State Rep. Dan Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, is pleased with the direction the state is going, and wants to continue doing his part as the representative of the Illinois House of Representatives’ 59th District. His Republican opponent this fall, Chris Henning, has a different take on the state of the state. “We’ve got the state on a sound financial footing, and I’m proud of that,” Didech said. “We’ve had nine credit upgrades. Our annual funding for public schools is $350 million a year. It’s been $2 billion since 2018.” Henning, a Mundelein attorney and a first-time candidate for political office in the Nov. 5 election, has a different idea. He wants to see less spending, and less unfunded mandates. He is running, in part, out of frustration. Chris Henning. (Photo courtesy of Chris Henning) “I’ve gotten to the point I’m fed up no one is willing to step up and demand some scrutiny, so I’m going to do it,” Henning said. Voters in central Lake County will choose between Henning and Didech when they go to the polls in the Nov. 5 general election to choose their representative in the Illinois General Assembly’s House of Representatives. A practicing attorney since 2001, Henning, 58, said one of his frustrations is government spending. He intends to look at expenditures with an eye to reducing it. Viewing government disbursements is no different that budgeting personal finances, he said. “You can’t spend what you don’t have for unfunded mandates not in the budget,” he said. “That’s an understanding you need to have in government. We have to understand our needs before we look at our wants.” First elected in 2018, Didech, 37, and a practicing attorney, is running for his fourth term. Before he joined the legislature — the same year Gov. J.B. Pritzker was first elected — he said budgeting and spending were a problem for the state as was its credit rating. “I continue to be proud of our fiscal condition,” he said. “We’re not making the same mistakes we made in the past by underfunding our pension system, local governments and local education systems.” Dan Didech. (Photo courtesy of Dan Didech) With the Democrats holding a veto-proof majority in both the House and state Senate, Didech said collaboration is still an important part of the job. He said teamwork has enabled him to bring benefits to the parts of Lake and Cook counties he represents. “We’re punching above our weight,” Didech said. “We got more than $120 million for Lake County Stormwater Management, and more than $100 million for the grade separation at the intersection of (Route) 60 and (Route) 83. That intersection was a mess.” Recognizing he will likely be part of the minority if he is elected, Henning said change will have to take place gradually. It may not happen during his first term, he said. He sees it as a longer-term project. “It will need to be done in steps,” Henning said. “Until the supermajority is broken, we (Republicans) are not going to get a lot of legislation passed. We’re going to have to create a new brand of Republicans in Illinois.” When it comes to women’s reproductive health and abortion rights, Didech and Henning have different views. Henning said there should be some restrictions on abortions, like how far into a pregnancy a woman can be before she can no longer choose to terminate a pregnancy. “If a baby is viable at 24 weeks, how can you say it is not a life,” Henning said. “Dobbs was right,” he added, referring to the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision returning control of abortion to the states. “States should decide what limitations should be.” Proud of the way Illinois has become a haven where women from neighboring states with severe restrictions on abortion can come for their reproductive healthcare needs, Didech said he wants the state to remain that way. The district includes all or part of Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Northbrook, Riverwoods, Lincolnshire, Mettawa and Waukegan. Early voting starts Sept. 26. Vote-by-mail ballots can be put in a drop box or mailbox then, too.