Gurnee businessman Ken Arnold has spent years behind the scenes helping candidates fight election battles.
Arnold, 49, is now center stage as he seeks the Republican nomination for the 8th Congressional District seat held by freshman Democrat Melissa Bean.
“The one thing all voters will find is that I’m not afraid to speak out on various issues of the day,” Arnold said Wednesday. He is one of six announced GOP candidates for the northwest suburban seat.
Arnold said he has heard candidates dodge and weave on campaign issues while working on local and national Republican campaigns since his teenage years.
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He is promising to be forthright as he focuses on two issues–health care and retirement income plans.
Arnold said his background as a benefit plan management consultant and a former employee benefits director at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. make him qualified to discuss such issues.
With six Republican conservatives in the GOP primary field, Arnold has pledged to invest up to $100,000 of his own money for the primary, but he knows he’ll need more to stay competitive.
Federal disclosure forms show Barrington Hills investment banker David McSweeney has raised nearly $700,000 in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30.
Mundelein businesswoman Teresa Bartels raised about $360,000 and Kathleen Salvi, a Mundelein attorney, raised about $313,000.
Wauconda attorney Aaron Lincoln said he raised about $10,000. State Rep. Robert Churchill of Lake Villa did not file a campaign disclosure report because he recently became a candidate.
Bean, meanwhile, raised more than $1.4 million during the last reporting period–nearly the same amount she collected when she upset 35-year GOP Rep. Phil Crane of Wauconda last year.
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