A Naperville scientist has joined the pool of Republican challengers seeking to run in the 11th Congressional District, a position held by Bill Foster, who is also a scientist from Naperville.
Herman B. White, 67, a physicist, announced his Congressional bid in a kickoff Monday morning in front of the Naperville Municipal Center.
“This is going to be an exciting race, and I am well prepared for it,” he said after addressing about two dozen people.
Other contenders for the position also include Tonia Khouri, a second term DuPage County board member from Aurora, and Dominick “Nick” Stella, a physician who lives in Darien. Khouri filed her candidacy in April and Stella submitted his papers Sept. 5. White not yet filed with the Federal Election Commission as of Monday.
The Republican primary will take place March 15 and the general election is set for Nov. 8, 2016.
Among the planks of White’s campaign platform are a push for “better and more affordable health care”; an effort to provide relief for college graduates who finish their degree work with huge student loan debt and few promising job prospects; and better federal budgeting practices, including a balance between spending and revenue.
“My whole campaign is about getting back to basics. If that’s not getting back to basics, I don’t know what is,” he said.
In addition to his professional life, White serves on the board of trustees for North Central College, where he also is an adjunct physics professor. He also has served on the board of directors for the Edward Health Services Corporation.
White said he has long been an advocate for his profession in Congress, and maintained that his long record of unpaid board positions has positioned him to serve well in Washington, D.C.
“When I think about board service, it’s not so different from elected service,” he said. “It’s service, and that’s what I do.”
White shares a degree of professional history with Democrat Foster, 60, who also lives in Naperville and has represented the 11th District in the House since January 2013. Both men are physicists who have long affiliations with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility in Batavia. White has worked at Fermilab for 41 years, and Foster was employed there for 22 years, beginning in 1984.
While he hopes to face Foster in the election next fall, White’s attention currently is on the decision voters will make among the Republican office hopefuls in March.
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“Right now my focus is on the primary,” he said.
Those who gathered to hear White’s comments said they have faith in his potential as a federal lawmaker.
“He seems like a good choice to me,” said Chris Stoughton, a Fermilab astronomer who lives in West Chicago and finds White’s no-nonsense approach to the fundamentals of governing appealing. “It seems like people make things complicated unnecessarily.”
According to Scott Wehrli, a Naperville Liquor Commission member who also serves with White on the North Central board, said White has the brains needed to serve the district well in the House.
“Herman is one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met,” Wehrli said. “What he has done for our students at North Central is just tremendous.”
Naperville City Councilwoman Rebecca Boyd-Obarski, who also turned out among the new candidate’s supporters, said her work with White on the city’s Board of Fire and Police Commissioners in the past familiarized her with his capabilities.
“First of all, he is brilliant, practical and thoughtful,” said Boyd-Obarski. “He’s always said, ‘Give me the basics.'”
Campaign staff member Elizabeth Van Holt said efforts are under way to set up candidate forums to help familiarize voters with the 11th District contenders.
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