Republican Catalina Lauf to run for 11th Congressional District seat, not 16th

Yet another of the congressional candidates who had been set to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger for his 16th District seat has decided to run elsewhere now that Kinzinger isn’t seeking reelection.

Woodstock Republican Catalina Lauf has announced she will seek the 11th District seat now held by Democrat Bill Foster of Naperville.

“Together, we ran Adam Kinzinger out of this election cycle,” Lauf said in the tweet announcing her political intentions. “Now, it’s time to (defeat) Bill Foster.”

A Foster campaign spokeswoman declined to comment.

Three other Republicans also are planning to challenge Foster, according to Federal Election Commission records: Krishna Bansal of Naperville, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP nomination in the 11th District last year; Michael Pierce of Naperville; and Dean Seppelfrick of Aurora, who briefly ran for U.S. Senate in 2020, dropping out before the primary.

None could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Lauf, an adviser for a children’s nutrition company, was an adviser at the U.S. Commerce Department under former President Donald Trump. She has touted her connection to Trump on Twitter.

In her campaign announcement, Lauf called Foster out of touch. She also attacked President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “and the socialists.”

“We cannot continue on this disastrous path that the Biden administration and progressives in Congress have put our country on,” Lauf said.

Putting a spin on Trump’s popular political slogan, Lauf said it’s time “to make America make sense again.”

Lauf unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in the 14th District in 2020. Democratic incumbent Lauren Underwood of Naperville eventually won reelection.

Foster, a former particle physicist, is seeking a seventh full term in Congress. He represented the 14th District from 2008 to 2010 but lost a reelection bid. After moving to the 11th District, he won that seat in 2012 and has been its congressman since.

Starting with the 2022 election, the 11th District will have different boundaries than it has for the last decade because of a recently approved map based on 2020 census figures. It encompasses areas of the Northwest, West and Southwest suburbs, including parts of McHenry, Kane, Cook, Will, Lake, DuPage, DeKalb and Boone counties.

Lauf’s hometown is within the district, as is Foster’s.

At one point this fall, Lauf and five other Republicans -- as well as one Democrat -- had announced plans to challenge Kinzinger, of Channahon. Kinzinger had gained national attention and attacks from within his party for criticizing Trump and others for lying about the 2020 election. Kinzinger also voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, and he joined the House committee investigating the attack.

But after the Illinois General Assembly finalized the new congressional map and put Kinzinger and downstate Republican incumbent Darin LaHood in the same district, Kinzinger decided not to run.

The 16th District field has thinned significantly since then, with most candidates seeking their political fortunes elsewhere. Congressional representatives don’t need to live in the districts they serve.

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