Daniel Didech

Daniel Calmon Didech (born 1986/1987) is an American attorney and politician serving as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 59th district since 2019. The district, located in the Chicago metropolitan area, includes all or part of Vernon Hills, Prairie View, Buffalo Grove, Indian Creek, Lincolnshire, Mundelein, Riverwoods, and Wheeling.

Didech chairs the Illinois House Gaming Committee and, in 2026, gained national attention as the House sponsor of SB 315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act. Signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker on July 6, 2026, the measure made Illinois the first state in the nation to require independent, third-party safety audits of the largest ("frontier") artificial intelligence systems, building on similar transparency laws enacted in California and New York.

Early life and education Didech was raised in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, by a family of small business owners and is a graduate of Stevenson High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University Law School. While in law school, he worked at the Jewish Child & Family Services Legal Advocacy Center, in the workers' compensation bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, and at the Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C.

Career Didech was elected Vernon Township Supervisor in 2017, serving from 2017 to 2019. In his first year as supervisor, he cut the township's property tax levy by more than five percent while expanding services, in part by championing the consolidation of the Vernon Township Road District.

Illinois House of Representatives Didech was elected to the Illinois House in 2018, succeeding retiring Democratic Representative Carol Sente and defeating Republican Karen Feldman. He has since been reelected in 2020, 2022, and 2024.

Committee assignments Didech has chaired the Illinois House Gaming Committee since 2023. In that role, he has been a leading advocate for combating problem gambling, serving as chief House sponsor of Senate Bill 2749, signed into law in 2026 to formally recognize gambling disorder as an addiction under the Illinois Substance Use Disorder Act and expand access to treatment, prevention, and public-awareness programs for compulsive gamblers and their families. In the 104th General Assembly, he also serves as vice-chairperson of the Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, & IT Committee and as sub-chairperson of the Commercial & Property Law and Teacher Policy & Research committees, in addition to sitting on the Financial Institutions & Licensing, Insurance, Judiciary–Civil, Revenue & Finance, and Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter Schools committees.

Artificial intelligence safety legislation In 2026, Didech served as the House sponsor of SB 315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act. Modeled on 2025 laws in California (SB-53) and New York (the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act), the bill requires "large frontier" AI developers — those with more than $500 million in annual revenue whose models are trained using very large amounts of computing power — to publish safety frameworks addressing "catastrophic risk" and to undergo the nation's first mandatory independent third-party safety audits, rather than relying on self-certification alone.

The bill passed the Illinois Senate 52–5 and the Illinois House unanimously, 110–0, with support from OpenAI and Anthropic.

Didech sponsored legislation, signed into law in 2021, requiring non-flushable products to carry "Do Not Flush" labeling after backup and clogging problems in a local sewer system.

Didech has been a leading advocate for protecting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. He was chief House sponsor of HB 4394, which strengthens survivors' rights during police interviews by allowing them to request an officer of a particular sex or gender and to have a support person present, and of HB 1278, which guarantees employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, or gender violence access to evidence stored on employer-issued electronic devices and protects them from retaliation for using such devices to document abuse.

Didech was also chief sponsor of legislation adopting gender-neutral language in Illinois property law (Public Act 104-0040) and of HB 160 and HB 169, which amended the School Code to reduce administrative barriers for students observing religious holidays.

Electoral history