CHANNAHON – A local Navy veteran will challenge U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger in the 16th Congressional District race for the 2022 election. Leona Di Amore recently announced her candidacy and will be running as a member of the Republican Party.
According to a news release, Di Amore, a Channahon resident and Naperville chiropractor, brings an understanding of the communities that make up the 16th District. A small-business owner, she also grew up in Section 8 housing in Illinois and credits her educational opportunities as a child in breaking the poverty cycle, according to her campaign website.
“I want to help other people become empowered,” Di Amore said in a campaign video on the website. “And we can do this through our educational systems. We’re going to have to change what we’re doing. We’re going to need to bring back vocational schools, trade schools. We’re going to need to bring back skilled manufacturing, and we want to empower people.”
Di Amore said in the video that, if elected, she would advocate for people living in affordable housing who might not have been as fortunate as her.
“If they have a safe place, if they have an address, then they can start to get ahead,” Di Amore said in the video.
Di Amore also served with the Special Operations Navy Divers as a medic for five years. She also was awarded The American Red Cross “Heroes Award” in 2018 for lifesaving efforts performed on a stabbing victim while she was visiting Austin, Texas.
“Di Amore aims to be a refreshing candidate who can best represent the voice of the people,” according to the release.
Di Amore said in the campaign video that she aims to create a more united nation and that she believes Kinzinger recently has not been acting in the interest of creating a more united country.
“And as a result of that, that has compelled me to want to step up and be part of the solution, to bring us together to do better as a nation,” Di Amore said in the video.
Di Amore has owned her chiropractic practice in Naperville and provided care to patients for more than 20 years, according to the news release. She currently lives in Channahon with her husband, Bob, and their Labrador retrievers. She also has two adult children, according to the release.
Di Amore had not yet fully registered and filed a financial report for the 2022 election as of 3:45 p.m. Thursday, according to the Federal Election Commission’s website. Current filed candidates for the seat include Kinzinger, the incumbent Republican, along with Republican candidates Gene Koprowski, Catalina Lauf and Jack Lombardi. Democratic candidate Marsha Virginia Williams also filed for candidacy.
Di Amore told the Daily Chronicle she will be running as a member of the Republican Party. She said Thursday that she has been involved in various Naperville-area political and community organizations for about 15 years. She said she always wanted to run for office, although her priority was raising her kids.
Now that her children are raised and she is in a different chapter of her life, Di Amore said she felt now was the time to take the plunge and provide more female representation in the party.
“I think women and mothers might bring a different aspect to the party and I’m not a fan of the divisiveness and contempt,” Di Amore said.
Di Amore said she doesn’t think of her candidacy as running against Kinzinger or anyone else who has filed for candidacy in the office.
“I’m just simply an option for the people of the district,” Di Amore said.
Di Amore said she thinks of herself as an old-school, commonsense woman who lives by golden rule: to treat others as you would like to be treated. She said that includes prioritizing family, bonding with neighbors and taking care of one another.
Lately, though, Di Amore hasn’t been seeing a lot of unity in the country, she said.
“It saddens me, because I know we can do better,” Di Amore said.
Di Amore said the country’s culture doesn’t have to be so divisive. She said she would like to see a lot more collaborative approach – as that’s how she raised her kids to get along with others and make it work – and she believes she can bring that type of approach to the office.
“That’s just how I am,” Di Amore said. “It’s not much more complicated than that.”
• This story was updated at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 18 to include additional comment from Di Amore.
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