North Cook News

Malgorzata “Maggie” McGonigal has lost the bid for Illinois’ 5th Congressional District. 

She only had 44.6% of the 25,677 votes compared to her opponent Tom Hanson who had 55.4%, according to Ballotpedia.

"I sincerely thank all of you for your support throughout my campaign and my apologies for lack of immediate updates," McGonigal said. "It’s been a hectic past few weeks and a tough evening last night, so severe exhaustion finally needed to be addressed!"

Tommy Hanson won the GOP nod with 14,375 votes to McGonigal’s 11,593 votes in the new 5th Congressional District, which covers parts of Lake and Cook counties as well as the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, according to The New York Times.

"I will be back in touch soon with a full statement on the results and plans moving forward," McGonigal also wrote on Facebook.

McGonigal, a Polish immigrant, was in Warsaw days before Russia invaded Ukraine. She noted at the time the situation looked dire, but still expressed hope war would not occur. 

"I hope we won't go into a war, but we are sending our troops as some sort of first step of this, the war happening. But hopefully, this is just not going to happen and we are going to be able to diplomatically resolve their issues," she said, according to Chicago City Wire. 

McGonigal is an outspoken advocate for parents' rights in local schools. She recently objected to Barrington 220 School District proposing "Gender Queer" as a choice for sixth graders' summer reading list. Given the book's graphic material, including lurid sex scenes involving underage children, parents and McGonigal voiced concern over its inclusion in their children's school recommendations. 

“An 11-year-old shouldn't be talking about having a sexual interaction,” McGonigal told North Cook News. 

She was previously endorsed by various groups including Barrington Township Republican Organization, Cook County GOP (Republican 40th Ward), Daily Herald, Illinois Family Action, Italian-American Police Association, Lake County Republicans, Marine Colonel (retired) Larry Kaifesh, Northfield Township Republican Organization, Northwest Side GOP, Polish-American Congress, Polish-American Police Association, Polish Women in Business and Republicans of Wheeling Township.