McHenry Times

When asked why State Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) would want to be the Senate Minority Leader of the GOP when state Democrats continue to hold the majority in an iron grip, McConchie said that he "loves a challenge."

McConchie referenced his nine years military background and time at basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia. 

"One of the things that they taught us kind of became a personal motto for me," McConchie said in an April 18 interview with WBBM Newsradio. "Which was 'adapt and overcome.' The thing that they teach you whenever you go through infantry training is that you can have the best of plans, those plans tend to go out the window when the first bullet is fired. And as a result you very much respond and adapt to your situation."

McConchie feels that politics can be both a challenge and a struggle. 

"It is struggle of ideas, it is a struggle of power going to lead and manage going forward," he told WBBM. "It is the way in which democracy best functions. And it is some of the same principles of being able to be responsive, nimble if you will, is something I learned a lot about in the military and is very important and an integral part of what we do here in Springfield."

McConchie joined the Army National Guard when he was 17 and served in the infantry and military police. 

McConchie was elected leader-designate at the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus in November. He has been serving the 26th District of Illinois since 2016 and also serves as the minority spokesperson for the State Government Committee and the Appropriations II Committee. 

“During my tenure in the legislature, I have made meaningful reform my top priority," McConchie said in a November press release after he was elected Minority Leader. "Our caucus will embrace a fundamentally new direction for Illinois. We need balanced budgets, smaller and smarter government, lower taxes, economic reforms, and a world-class education system that prepares our next generation to stay and succeed here, not flee to another state."

District 26 oversees the northwest Chicago suburbs, including all or parts of Algonquin, Barrington, Carpentersville and many others.