Chad Koppie

Chad Koppie grew up on a family farm with land in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, the fifth child in a large family from Gilberts.¹ His own family includes three sons and a daughter, and farming has remained part of his life alongside aviation and local government.²

His background includes military service and aviation training at Purdue University.² Koppie spent 35 years flying for Delta Air Lines before retiring as a jumbo jet captain, with a career that included flights from Chicago and New York.¹ He is running as the Republican in the 7th District.³

His elected experience began with service as a Rutland Township trustee from 1983 to 1987, followed by District 300 school board service through 1991.³ He served on Kane County's regional education board from 2007 to 2019, including service as president from 2015 to 2019, and returned to the board in 2025.³

Koppie proposes a constitutional amendment establishing that human life begins at conception.³ He would cut federal spending and tax rates while eliminating tax credits, deductions and exemptions, with a goal of a simpler tax return.³ He supports a wall along the Mexican border and prioritizing deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed other crimes.³ On Taiwan, he supports maintaining defense funding and a naval presence to deter a Chinese invasion.³ He also wants courts to punish intentional defamation carried out with AI generated content.³