s one main concern I have.”