A Republican candidate running for the McHenry County Board confirmed he was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, for a rally in support of Donald Trump that preceded the violent attack on the Capitol in which rioters sought to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

Dan Hickey of Crystal Lake said he didn’t enter the Capitol building, did not see or participate in any violence before leaving early because it was “boring.”

Hickey is running for County Board District 2 in southeastern McHenry County, and hopes to unseat incumbent Gloria Van Hof, one of three Democrats on the board. He did not appear on the primary election ballot and was selected by the McHenry County Republican Party to run against Van Hof.

Hickey confirmed his involvement in response to an inquiry from Shaw Local, which received multiple tips claiming Hickey was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Hickey asked for Shaw Local’s questions about Jan. 6 to be submitted to him via email. In an emailed response to whether he breached the Capitol that day, he wrote: “No. I never entered the Capitol or any other building, and I was not involved in any violence, nor did I witness any. I left early and was driving home through Pennsylvania when I first heard what was happening.”

Hickey said he walked to the Capitol with those assembled at a rally at a nearby park at which Trump spoke, repeating claims the November 2020 election was stolen from him and encouraging those assembled to walk to the Capitol to “take back the country,” “show strength” and “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

Hickey confirmed he went to the Capitol with fellow protesters but left early because “I was cold and it was boring. There were no speakers. It seemed pointless.”

According to several media timelines of what transpired Jan. 6, Trump was still speaking at the rally when protesters started heading to the Capitol. Protesters had also started to overrun police barriers outside the building and started clashing with police at that time, according to reports.

Hickey said anyone who attacked police officers was “stupid and should be held accountable, and that goes for everyone. The attacks on police officers continue, and it’s wrong.”

When asked whether he believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Hickey said, “I accepted the results and moved on.” He later clarified he accepted the results the day Joe Biden was inaugurated as president a couple of weeks after the Jan. 6 riot.

Hickey said he wouldn’t have gone to D.C. for the rally had he known violence would occur.

“I exercised my First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble, but if I had known there would be violence, I would never have made the trip,” Hickey said.

Hickey also confirmed he deleted social media posts he’d made related to Jan. 6 “because the next day I started getting threats from people online and needed to protect myself and my family. It was the right move. We’ve seen political violence increase in recent years.”

When asked the nature of the deleted posts, Hickey said he didn’t remember them.

“It was six years ago. Probably something along the lines of, ‘I’m here,’” Hickey said.

Eric Hendricks, chairman of the McHenry County Republican Party, released a statement late Tuesday saying the party was aware that Hickey “attended the demonstration” in Washington on Jan. 6. Hendricks repeated Hickey’s assertions that he did not enter the Capitol and “did not engage in any illegal activity” and “had already left and was in Pennsylvania when he first became aware of what was occurring.”

Hendricks’s statement continued: “The McHenry County Republican Party fully supports all citizens being able to peacefully exercise their First Amendment right to assemble, regardless of whether one supports the underlying message or not. Whatever the cause may be, every citizen has the right to voice their opinion.”

Hendricks, who is also a member of the County Board in District 3 but is not up for reelection this year, also said: “It’s no coincidence that this surfaced just weeks before Election Day. The McHenry County Democrat Party and Gloria Van Hof would rather talk about what happened in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, rather than defend her abysmal record. Raise taxes and then change the subject? That’s the Chicago way, and McHenry County deserves better.”

Van Hof’s “surrogates would rather distract voters than confront the fact that she has supported the maximum property tax hike proposed every single year she has been in office,” Hendricks said.

In response to a request for comment, Van Hof said she’d heard the rumors that Hickey was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but she wanted to concentrate on her own qualifications for the office. But she said she’d hoped to see Hickey own up to it.

“We all make mistakes,” Van Hof, also from Crystal Lake, said. “None of us are perfect.”

Hickey, in his statement, also pivoted to criticizing Van Hof.

“Unlike the incumbent, I will hold law enforcement in the highest regard and I’ll continue to remind folks that the so-called ‘Safety’ Act puts innocent people in danger by letting criminals out when they shouldn’t be,” Hickey said. “I’ll stand with our sheriff, our state’s attorney, and our courts to keep McHenry safe and serve every resident regardless of party.”

The SAFE-T Act involved a series of changes to the criminal justice system, including the end of cash bail, which proponents say made the system fairer but critics say allowed more criminals to be released while awaiting trial.

Van Hof served on the McHenry County Sheriff’s Merit Commission before being elected to the county board in 2022. The commission “ensures a fair and equal opportunity system for the employment, promotion, discipline and discharge” of sheriff’s officers, according to the sheriff’s website.

Van Hof said in her 2026 Shaw Local candidate questionnaire: “Our shared goal was to support the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department in an advisory role by recruiting and training the most qualified candidates for law enforcement.”

Van Hof, the County Board’s only Black member, said voters can look at her record and her commitment to service and Hickey’s background and make their decision based on that.

But Van Hof said Hickey has made comments while out talking to voters that people don’t know who represents them in District 2, and she said the comments have upset her.

“People do know who I am,” Van Hof said, noting she received the most votes out of five candidates in 2022. She said she has worked with numerous groups and organizations during her time living in McHenry County.

Hickey said the County Board race isn’t about what happened in 2021.

“This race is about McHenry County, not what happened six years ago,” he wrote.

Van Hof said in her Shaw Local candidate questionnaire that deciding to revisit the possibility of a so-called “lookback” tax levy increase, which was rejected by the board last year, “is a viable option.”

Van Hof said she was more concerned with the county budget than the election. The county board needs to put something on review next week, and Van Hof said the county needs to increase revenues and cannot cut itself out of a $8.2 million deficit.

Early voting for the Nov. 3 election is ongoing and expands in McHenry County on Monday.