Local Lawyer And Small Business Owner Cindy Masover Is Running For Scott Drury's Seat

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Local lawyer and small business owner Cindy Masover Tuesday declared her candidacy to represent the 58th District in Illinois House. The seat is currently held by Rep. Scott Drury, who is now running for attorney general. Masover, a former assistant attorney general, filed papers earlier this month to run as a Republican in the North Shore district, which includes Highland Park, Bannockburn, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Deerfield and parts of Northbrook.

"I have decided to run for State Representative to be an independent voice for the families of the 58th District. The politicians in Springfield are failing us," Masover said, in a news release announcing her campaign. "Rather than sit on the sidelines and enable the problems facing our state, I want to stand up and be a part of the solution."

Masover is the daughter of child Holocaust survivors from Germany and Poland who were interned in labor and death camps in both countries before immigrating to Chicago with her older siblings in 1953. She said her parents showed her "perseverance, determination, and that I could succeed at anything I set my mind to in this great country and this great State of Illinois."

The family moved to Skokie, where Masover graduated from Niles East High School and later Loyola University of Chicago. After law school at Loyola, Masover clerked in the Illlinois Appellate Court. She entered private practice and later served in the civil appeals division under Attorney General Jim Ryan.

Since 2010, Masover has served as an arbitrator with the Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program.

In 2016, when her husband passed away suddenly, Masover took over as president of his three companies, L&L Display Group and ADP Plastics, both plastics manufacturing companies in Lincolnwood, as well as Plastics Printing Group in Chicago.

"Illinois is no longer the state that my parents came to where they could live out their American Dream. Illinois is broken, but it can be fixed," she said. "It can once again be the state where anyone can come to live and succeed and build successful businesses. However, we need new, fresh, independent voices in Springfield like mine. Our state is in dire shape, and we must work together to fix it."

Masover's campaign said she will be focused on lowering taxes, balancing the budget, growing jobs and supporting schools in the district. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Highland Park — or your Illinois community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Masover, a Highland Park resident and mother of two daughters, has long been involved in her community and social causes, according to her campaign announcement. She is a member of Central Avenue Synagogue where she serves on the synagogue’s Jewish Women’s Circle. She wrote the weekly Shabbat Bulletin and served as secretary for the Parent Organization at Solomon Schechter Day School, where her daughters attended elementary school.

She has been a long time board member of the Parkinson’s Disease Research Society where she also serves as secretary. This organization holds a special place in her heart as her beloved father lived with this disease for 37 years.

Masover serves on the board of Prairie State Legal Services, which provides free legal services for seniors and those with low-income.

She is also a charter member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Advance Guard member of the Wounded Warrior Project, and a North Star Society charter member of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She has been a long time member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Sheriffs Association, the Lake County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association, according to her campaign.

Related: Announcing Attorney General Run, Rep. Scott Drury Drops Out Of Governor's Race

_{Top photo: Cindy Masover | Courtesy Cindy Masover For 58th District State Representative}