06/25/2026
Here is an amazing article by an amazing writer Amanda Szulc for Precinct Committeewoman - Joliet 18. Definitely worth the read!
“For decades, Illinois has lived under a curse that feels eerily familiar to readers of C.S. Lewis’s
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In that story, the White Witch plunges Narnia into an
endless winter — no Christmas, no hope, and no future — while she rules with cruelty and
deception. The land is frozen, the people suffer, and many have given up believing that spring
will ever return.
That is the Illinois I have watched for most of my life.
Under one-party Democratic rule, our state has been trapped in its own eternal winter: crushing
taxes that drive families away, failing schools that leave children behind, rising crime that makes
neighborhoods unsafe, and a political machine that protects itself while ordinary citizens pay the
price. Hope has felt scarce. Many have wondered if real change is even possible.
But just as Aslan’s return in Narnia signals the breaking of the curse and the arrival of spring, a
different vision for Illinois is emerging — one led by leaders who are willing to fight for the
people rather than the political machine.
Darren Bailey and Aaron DelMar represent that vision. Darren, a third-generation farmer who
has lived the values of faith, family, and hard work, has continued to lead with integrity even
after unimaginable personal loss.
Aaron, a proven entrepreneur and community builder, brings
practical problem-solving and a heart for empowering others. Together, they are offering
Illinoisans something we have not seen in a long time: leadership that puts citizens first, seeks
to lower the cost of living, and refuses to accept the status quo as inevitable.
As a longtime educator and resident of Joliet, I have seen the cost of this curse up close. Our
local public schools have some of the lowest proficiency rates in the state. Families are leaving
because they can no longer afford to stay. The eternal winter has been long and hard.
And yet, something is shifting.
My own political journey began quietly. I started as a writer with a blog, trying to make sense of
what I saw happening in our state.
Today I serve as Precinct Committeewoman in Joliet —
winning by a single vote after a recount — and as Will County Coordinator for the Darren Bailey
/ Aaron DelMar campaign. What began as one ordinary voice has been amplified. I now have
the opportunity to speak truth and to encourage others who feel the same burden.
This is where the story of the Pevensie children becomes so powerful.
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, four ordinary siblings from wartime England stumble
through a wardrobe into Narnia. They are not kings and queens at first — they are just children.
But they are called to step up, to fight for what is right, and to help restore the land.
I see that same calling for ordinary Illinoisans today. Just as Lucy, Susan, Peter, and Edmund
discovered they had a role to play in Narnia, we have a role to play in Illinois. We are being
called to use our voices, our platforms, and our influence — however small they may seem — to
speak truth and to help break the curse that has held our state in winter for far too long.
The eternal winter does not have to last forever. Aslan is on the move. And for the first time in a
long time, I believe spring may finally be returning to Illinois.”
