On July 18th, numerous Elmhurst area residents (including the author) received a robocall from County Board Member Pete DiCianni’s campaign. (Listen to the robocall here.) The call was an invitation to a “Unity Day” event to celebrate Italian culture at Arrigo Park in Little Italy on July 25th (with a free bus leaving from Elmhurst). There is, of course, a political motivation behind the invitation (paid for by his campaign). DiCianni prefaces his invitation by stating that Columbus statues were removed last year during “so-called peaceful protests”. DiCianni called the removal of Columbus statues an attack “on our federal holiday, celebrating the Catholic religion, cultures of many Italians, Irish, and Polish-Americans”. DiCianni says that attendees “will demand support of our heritage, faith, and culture”. One can only wonder the true authority that local government can or should have on these topics.
DiCianni hasn’t publicly announced which office he will be running for in 2022. He loaned his campaign $250,000 on June 30th, and has also received numerous large donations recently. With over $337,000 cash on hand, it seems possible that DiCianni will opt to run for higher office (such as a countywide position) rather than run for re-election to District 2 (which is represented by Republican DiCianni and Democrats Chaplin and Garcia).
DiCianni’s strategy this campaign season may pay off in a Republican primary, but is unlikely to attract as many swing voters as the recent playbook of suburban conservatives.
In other DuPage fundraising news, County Board member Greg Hart (a Republican from District 3) has logged many recent donations, and has over $270,000 cash on hand.
—Nick Mastro
July 21st, 2021
Donation data is obtained from illinoissunshine.org
DuPage Politics 