Downers Grove Resident Challenges Dick Durbin for Senate

A Downers Grove man and West Point graduate is seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Dick Durbin.

Doug Truax, a 43-year-old political newcomer, announced his candidacy Saturday with a three-minute biographical video on his website. 

He graduated West Point in 1992, and served six years active duty as a U.S. Army Officer. He is co-owner and managing partner of Oak Brook-based Veritas Risk Services, LLC, a strategic risk consulting firm the empowers employees in controlling their healthcare costs, benefits, retirement plants and business risk. 

Truax said he was "tired of watching (Durbin) preside over statewide and national decline," and believes he can provide Illinois with "a blast of new leadership." 

“At West Point, one of the first things they taught us is that you change battlefield strategies if they continually fail,” Truax said in a statement. “Business owners and families also know this but amazingly, in Illinois and Washington, career politicians like Dick Durbin continue to make the same tax-and-spend policy decisions without regard to results.”

Durbin, 68, has held a U.S. Senate seat since 1996. He was last re-elected in 2008, when he defeated Republican Steve Sauerberg by a wide margin.

Truax was born and raised in a small town in New Mexico. He and his wife, Nicole, have lived in Downers Grove with their three children for the past 12 years.

In his formal announcement Monday, Truax said he plans to travel the state in coming weeks to discuss his candidacy.

“I look forward to bringing a new energy and ultimately a new direction for the people of Illinois,” Truax said.