About the Candidate

Name: Dani Brzozowski
DOB: Oct. 28, 1984
Occupation: Candidate
Political Experience: Precinct Committeeperson, Chair, Lasalle County Democrats
Website: daniforillinois.com
Twitter: @daniforcongress

Candidate Statement

I’m Dani Brzozowski and I’m running for Congress in IL-16.

I grew up poor -- my dad was in the Army for 25 years and we were a food stamp family. I spent the early part of my career in nonprofits, as a community organizer, and a small business owner.

Now I’m running for Congress against one of the House’s most anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ members.

Adam Kinzinger votes consistently against the better interests of my friends, family, and neighbors.

I’m running to give all of us the fighting chance we deserve.

We need a champion, someone who is going to fight for creating jobs,
increasing wages, expanding access to healthcare, education, and childcare.

I learned young the sacrifices people make in the name of patriotism.

And I learned, too, what patriotism really means.

It’s fighting for the country we all believe in -- the kind of America we want to create.

One that is equitable and just.

We shouldn’t have permanently high unemployment in IL-16.

We shouldn’t have 40,000 people uninsured.

We should be able to rely on our Representative to show up for us. To be a lifeline to Washington.

Instead, we have absenteeism. Cronyism. Corruption.

We have a representative who’s sold us out to corporate interests in favor of a career as a politician.

We need a change. I promise to be the kind of competent, compassionate, and accessible leader the people of this district are hungry for, and to fight for the bold, practical policies we need to solve the problems we face every day.

I will never sell you out. I will never choose politics or party over my friends, family, and neighbors.

I’m fighting for YOU.

I’m Dani Brzozowski and I’m running for Congress in IL-16.

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

I grew up poor, and, after a career spent helping other people and trying to lift my community up, I recognized that the things that had been difficult for my family were getting harder for other folks, not easier. Our representative has made a habit of voting against the better interests of my friends, family, and neighbors, and we deserve better than someone who’s going to sell his vote to the highest bidder. 

What is your vision for this office?

I am committed to radical accessibility, transparency, and accountability. The people of IL-16 deserve a representative who will give us the fighting chance we deserve and not quit until we get it. I take seriously the responsibility of representation, which requires not just legislating, but also communicating sincerely and regularly with constituents. I’m looking forward to giving the people of IL-16 a Congressperson they can be proud to know. 

What do you think is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?

It’s the economy -- people in our district need jobs and healthcare and have too few prospects for either. Our unemployment rate has been consistently higher than the national average. Manufacturing job losses have devastated communities. Bankruptcy rates for family farmers have been increasing for years and went up by 20% in 2019. Congress has left us without an infrastructure bill, and the prospects for large-scale economic development are slim.

Claims that the economy is booming fail to take into consideration that most working families are still struggling and that, for too many, it’s getting harder to get by, not easier.

We need to strengthen collective bargaining and empower unions to negotiate on behalf of workers. We must invest $1T in infrastructure, creating millions of jobs (many of them in clean energy) while repairing our crumbling roads, bridges, and waterways, expanding broadband internet access, and creating critical healthcare and education infrastructure. We need to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour and tie the minimum wage to inflation so we never again leave working families destitute. And we have to divorce healthcare from employment; their pervasive enmeshment has resulted in 5.4M people in the United States losing healthcare as a direct result of becoming unemployed during the pandemic.