Carl Kunz was a candidate for Illinois' 32nd House District. | Citizens for Carl Kunz/Facebook
Carl Kunz was a candidate for Illinois' 32nd House District. | Citizens for Carl Kunz/Facebook
State House District 32 Republican candidate Carl Kunz conceded to Rep. Cyril Nichols (D-Chicago).
Kunz lamented that he and his supporters "couldn't overcome the resilient Chicago Democratic base vote." He expressed his gratitude to them.
“Well, the results are in & I didn't prevail. I gave this all I had for the last 11 months & am proud of combined efforts of our team,” Kunz said on Facebook. "I appreciate your thoughts, prayers, volunteer hours & financial contributions. My only regret is that I wasn't able to pull off a win for the people of Illinois. It was a great experience; Sharon & I got LOTS of exercise and we met many new friends while walking the majority of the District. But, alas, it's time to go back to my ‘boring’ retired life...at least for now. Thanks again and continue to pray for our state & country. God bless.”
As of last count, Kunz had received 17.7% of the vote with 3,015 votes to Nichols’ 82.3% of the vote with 14,027 votes, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Nichols was appointed to the seat in 2021.
Kunz was born and raised on the Northwest Side of Chicago; he got married and eventually moved to Hickory Hills in 1992. He spent 35 years in finance as a regulatory professional, and in 2020, he retired from Philip Capital Inc. as chief compliance officer. He decided to come out of retirement and run for the State House because he was aggravated with the General Assembly. He said he was most motivated to run by the repeal of the Parental Notification Act in 2021. His main issues are parental rights, crime, and the economy. He vowed to sponsor bills to increase school choice, decrease the gas tax, and make harsher punishments for criminals, South Cook News reported.
This recent general election is the first one after Michael Madigan stepped down as Illinois House Speaker and "Democrats say they’ve held onto big legislative majorities," without him, the Chicago Tribune reported. The GOP went into the election with high hopes; however only 78 of the 118 House seats were contested, and only 25 of 59 seats were contested in the Senate. Republicans made modest gains in the State Senate, but it was still a disappointing race for them as the Democrats still have a supermajority in Springfield.
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