DeKalb County residents living in the 14th U.S. Congressional district no longer have to travel to Joliet, or Washington, D.C., to get to an office run by their representative in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, welcomed dozens of constituents on Saturday into her new DeKalb office, 2179 Sycamore Rd., Unit 107.

“In this office, we are welcoming you to deal with any kind of constituent service or legislative question you might have,” Underwood said.

She told the crowd that the newly unveiled space is meant to replace a constituent office in Sandwich that was closed after not seeing enough foot traffic to justify the space. She said she understands it can take hours to drive across her district. She said she’s maintained a goal throughout her time in Congress to make sure all of her constituents have easy access to her offices.

“There’s all kinds of reasons why people reach out to our office,” Underwood said. “You are more than welcome to call us and handle all of our business virtually, but this space allows us to meet in person, face to face to meet your need.”

The 14th District includes parts of Bureau, DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Putnam and Will counties.

While mingling with her constituents, Underwood met with the Kleinfeldt family.

Megan Kleinfeldt, of Sycamore, said she and her husband, Brian Kleinfeldt, wanted to bring their children, Harvey and Sylvie, to an Underwood event.

“It was important to us to come see Lauren Underwood because we’ve been wanting to come as a family, and we haven’t been able to make it work out,” Kleinfeldt said. “Having this satellite office is just the perfect thing. It’s so much more accessible.”

Brian Kleinfeldt said Harvey participated in Underwood’s summer reading program but wasn’t able attend the end of the program in Joliet. “We wanted to make sure he was able to meet our representative,” Brian Kleinfeldt said.

He said he remains politically active despite being the father of two young children, partly because mail-in voting allows him to participate, “in every election, no matter how busy life gets.”

“There’s a lot of programs out there that can help kids that come from the federal government and filter down into local, and there’s things we didn’t know were available,” Brian Kleinfeldt said. “We try to stay engaged so we know that everything our taxes pay for, our kids and us are getting that benefit.”

Brian Nigbor, of DeKalb, said he wanted to gauge Underwood’s attitude toward current events.

“You’ve got [Gov. JB] Pritzker, who’s inflammatory back to Trump, Trump who’s inflammatory by nature, and you just see that ever escalating ante-ing of the tensions,” Nigbor said. “I’m interested to see if she’s one of those people that wants to stoke fuel on the fire or maybe wants to try to rise above it.”

Nigbor, who complained about people who call Russian President Vladimir Putin evil for invading Ukraine, said the specter of meeting a U.S. Congresswoman, “and the volatility of the times we’re living in,” spurred him to go to the function.

Colletta and Mark McHugh, of Hinckley, also attended Underwood’s open house. Colleta McHugh said they support Underwood, like her views, and believe she has been supportive of DeKalb County.

Mark McHugh said he agreed, but said there’s another layer to their support.

“Plus, just the chaos of what’s going on in the Capitol now – she seems like a good counter to that,“ Mark McHugh said.

He said he wants Underwood “to stand up to the current administration.”

Despite being in the voting minority as a Democrat, Underwood has seen some legislative success early in 2026. She was seen dancing on the House floor when her bill to extend Affordable Care Act Tax credits cleared the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill hasn’t been passed in the U.S. Senate, yet.

While speaking to about 50 people who gathered Saturday, Underwood shared her thoughts on the state of the country’s affairs.

“A couple of words about what’s going on in our country: It’s a mess,” Underwood said. “I feel like it’s been two weeks in the new year, and it feels like a year already.”

She said she is opposed to war, the military action the Trump administration has undertaken in Venezuela, and the comments Trump has made that insinuate more action against Western Hemisphere countries.

Underwood has filed to run for reelection in the 2026 general election. Gary Vician of Naperville and James T. “Jim” Marter of Oswego have filed to run as Republicans.

While Underwood was speaking with constituents, Trump announced that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to American control of Greenland, according to The Associated Press.

Before that news broke, Colletta McHugh said she’s confused by the president’s antics.

“I just don’t understand all of that chaos that he creates. Talking about buying Greenland is ridiculous,” Colleta McHugh said. “I think he idolizes dictators, and I think he’s looking to make that kind of presence.”