Our Leadership

John Collins brings an uncommon combination of private sector achievement and frontline public service to Neighbors for a Better McHenry County PAC.

Over a twenty-year career with a Fortune 3 corporation, John developed deep expertise in negotiations, operations management, union relationships, and sales. After leaving the corporate world, he put those skills to work in a series of organizational turnarounds and growth initiatives — helping businesses find their footing and build toward the future.

In 2006, John became an entrepreneur. He acquired a company with $1 million in annual revenue and grew it to over $5 million before selling. He then launched a second company, which has achieved steady growth over the past five years. The disciplines that define his business career — data-driven decision making, strategic focus, and a willingness to make hard calls — are the same disciplines he brings to his work in county government.

John's path to the County Board reflects the kind of determination that McHenry County's political landscape demands. He was first appointed to the Board in 2021 to fill a vacant seat, ran for the seat in 2022 and lost, spent the next two years studying what it would take to win, and ran again in 2024. He won — becoming the only Democrat elected to the McHenry County Board that year.

Today, John serves on the Administrative Services, Finance and Audit, and Valley High Nursing and Rehabilitation Committees. He is also the Board's liaison to the McHenry County Housing Authority, the University of Illinois Extension, and the Stormwater Management Commission. That breadth of committee work gives him a clearer view of the county's fiscal condition and service obligations than almost anyone else at the table.

John has been a McHenry County resident for over 25 years. He founded Neighbors for a Better McHenry County PAC because he believes the county's challenges — a growing budget shortfall, pressure on public health services, and rising housing costs — deserve honest leadership, not political posturing. He knows from experience that the gap between where McHenry County is and where it could be is closeable. He intends to help close it.

Eli Brottman is a seasoned Democratic strategist based in the Chicagoland area. With experience on more than 50 campaigns across northern Illinois, he brings expert-level knowledge of suburban Chicago politics and a deep understanding of what it takes to win in competitive territory.

Eli's educational background in mathematics and statistics is the foundation of his strategic approach. In 2021, he founded a consulting firm to bring data-driven strategy to Democratic campaigns — applying analytical rigor to candidate recruitment, voter targeting, and resource allocation in races that too often go uncontested or underfunded.

His work in McHenry County has produced a track record of results. Eli was instrumental in electing Carolyn Campbell, John Collins, and Kelli Wegener to the McHenry County Board, as well as Lisa Messinger to the Crystal Lake D47 School Board. He also managed Kelli Wegener's 2024 campaign for County Board Chair, in which she substantially outperformed other Democrats on the ballot — a testament to the impact of disciplined, data-informed campaign strategy.

In 2025 Eli worked for an anti-gerrymandering nonprofit. His analysis of suburban Chicago county board maps was recently cited in a paper forthcoming in a top law journal. That research found McHenry County to have one of the most gerrymandered county board maps in the Chicago area — a finding that underscores both the structural challenges facing Democratic candidates in the county and the importance of the work Neighbors for a Better McHenry County PAC is undertaking.

Eli brings to this role not just strategic expertise, but a genuine commitment to McHenry County. He is excited to work alongside John Collins to recruit and elect candidates who will bring common-sense, thoughtful governance to a County Board that deserves better leadership.