Christopher John Lauzen is an American politician, businessman, and

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

who served as the chairman of the Kane County Board in Illinois from 2012 to 2020. Lauzen was first elected in 2012. He previously served as a Republican member of the

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

, serving from 1993 to 2013. He ran unsuccessfully for

Illinois Comptroller The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, replaci ...

in 1998 and for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 2008.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

, Lauzen earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University in 1974 and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1978. Lauzen's grandparents emigrated from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

to the United States in the early 20th century."Visiting President of Romania Awards National Medal of Romania to State Senator Chris Lauzen"
, July 28, 2006 On July 28, 2006,

Romanian President The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

awarded Lauzen the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

Medal, Commander Rank (the highest commendation granted to a foreign citizen by Romania), in recognition of his work to "build bridges of friendship and commerce between the people of Romania and the United States."

Career

Business

After receiving his degree, Lauzen returned to Aurora and worked as the president of Comprehensive Accounting Corporation, a franchisor of accounting services. He and his wife, Sarah, later purchased a Comprehensive Accounting franchise in Geneva, IL.Meet Senator Lauzen
Illinois Senate Republicans. Retrieved May 25, 2007

Illinois Senate

Chris Lauzen was first elected to the

in 1992. He joined a group of newly elected

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

State Senators called the "Fab Five", including Dave Syverson, Steve Rauschenberger, Patrick O'Malley, and Peter Fitzgerald. Throughout his political career, Lauzen has been a supporter of Christian views of marriage and stands against

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

and is

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

. Lauzen served on several committees, including the Property Tax Reform Committee, Appropriations I, II, and III, and the Revenue Committee, where he was the ranking Republican spokesman. In recognition of his work on these committees, Lauzen was honored by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce with the "Champion of Free Enterprise" award and the NFIB with the "Guardian of Small Business" award. Lauzen sponsored a large tax reduction for employers and a property tax assessment freeze for homeowners over 65 years old with income less than $35,000. He worked to reduce property taxes on VFW and American Legion veterans' posts by 85% and placed a cap on future increases. Lauzen also started "Illinois Porkbusters," which sought to cut $5,000,000 in wasteful spending each year from the state budget. Lauzen helped secure over $48,000,000 for school construction grants, sponsored education license plates for future teachers' scholarships, and was the only senator to speak against and vote "No" on providing 2/3 tuition discounts to illegal immigrants at public universities. Lauzen launched a Prescription Medication Pilot Program that saved participants an average of 50% on the cost of prescription medication. He was also the original lead sponsor of the Breast Cancer Research voluntary check-off on the state personal income tax return. While in the state senate, Lauzen also sponsored a ban on partial birth abortion and supported term limits for State Legislators.

1998 state comptroller campaign

In 1998, Lauzen ran for Illinois state

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

to replace retiring Republican comptroller Loleta Didrickson. He won the Republican primary election by defeating Harry J. Seigle of East Dundee but lost in the general election to Democrat Dan Hynes.

2008 congressional campaign

Lauzen officially began his campaign for congress in

Illinois's 14th congressional district The 14th congressional district of Illinois is currently represented by Democrat Lauren Underwood. It is located in northern Illinois, surrounding the outer northern and western suburbs of Chicago. Joseph Gurney Cannon, who also served as Spea ...

on September 19, 2007. Lauzen ran to replace

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert ( ; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, teacher, and wrestling coach who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hast ...

, who retired mid-term. Lauzen lost the Congressional campaign, receiving 44% of the Republican vote to

Jim Oberweis James D. Oberweis (born June 10, 1946) is an American businessman, investment manager, and politician from the state of Illinois. The former owner of Oberweis Dairy in North Aurora near Chicago, he served as a member of the Illinois Senate, rep ...

' 56%.

Kane County board chairman

Lauzen managed the County during the second year of a freeze on the property tax levy for the county, Forest Preserve, and the Fox Valley Park District. In March 2013, he also led members of the Kane County Board to a unanimous decision to refinance a large number of county bonds. Lauzen has been involved in the Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor, a proposed project to build a bridge in northern Kane County over the Fox River. In 2018, Lauzen raised questions regarding possible insider payments from the executive director of the Upper Illinois Valley River Development Authority to companies he owns. The authority is one of 10 regional development authority bodies in Illinois. Its executive director is Andrew Hamilton and he is the head of 8 of the 10 bodies, including the Upper Illinois Valley agency that includes Kane County. The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) had published two reports that focus on over $2 million that IPI says has gone to Hamilton and companies he is affiliated with. Lauzen questioned the liaison to the authority but did not receive satisfactory answers, according to him, and called for a closer investigation. According to the ''Daily Herald'', "The institute PIfound Hamilton operates a related private business that has resulted in $2 million in pay and reimbursements since 2010. That total includes an average of about $241,227 in annual pay and reimbursements to Hamilton from the eight authorities combined during the past eight years. It also includes $151,078 paid to one of Hamilton's side businesses, Opportunity Alliance."

Personal life

Lauzen and his wife, Sarah, have four sons.

Electoral history

* 2016 Race for Kane County Board Chairman ** (R) Chris Lauzen 100% * 2016 Race for Kane County Board Chairman – Republican primary ** (R) Chris Lauzen 74% ** (R) Ken Shepro 25% * 2012 Race for Kane County Board Chairman ** (R) Chris Lauzen 59.25% ** (D) Sue Klinkhamer 40.75% * 2012 Race for Kane County Board Chairman – Republican primary ** (R) Kevin R Burns 29.28% ** (R) Chris Lauzen 62.01% * 2010 Race for Illinois 25th Senate District ** (R) Chris Lauzen 69.3% ** (D) Leslie Juby 30.7% * 2008 Race for Illinois 14th Congressional Primary — Republican Party ** Chris Lauzen 41% ** Jim Oberweis 56% ** Michael Dilger 2% * 2006 Race for Illinois 25th Senate District ** (R) Chris Lauzen 65.0% ** (D) Frank Craig 35.0% * 2002 Race for Illinois 25th Senate District ** (R) Chris Lauzen 100.0% * 2000 Race for Illinois 21st Senate District ** (R) Chris Lauzen 64.9% ** (D) Stephanie Downs Hughes 35.1% * 1998 Race for comptroller ** (D) Dan Hynes 58.6% ** (R) Chris Lauzen 39.6% ** McIntosh Sadler II 1.7%

References

External links

Illinois General Assembly - Senator Chris Lauzen (R) 25th District
— official Illinois Senate website *
BillsCommittees

State Senator Lauzen
— official website
Senator Chris Lauzen
— official GOP website *
Illinois State Senate Republicans - Chris Lauzen
profile
Lauzen for Congress
— official campaign website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lauzen, Chris 1952 births Living people Republican Party Illinois state senators Duke University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Politicians from Aurora, Illinois Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania American people of Romanian descent County executives in Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly