DuPage County Democratic Party Chair Reid McCollum didn’t get wind of the plan to put his group’s Carol Stream office in the national spotlight Sunday until the night before.

McCollum was home in Hinsdale watching a Harry Potter movie with his family Saturday when a member of Gov. JB Pritzker’s staff texted and asked if the space was available for a news conference by runaway Texas Democrats.

He had been following the Texas political drama, which saw about 50 state lawmakers flee the state to block a vote on a controversial redistricting plan that likely would give Republicans more seats in Congress. But McCollum had “no clue” they were going to seek refuge in Illinois — and certainly not in his home county.

“It was fantastic,” McCollum said Monday.

About 30 Texas Democrats, inclu

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