Financial planner and entrepreneur Brett Nicklaus of Dixon will run in Illinois’ new 37th Senate District, which includes parts of Peoria, Dunlap, and Chillicothe.
He will face incumbent state Sen. Win Stoller, R-Germantown Hills, in the GOP primary election in June.
Stoller took office in the 37th District in 2021, succeeding former Sen. Chuck Weaver. Weaver’s son, Travis Weaver, is running for the House in the nearby 93rd District, with the support of Stoller.
Nicklaus has not openly partnered with candidates in any local races, but has received donations from the campaign fund of state Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna.
While this is his first run of elected office, Nicklaus has some political experience. He serves as precinct committeeman in Lee County for the Illinois GOP, where he filed the motion to censure Rep. Adam Kinzinger earlier this year over Kinzinger’s criticism of Donald Trump. Nicklaus also helped to found a group called the Sauk Valley Freedom Fighters, which has fought against workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“I've been very, very vocal, just for common sense and for standing up for people's individual rights,” Nicklaus said.
Nicklaus is a self-described born-again Christian, and says he believes in standing up for unborn babies as well as services for children after they are born. The reforms he suggested include re-evaluating child welfare processes within the Department of Children and Family Services and the end of what Nicklaus calls the “politicization of education.”
“I think we need to get more power back to the teachers to teach in school and take politics out of the school system. Unfortunately, I think our schools have been used as a political weapon. And I just believe that teachers want to start teaching children again,” said Nicklaus.
Nicklaus did not comment about the relationship between his views and the nationwide Republican push to give parents more input into school curriculum.
Nicklaus also lists the deregulation of gun ownership as one of the foundational issues of his campaign platform. He is a proponent of abolishing the FOID card system, which is currently used to identify legal gun owners within the state of Illinois.
“I want our individual freedoms of constitutional carry back. I believe that the Constitution grants those to us and I believe that the government, especially the last two years, has had huge overreach,” said Nicklaus.
Stoller did cosponsor a bill to repeal the FOID Act in 2021 but it did not move through the General Assembly.
More details of Nicklaus’ campaign and upcoming events can be found on his campaign Facebook page.
Nicklaus will be on the ballot against Stoller for the Republican nomination on June 28.
