Will County Gazette

Illinois 14th Congressional District Candidate Jack Lombardi II is making a campaign pledge to give more help to veterans. 

"I'm for taking care of our veterans — better care of our veterans — than we have, with giving them some sort of segue into a career when they de-enlist, which would help with a lot of the problem of veteran suicide, giving them hope and purpose at something that's very near and dear to my heart as well, instead of sending money overseas,” Lombardi told Will County Gazette. “And this is an important one to countries that hate us, and I know I'm borrowing that line from President Trump, but it's very true. We should be putting that money into our veterans, homeless veterans and getting them off the streets and also take care of our special needs adults, which many of them are left with.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker was the target of a lot of blame for the deaths of 36 veterans at the Illinois Veterans Home in LaSalle. In a 2021 hearing, Republican members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee grilled former Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike over the agency's response. Following the fatalities, Linda Chapa LaVia, the previous director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, resigned.

Some of the mistakes at LaSalle were similar to those that previously led to a Legionnaires' Disease outbreak at the Quincy Veterans' Home. Various failures to execute protocols or take adequate measures were cited in a report released in April 2021 as having a detrimental impact on the outbreak.

Lombardi is an entrepreneur from Manhattan, Illinois. At the age of 22, he founded Lombardi Trucking. He now owns and controls a variety of internet businesses, including a Chicago-based digital marketing firm. He attended Northwestern Business College after graduating from St. Laurence High School. Lombardi is married and has two children.

Lombardi will run against Scott Gryder, Mike Koolidge, James Marter, Jaime Milton, and Susan Starrett in the Republican primary on June 28. The eventual winner will face off against incumbent Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D).

The 14th Congressional District includes McHenry, Oswego, and Sycamore.