26-year-old Woodstock woman newest GOP candidate in 14th District race

A 26-year-old Woodstock woman is the latest candidate in an already crowded Republican primary race in the 14th Congressional District, which currently is represented by Democrat Lauren Underwood.

Catalina Lauf, a former adviser to the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Donald Trump, submitted her statement of candidacy Wednesday, joining a list of Republican candidates that includes two state senators.

In a video posted on her Twitter page, Lauf said someone like her doesn’t fit the mold.

“These days, we’re told our skin color, our gender and our heritage determine who we are,” Lauf said. “If that’s the case, I would be impossible, but I’m not impossible. I’m a product of the American Dream.”

According to her campaign website, Lauf was born to a small-business owner from Chicago and a legal immigrant from Guatemala.

“They taught my sister and me the values of hard work, liberty and to have an unapologetic love for our country,” Lauf said in the video. “I’ve gone from working at a startup to working for President Donald Trump to coming back to the heartland to work for our future.”

In the video – while cutting to footage of U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib – Lauf said angry voices seek to divide citizens by skin color, economic class and where they come from. Lauf also criticized Underwood for calling Republicans racist and sexist.

“They forget America is an idea, an idea that we are all created equal and that what we have in common is far more powerful than any of our differences,” Lauf said. “They forget what makes America great is all of us coming together.”

The other GOP candidates running in the 14th District are state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove; state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris; Anthony Catella of St. Charles; Danny Malouf of Crystal Lake; former Kendall County Republicans Chairman James Marter; and Ted Gradel of Naperville.

For information on Lauf, visit www.catalinaforcongress.com.