The 69th District covers an area of far northern Illinois and includes the communities of Belvidere, Caledonia, Capron, Cherry Valley, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Roscoe, South Beloit, and Timberlane. Republican Joe Sosnowski has represented the district since 2010.
This year, Sosnowski is being challenged by Democrat Angelique Bodine of Poplar Grove. She says she’s running because of her frustration with the state budget impasse, and she pledges to stand up for working families.
Bodine graduated from Rock Valley College and the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she is now working toward a Master of Education degree. She has a long career as a volunteer: She is a member of the Red Cross Disaster Response Team, the Boone County Community Emergency Response Team and Candlewick Voice, a local watchdog organization. Bodine is also a volunteer paraprofessional crisis counselor for the In Touch Crisis Hotline.
Her current employer is First Students Emergency Response Travel Team, part of a large school transportation company. She counts assistance to domestic violence survivors and the humane treatment of animals among her priorities.
Incumbent Republican Joe Sosnowski is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and served as a DeKalb alderman while he was still in school. He moved to Rockford and was elected to city council there in 2005: he stayed in the position until he was elected to the Illinois House in 2010. He currently serves on a number of House committees, including Transportation Regulation, Elementary and Secondary Education appropriations, Cities and Villages, and Aging.
Besides his job in the legislature, Sosnowski is the Director of Institutional Advancement at Rockford Christian Schools.
Sosnowski lists his priorities as a lawmaker as luring more jobs to the region, offering more school choices, and fixing the state budget.
Endorsements:
Angelique Bodine has been endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, and the UAW
Joe Sosnowski has been endorsed by the Rockford Register Star, the NRA, and the Illinois Federation for Right to Life.