On Feb. 10, candidates from local, state and congressional races convened at the C.T. Vivian Library at Macomb High School for the League of Women Voters of McDonough County (LWVMC) Primary Candidate Forum.
Moderated by Rich Egger, news director for Tri States Public Radio (TSPR), candidates present for local races included County Clerk Jeremy Benson (R) and County Treasurer Dana Moon (R), both of whom are running uncontested and McDonough County Sheriff candidates Incumbent Nicholas Petitgout (R) and Joseph Moon (R).
For the Illinois House of Representatives District #94, Incumbent Norine Hammond (R) and Bailey Templeton (R) were present, while Joshua Higgins (R) was unable to attend. Brad Beekman (R) and Patrick Harlan (R), candidates for Illinois Senate District #36, fielded questions.
GOP congressional candidates for U.S. House of Representatives District #15 Ryan Tebrugge (R) and Judy Bowlby (R) were present. They are running against incumbent Mary Miller (R), who did not respond to the league's invitation to participate. Democratic candidates Jennifer Todd (D), Randy Raley (D), Paul Davis (D) and Kyle Nudo (D) had accepted a previous invitation for a forum at Lincoln Land Community College. Julie Bickelhaupt (R), candidate for U.S. House of Representatives District #17, was also on hand at Tuesday's forum. Her opponent, Dillon Vancil (R), was unable to attend.
All candidates in contested races were invited to participate in the forum. Egger posed questions to each participant that were composed by LOWV members, as well as audience members. Questions were focused on issues and not on qualifications, nor at specific candidates and their platforms. Each candidate had one minute to respond to each question, with 30 seconds for rebuttal.
The event was livestreamed and is available on Tri States Public Radio (TSPR) YouTube channel, and on the LOWV Facebook page. In addition, the forum will air on Macomb's Public Access Channel 15 through Election Day (March 17). Complete answers to the questions addressed to each candidate can be found on the event video stream.
McDonough County Sheriff Race The questions posed to McDonough County Sheriff candidates, Petitgout and Moon, ranged from the biggest challenges, in their opinion, of the office; thoughts about the Safe-T-Act; the county's pursuit policy; and more Both men were in agreement on the challenges facing the department is hiring and retention of officers.
'This is an issue that departments are facing nationally. I would take proactive steps to bring officers in from a larger area for recruiting and work on ways to retain the offers,' Moon said. 'My experience in labor relations allowed me to work on collective bargaining agreements and ways to retain officers, not necessarily monetarily, but a lot of other incentives to get them to want to stay.'
Petitgout echoed Moon's assessment that recruitment and retention is difficult, particularly for rural areas when police officers in Illinois can go almost anywhere and can make more money.
'Keeping people local is difficult. The key is to hire local men and women who want to live and grow in McDonough County, but with that recruitment and retention you have to give that opportunity in your department to become detectives, K-9 handlers, lieutenants,' Petitgout said. 'If we can keep our pay competitive that is very good for us.
One of things we do right now is that the pay is very competitive with the Macomb Police Department and that helps us keep some people.'
Both men also concurred that the Safe-T-Act makes for some challenges for law enforcement, pointing out their involvement in trailer bills to amend parts of the act, while the pursuit policy brought differing answers. The candidates also answered that the office would not be involved with immigration enforcement per the laws, which prohibits law enforcement involvement.
The final question, what differentiates the candidates, Petitgout highlighted his years of experience serving in the office and being familiar with the numerous aspects of the Sheriff's Office, while Moon highlighted his years of experience with the Illinois State Police.
Illinois House of Representatives District #94 Race The questions posed to Hammond and Templeton included attracting more businesses and jobs to the state, getting legislation passed when Democrats hold the majority, education funding and other questions.
The initial inquiry on attracting more jobs to the district brought mixed responses from the candidates. Hammond pointed out the corporate tax rate in Illinois being one of the highest in the U.S.
'That is one area we certainly could lower, in addition to the licensing requirements, which is nothing short of a nightmare,' Hammond said. 'Typically, what takes two years in Illinois takes two weeks in other states. There are many things we can and need to do in terms of taxes and regulations to attract businesses.'
Templeton's answer focused on agriculture and providing more funding to farmers and agriculture businesses, as well as supporting existing small businesses.
'We have a lot of funding trapped in other parts of the state and we really need to get a lot more of that funding down here, specifically agriculture,' she said. 'We also have about 12,000 acres in Illinois owned by foreign countries. This is our farmland, if we keep giving up our farmland, we won't be able to have small businesses if our farmland is bought by other countries.'
In regard to working in a Democrat-led majority, Templeton said she has uncovered information as part of numerous Freedom of Information Act requests she's been filing.
'I think I can work on a bipartisan level with most of my issues, including missing foster children, which I uncovered as part of my FOIA work,' she said. 'We need transparency to better rearrange what's going on and make sure the money is going where it needs to be going. Think items highlighted can be heard across the board. My biggest goal is transparency and what state agencies don’t want you to know.'
Hammond rebutted that she can do the math, with 78 democrats in the House and 40 republicans, and it takes 60 votes to pass any legislation in the Illinois House.
'You have to have folks that you can reach across the aisle, that you can have conversations with. It may take education but that can happen and I have a history of working with folks across the aisle to get that legislation passed that is important to my district and is important to the constituents I represent,' she said.
Both candidates agreed there needs to be other forms of energy in addition to the alternative forms, with Hammond focusing on an integrated energy policy and Templeton highlighted 'unleashing American energy.' Both also agreed on the need for more funding for education, again with differing responses.
Illinois Senate District #36
Beekman and Harlan also took part in Tuesday's event. The primary winner will face Democratic incumbent Mike Halpin. Questions ranged from the Safe-T-Act, funding higher education, elimination of SNAP funds and more.
The candidates gave different responses to the question asked: Do you feel that higher education is being adequately funded. Beekman was given the first opportunity to answer, and in his opinion, the state isn't doing enough to fund higher education.
'They have made some improvements such as filing FAFSA forms, so I do know that there are people who want to make that process easier,' he explained. 'When I went to WIU, there was a lot more funds that were available, and were subsidized through the government. Made it affordable then and easier to pay back. I don't think they are doing enough now.'
Harlan on the other hand feels there's plenty of funding for higher education, but the 'return on investment isn't proper.'
'A prime example is WIU. We have the potential for 14,000 students, but sitting at 5,000. If we're going to be using money make sure it's a world class trade school or make the best resources available and get that money kicked back to where it actually belongs,' he said.
'Continuing to throw money at something isn't going to fix the problems until we can figure out what the real solution is.'
The question: 'Due to elimination of SNAP funds how do you plan to assist local communities with food insecurity for senior and children?' brought different replies as well.
'That's a rich question. Honestly, the issue is the elimination of SNAP funds comes from the federal government not working with the state government because the state government is not fulfilling its obligation,' Harlan said.
Beekman responded the funding for SNAP needs to be 'looked at, and secondly, they need to be properly managed.'
'I think that can be done through private audits. We need transparency in our government. We do need to work with federal government and we need a state that moves toward an orderly government and serving the health and welfare of the people,' Beekman said. 'I think there's adequate funding there, it just needs properly managed and distributed.'
U.S. House of Representatives District #15
Tebrugge and Bowlby were asked about their approach to serving versus the incumbent, if Congress should take back its responsibilities under the Constitution, what can be done to bring down consumer prices and challenges to the district, among other questions.
When asked what she would do differently than Miller, Bowlby said she could start a long list.
'First, I would show up. Mary has not gone out to town hall meetings and answered questions, and this is a big area. It covers 35 counties. To understand what the needs are you have to go out and talk to the people. That's what I've been doing,' Bowlby said. 'The other thing, and this is a big issue, is the community project funding issue. That's money that each congressman gets that can be brought back to the district. And Mary has not asked for those funds for the last five and a half years. Just recently she asked and I think part of that is because she has some challengers, and the sad thing is, these communities need that money for infrastructure, schools, a whole variety of things. This district has lost out in millions. We're the only district that did not receive monies until only recently.'
Tebrugge echoed Bowlby's answer, noting these same stances also set him apart from Miller.
'Politics is local for me,' he added. 'A proactive government means showing up to find out the issues,' he noted. 'We're looking to solve problems, not create them. It's not about left or right, it's about what's doing right by the district.'
Bowlby told the crowd the Constitution is the guiding principle for the country. She watches television every day and listens to the news, and she stated she sees things going on that she really questions if the Constitution is being followed.
'I think Congress has a responsibility as a check on the Executive Branch and I think that when we look at that, the Constitution has to be the guiding principle,' she added. 'We could start picking out incidents that show we're going astray and as an American, I would follow the Constitution.'
Tebrugge did not answer the question. In regard to consumer prices, Bowlby talked about tariffs and how hard they've hit farmers, which has an impact on prices at the grocery store. She believes tariffs need to be used more judicially, and not chaotically. For Tebrugge, to bring down prices he shared it comes down to shopping local and supporting local businesses, while providing tax incentives to businesses and employees.
As for challenges, both noted that Miller's lack of showing up does not help the district face its challenges of funding, jobs, taxes and more.
U.S. House of Representatives District #17
Dillon Vancil and Julie Bickelhaupt are running against Democratic incumbent Eric Sorensen. Vancil was unable to attend. Bickelhaupt had five minutes to introduce herself.
'I appreciate the time to speak in front of you. The reason I truly chose to run was I wanted to be a voice for the district. Living in the 17th District, I've seen the inability for the current Congressman to show up, and I want to be that voice. We need real people in this seat who can communicate with people in this district to benefit them and the economy of the district,' Bickelhaupt said. 'I'm a farmer and I grew up on a farm. Agriculture is the largest economy piece in the 17th District and it needs to be healthy so we can have family farms. I'd like to focus on cost of living, energy and finding other sources of energy and empowering parents in public education and give families other opportunities. I'm a county board chair and I have a little more governmental experience than my opponent.'
