Former 8-year mayor of Dixon, Li Arellano, is announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 37th State Senate District currently held by Senator Win Stoller who is retiring.
Arellano recently completed eight years of service as mayor of Dixon this past May. He term limited himself and stuck to his pledge despite being elected both times with over 60 percent of the vote.
Arellano was compelled to step up and run for Dixon mayor by the epic embezzlement of $54 million by ex-Dixon City Comptroller Rita Crundwell. Arellano pledged to rebuild the city’s badly damaged finances and he did just that, including paying off generational pension debt, leaving the city on track to be debt free.
As mayor, he led a wide array of reforms and accomplishments for the people of Dixon and is now determined to take those skills to serve the people in the State Senate.
“I can’t sit idly by while our state declines,” said Arellano. “My passion and experience in local government, the military, and small business along with my passion for tried and true conservative principles are exactly what our state needs, and that is why I am now stepping up to serve in the State Senate.”
Arellano, 42, is a life-long conservative Republican and small businessman. He owns and operates a restaurant in Dixon and two in Rock Falls. As such, he has dealt successfully with Illinois’ high taxes and regulations, but also recent phenomena such as hyper-inflation and a labor shortage.
Arellano also still serves in the U.S. Army Reserves and has been deployed three times to combat zones in the Middle East. He was motivated to join the Armed Forces after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Arellano and his wife, Jamie, met in high school at Faith Christian School in Grand Detour, IL and now have four children, ages 13 to 5. Arellano believes the State Senate needs more members raising young children for a proper balance in membership and intends to be a staunch advocate for working families.
He also believes the Senate needs more small business people and people who know first-hand the negative effects of state policies and unfunded mandates on local government.
In 2015, Arellano’s wife, Jamie, left her job as a Registered Nurse (RN) to serve at the pro-life Hope Life Center. She served for three years until the birth of their fourth child. She recently returned to her career as an RN, joining the team at KSB Hospital in Dixon.
Arellano is a conservative Republican, pro-life, a Second Amendment supporter, who supports much lower government spending and taxes, law and order, enhanced parental rights and involvement in their children’s education, and is strenuously opposed to illegal immigration and any attempt by Chicago—which declared itself a “Sanctuary City”—shipping the overwhelming cost to small communities that did not do so.
Arellano concluded: “Our state and country have taken a disastrous hard left turn. I will work tirelessly to change the direction of our state. The rule of law has been diminished and crime is out of control. Our state finances are also out of control and over-taxation is driving people out of our state. Freedoms have been taken away. I have experienced first-hand the new hardships small business people are forced to endure. Public schools have been driven to indoctrinate children and parental involvement has been deliberately excluded. I will also be an outspoken advocate against illegal immigration and state policies such as being a “Sanctuary State.”
The primary election is on March 19, 2024 with the general election following in November.
