Lynn LaPlante is running for the DuPage County Board District 4 in the 2020 election, and also for her third term as a Precinct Committeeperson in Milton Township. Lynn is a lifelong Illinois resident, dedicated community volunteer and activist, and accomplished professional musician and writer. She is committed to affordable insulin for all, equal rights for women, gun violence prevention and fighting the effects of climate change. 

In a crowded primary field, both the Daily Herald and DuPage County National Organization for Women have endorsed Lynn, with the Daily Herald calling her the most prepared candidate: “Of the five, the one most likely to have an immediate impact if elected in November is LaPlante.” 

The Illinois Women’s Institute of Leadership also has backed Lynn by awarding her a coveted seat in their Training Academy Class of 2020. IWIL selects twelve women from throughout the state and trains and supports them to run for office at every level of government. She is the only woman from DuPage County to win this honor in nearly a decade. 

Lynn has the proven ability to organize a successful campaign. In 2018, she ran as the Democratic nominee for Chairman of the DuPage County Board, earning 175,678 votes and coming within 2 points of defeating the long-term incumbent-- closer than any other Democratic candidate has come to winning that race in 180 years. At the same time, Lynn helped Democratic candidates throughout the state win office by organizing DuPage County’s first Get Out The Vote Concert, which included a candidate forum and voter registration drive.  The event drew the largest gathering of Democratic candidates in DuPage County history.  Hundreds of DuPage County voters turned out to connect with over 25 Democratic candidates, including now-Governor J.B. Pritzker, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul. 

Lynn’s prolific writing reflects her considered views. Arianna Huffington invited her to contribute to Huffington Post, where she wrote about politics, women’s issues and gun violence prevention. DemCast USA, a progressive media platform, featured Lynn’s op-ed piece, “Baby, We Were Born To Run,” in its September 2019 national launch.  Her political voice continues to garner national attention as she writes about her IWIL experience to encourage other women to run for office.

Lynn is also a professional orchestral violinist and violist, with over 25 years’ experience performing, recording, touring, educating, and fundraising for the arts, having served as a member of several orchestral advisory boards and steering committees. She is currently the Principal Violist with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and is a guest musician with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. She has played her violin for her hero, President Jimmy Carter, three times at his church in Plains, Georgia. Working with musicians from all over the world as a member of such groups as the International Symphony in Tel Aviv, Spoleto Music Festival USA, and the Aspen Music Festival has informed her worldview and appreciation of diversity, and has taught her the critical importance of teamwork and tolerance. She has been a proud member of the American Federation of Musicians Union for over twenty years. 

Lynn was recruited to play at the University of Illinois, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. She wrote about music for the Daily Illini, and was involved in politics as well, on the host committee for a mock debate between Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued Roe v. Wade, and Phyllis Schlafly. Many years later, Lynn wrote about her dinner with Phyllis Schlafly for Huffington Post in a piece called “How Phyllis Schlafly Turned Me Into A RadicalFeministLesbian.” 

For graduate school, Lynn won a full ride scholarship plus a paid stipend to the University of Notre Dame for her master’s degree. She was a member of the Graduate String Quartet in Residence, and a Teaching Assistant, teaching violin to undergraduate students and pre-college students in the Notre Dame Prep Program, and she also wrote the program notes for concerts at Notre Dame while there. 

She was then recruited to be a member of the first class in an Orchestral Studies program between the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Roosevelt University, again earning a full scholarship and a paid stipend to attend. While in this program, Lynn participated in MusiCorps, an educational outreach program, giving lecture performances in Chicago area schools and colleges to underserved students who hadn’t been exposed to Classical music before. She was also asked to present to donors in order to continue funding for the CSO’s training orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. 

With her education complete, Lynn performed with area orchestras such as Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Sinfonietta, Joffrey Ballet, and the Chicago Philharmonic, where she also was involved with the chamber music program, researching, writing and presenting pre-concert lectures to audiences, and recruiting and working with donors.

Lynn lives in Glen Ellyn with her husband of 22 years, Michael Allaway, their four school-aged children, one hyperactive frisbee dog and two extremely curious cats. Lynn is a member of Bridge Communities, Glenbard West’s Association of Music Parents, a Board Member of the Glenbard West Boosters, and is the founder and President of Glen Ellyn Women Leaders (GEWLS). She is a member of St. Petronille Parish, and volunteers her time and energy as a coach for the Park District, and to many local causes, committees and school organizations.