Christopher John Lauzen is the chairman of the Kane County Board in Illinois. Lauzen was elected in 2012. He previously served as a Republican member of the Illinois State Senate. Lauzen was first elected in 1992 and was re-elected e in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2010. He ran unsuccessfully for Illinois Comptroller in 1998 and Congress in 2008. Based on his voting record, he is a fiscal and social conservative.
After Harvard Business School, Lauzen returned to Aurora and worked as the president of Comprehensive Accounting Corporation, a franchisor of accounting services. During his five years as president, the number of franchise offices tripled to 450 nationwide, pre-tax profit doubled, and the network of accountants served over 22,000 small business owners. He and his wife, Sarah, later purchased a Comprehensive Accounting franchise in Geneva, IL.
State Senate
Chris Lauzen was first elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1992. He joined a group of newly elected conservative State Senators called the "Fab Five". As a member of the Fab Five, along with Dave Syverson, Steve Rauschenberger, Patrick O'Malley, and Peter Fitzgerald. 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 and his consistent, pro-employment voting record, 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. Throughout his service, Lauzen has supported Constitutional gun rights, right-to-life, and traditional marriage. 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 saw state funding for education in his senate district more than double, 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 at no expense to the taxpayer. He was also the original lead sponsor of the Breast Cancer Research voluntary check-off on the state personal income tax return. This check-off has raised more than $6,500,000 from voluntary contributions for breast cancer research in Illinois. While in the state senate, Lauzen also sponsored a ban on partial birth abortion and supported term limits for State Legislators.
Lauzen officially began his campaign for congress in Illinois's 14th congressional district on September 19, 2007. Lauzen ran to replace Dennis Hastert, who retired mid-term. Although Lauzen received endorsements from The Beacon News in Aurora, the Kane County Chronicle and the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb County, and the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, he lost the Congressional campaign receiving 44% of the Republican vote to Jim Oberweis' 56%.
