Illinois has 18 congressional districts, and each one features a contested race this year. Several include third-party candidates.
Congressional districts are determined by overall state population. Illinois, due to shrinking population, could lose a seat in the U.S. House, possibly two, following the completion of the U.S. Census.
To learn more about the candidates running for Congress, read their Tribune questionnaires here:
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Why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.
The pursuit of higher education brought my parents to America as they decided that this country was the best place in the world to fulfill their dreams. Like many legal immigrants, their path was sometimes difficult. But thanks to the generosity of the American people, our family carved out a middle-class life. With the benefit of a first-class public education, I was able to attend college and then law school. And four years ago, my neighbors in the west and northwest Chicago suburbs gave me the tremendous honor of representing them in the U.S. House of Representatives.
I have worked my hardest to ensure other Americans have the same opportunities as my family to achieve the American Dream. I co-authored successful legislation to expand federal support for career and technical education, so 13 million Americans each year who choose not to pursue a four-year college education have the same chance to obtain a good-paying job with a future. I have fought off repeated attempts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health care coverage for millions of Americans previously without it. And I have defended Social Security and Medicare as sacred promises to the American people, so our seniors can live out their golden years in security and dignity.
If afforded another term in Congress, I will work to build on my record of standing up for our nation’s middle-class families – and all those aspiring to make it to the middle class.
What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the nation?
The best social program I know of is a J-O-B. I have focused in Congress on increasing opportunities for more Americans to find and hold a good job with benefits to build a secure, middle-class life. Those efforts have been challenged by the coronavirus pandemic. Until we meet the coronavirus challenge, millions of Americans will remain unemployed, and our economy will continue to suffer.
As Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, I have fought to ensure the federal government takes appropriate action with taxpayer dollars to help produce treatments and therapies to defeat the coronavirus. Three examples illustrate our subcommittee’s work. First, my congressional investigation led the FDA to reverse course and remove millions of faulty coronavirus antibody tests off the market. Second, we exposed an atrocious ventilator deal brokered by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro costing American taxpayers more than a half-billion dollars in wasteful spending. Our efforts resulted in the Trump Administration cancelling this deeply flawed ventilator procurement contract, saving American taxpayers $400 million. Finally, we are pressing the Trump Administration to ensure that any future COVID-19 vaccine undergoes an established outside review process by medical experts free from political interference. To overcome COVID-19, we must ensure that an eventual vaccine is both safe and effective to convince a sufficient number of Americans to get vaccinated.
To restore confidence in our economy and put millions of Americans back to work, ending the coronavirus must be our top priority.
Assuming your victory, choose a single issue you would prioritize in the coming term – name it and describe what you want to accomplish.
Finding a safe and effective vaccine for the coronavirus – and making sure that enough Americans get vaccinated – is the most important thing we can do to restore our economy and put millions of our fellow citizens back to work. In order for this to happen, the American people must have confidence that any such vaccine is safe and effective. This means following all the rules and procedures that have governed the production of effective vaccines in the past.
Unfortunately, the actions of the Trump Administration may be undermining the confidence that such procedures are being followed in producing a COVID-19 vaccine. By naming the program Operation Warp Speed and promising that a vaccine will be produced in time for the November 3rd election, President Trump is putting politics ahead of science and medicine. (Confidence in his administration’s efforts also suffers from the President’s past support of questionable treatments such as injecting bleach and taking hydroxychloroquine.)
The best way to ensure that any vaccine meets the necessary standards for safety and effectiveness is to subject it to review by the long-established panel of experts known as the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC). As Chairman of a House Oversight subcommittee with jurisdiction over consumer products and health care including vaccines, I have introduced legislation mandating that any potential COVID-19 vaccine be subject to review by VRBPAC. To beat COVID-19, there cannot be shortcuts where safety and efficacy are concerned.
In 150 words or fewer, make a pitch for the presidential candidate you support.
From the coronavirus pandemic to its economic impact and the racial inequities – particularly around police shootings – that have roiled our nation, President Trump has proved himself incapable of providing the leadership we need. His divisive brand of “us-versus-them” politics, and his lack of moral and ethical standards, threaten our democracy. Joe Biden has demonstrated the leadership we need to confront our greatest challenges. As Vice President for eight years, he led the Obama Administration’s successful fight to restore our economy after the Great Recession. He also was involved in Obama’s successful efforts to rein in both the Zika and Ebola pandemics. Most important, Joe Biden has the personal integrity, compassion and respect for democratic principles and institutions that will enable him to constructively address our deep divisions and lead us into the future. He and Kamala Harris will unite Americans to successfully tackle our common challenges.
Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms would you be willing to support?
I believe that Social Security and Medicare are sacred promises that we have made to our workers and senior citizens. Those programs must be protected and preserved. That’s why I oppose President Trump’s short-sighted Executive Order to allow the deferral of payments into those programs through the end of this year. Not only is this proposal an administrative nightmare for employers, but it potentially will divert billions of dollars in payroll taxes that support the solvency of those trust funds.
To protect Social Security and extend its solvency far into the future, I support raising the current cap on income subject to the payroll tax. This will mean additional contributions into the Trust Fund from the high earners who are most able to afford it. It would also help address the growing economic inequality in our nation that threatens the future of a democracy that depends on a strong middle class.
The greatest source of stress on Medicare is the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. The best immediate step we can take to address this growing challenge is to repeal the law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating the cost of prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies. The Veterans Administration has for years negotiated the price of the prescription drugs it supplies to our veterans. A similar approach to the drugs provided under Medicare would save billions of dollars and extend the program’s solvency.
What do you view as the government’s obligation, if any, to help American workers secure health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program, such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it?
I believe strongly in universal access to health care, as is provided by nearly every other democratic country in the developed world. The real question is how best to achieve that goal. I strongly support the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and have voted repeatedly against attempts to repeal it without any realistic alternative. Obamacare has provided access to affordable health care coverage for 20 million Americans and their families who formerly were without it. It has brought us much closer to our goal of providing health care coverage for all.
I believe that the best way to achieve universal coverage is to build on Obamacare, which left in place the ability of millions of workers to obtain health coverage through their employer. For those satisfied with such plans, I would support leaving them in place. For those who are out of work or whose employers don’t provide coverage, I would expand Obamacare by providing a so-called “public option” through the insurance exchanges. And by offering more competition for private insurance plans, such an option might actually serve to bring health coverage prices down across-the-board.
The best way to pay for such a plan would be to modify President Trump’s 2017 tax bill whose benefits went overwhelmingly to big corporations and the wealthiest Americans, so that some of the benefits that went to those entities can go toward stabilizing and enhancing our health care system.
Identify 3 national security threats to the United States. Choose one and explain your approach to dealing with that threat.
Russian interference in U.S. elections, which threatens the 2020 elections and our faith in democracy.
The growing impact of climate change, which is increasing the impact of natural disasters across the U.S. while destabilizing the world and contributing to the refugee crisis.
Iran’s resumption of a nuclear weapons program after President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the international agreement negotiated by the Obama administration to oversee and restrict that program.
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I have seen up close how Russia interfered in the 2016 elections (as detailed in the Mueller Report), and I know Russia has continued its efforts to do the same in the 2020 elections. Unfortunately, rather than working with Congress to identify and stop those Russian attacks, President Trump and his administration have continued to withhold information and punish or replace intelligence professionals who are tracking and reporting this Russian meddling. Their most recent action was to end in-person intelligence briefings for members of Congress, in which these Russian actions could be fully explored, and strategies adopted to block them.
I will continue to fight in Congress against the politicization of our intelligence agencies by a president from either party. I will defend our intelligence professionals from retribution for telling the truth about foreign efforts to disrupt our elections. In my experience on the Intelligence Committee, these career public servants are patriots and truth tellers. They must be encouraged to protect our national interest without political interference of any kind.
COVID-19 has destroyed jobs. The economy needs to be rebuilt. What policy steps should Congress take (beyond stimulus money or bailouts) in the next year to create as many jobs and as much prosperity as possible?
One of the very few issues on which both parties in Congress agree is the need to invest in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure – the roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, airports and public transit on which our economy depends. Despite President Trump’s repeated endorsement of such a program, no such plan has been pursued.
Particularly now, as millions are unemployed and our crumbling infrastructure lags much of the industrialized world, a major investment in its rebuilding could create millions of good-paying jobs. More importantly, better roads, bridges and transit systems will strengthen our ability to compete in the future. As the Member of Congress who represents the runways (but not the terminals) at O’Hare International Airport, I have worked to promote completion of a western access highway to the airport. This project, alone, will create tens of thousands of new jobs in the greater Chicago area – whether or not airplane travel returns to its former levels.
As a condition of federal investment, such an infrastructure program must incorporate a number of provisions. These should include environmental practices to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, such as creating special lanes and close-in parking spaces that encourage electric vehicles. We also must make sure that our hard-hit small business sector participates fully – setting aside a fixed percentage of contracts or subcontracts for smaller firms.
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When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major import?
I believe strongly that serving in public office is a privilege and that elected officials must adhere to the highest ethical standards. Unfortunately, our state has a long tradition of public corruption, including a string of recent indictments of elected officials – most of them involving Democrats.
As a young attorney, I was proud to serve as a special assistant attorney general to Lisa Madigan as she established a public integrity unit within that office. Unfortunately, business was good, especially during the Blagojevich years. I quickly learned that unethical behavior was not limited to members of either party, and that strong ethics laws and aggressive oversight is the best defense.
During this term in Congress, members from both parties were alleged to have used inside knowledge to benefit themselves personally through stock trades. Concerned about how such appearances undermine the public’s confidence in its elected representatives, I introduced legislation called the Ban Conflicted Trading Act to ban the trading of individual stocks by members of Congress and requiring their holdings be placed in diversified mutual funds, exchange-traded funds or blind trusts. This legislation may not be popular in Congress or my party, but it is what the public wants in order to ensure that lawmakers not take action to benefit themselves personally at the expense of the public.
If you are an incumbent, tell us the most significant accomplishment of your current term. If you are a newcomer, tell us how you as a rookie would keep from being a backbencher.
I have the privilege of serving as Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. In this capacity, I have responsibility for congressional oversight of certain aspects of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has played a leading and sometimes controversial role in the battle against COVID-19. One area of great concern to me was the rapid spread of so-called “antibody tests,” which provide users with evidence of whether they have antibodies to COVID-19. We quickly learned that many of these tests were unreliable or even bogus. Particularly egregious were those marketed as “at-home tests.” Incredibly, the FDA was failing to regulate this growing market. In fact, they let companies self-validate the effectiveness of their own tests! Many Americans using these tests were obtaining “false positives,” suggesting they had antibodies to COVID-19 when they really did not. This provided the illusion that they were immune to re-infection, even though there is not yet a scientific consensus regarding the extent to which antibodies confer immunity from COVID-19. We demanded that the FDA end its “Wild West” approach to the antibody-testing market. The FDA quickly removed dozens of suspect tests and ended the lunacy of self-regulation. These actions presumably have protected millions of Americans from utilizing suspect tests and, as a result of false findings, engaging in reckless or dangerous exposure to COVID-19. Our subcommittee will continue its aggressive oversight of the FDA’s actions, so the agency responsible for protecting the health of all Americans does its job.
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Why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.
My opponent is sold out to billionaire-special-interests. He votes in favor of the Military-Industrial Complex, big pharma, and big agriculture. He voted against withdrawing troops from Syria, and is mostly silent as wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and everywhere else drag on, costing priceless lives and billions of dollars… typical politician. He votes for a farm bill which subsidizes unhealthy food that is making America so unhealthy that most of us suffer at least 1 preventable disease. Now he is trying to ban vaping, which will only boost tobacco profits.
I Am An Average Person, outraged at the lack of real representation of the people. I think that the Libertarian Party most represents common-sense values agreeable to most Americans: Freedom, Liberty, and Justice for all; Widespread Peace and Prosperity, voluntary organization. That is what Ron Paul would have represented, if given a fair shot in 2012, but the Republicans did him real dirty. Ron Paul is also a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party, and was even a Libertarian Presidential Candidate in 1988. Despite being an effective, established national party, practically active in all 50 states, the Libertarian candidates for POTUS are almost always excluded from the most high-profile national debates, and their names are not mentioned even 1% of the time on TV. TV is nationally regulated, but the Commission On Presidential Debates is actually a private organization which normally excludes the Libertarian Candidates from the National Stage by setting variable and arbitrary “criteria for candidate participation.”
Help us.
What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the nation?
To elect leaders who are truly interested in serving constituents, as opposed to smiling speakers who really vote to serve their rich donors.
I would also like to help make America healthy again by reforming agricultural policy which overwhelmingly favors and financially subsidizes the largest, most profitable agribusiness corporations. Its over 900 billion or some odd dollars in annual subsidies is both fascism and socialism, and an obvious example of bad government. Seriously, we spend BILLIONS ever year, to subsidize WHITE SUGAR, which is DOCUMENTED to GREATLY INHIBIT our bodies’ systemic immune functions! THIS IS COVID. Over 90% of Americans dying to COVID already have one other prior illness, disease, or condition. Remember “PREVENTABLE” PRIOR DISEASES, sponsored by your tax dollars. Republicans and Democrats hardly talk about Ag policy. They hardly fight over it either. Raja et al vote for it.
I would like to really bring soldiers home. It’s a shame that some Military Industrial Contractors make record profits while we face unprecedented financial debt and calamity. It’s bad that the mainstream rarely vocalizes that “defense” spending is the largest budgetary item, and it’s mostly spent offensively. It’s silly that Democrats impeached Trump, but didn’t mention the unconstitutional acts of war on 7April2017. I’d like if we spoke more about things like the Afghan Papers, Pentagon Papers, 28pages.org, and the mutual Saudi friends of questionable elites like Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
I would like to help make mainstream American news real again.
Assuming your victory, choose a single issue you would prioritize in the coming term – name it and describe what you want to accomplish.
Flip the Farm Bill to Make America Healthy Again
Over 80% of the Farm Bill’s subsidies are given to multi-million dollar Agriculture corporations. This money would be better invested in health food. I have spoken to Representative Mike Bost about diversification of those farm subsidies, to stimulate more growth in health foods, instead of mostly sugar and corn, which is largely made into corn syrup. He could not make me any promises, but I would work towards this in Washington.
Imagine if we spent hundreds of billions of dollars to boost farmers’ markets and small, natural producers, as opposed to the large corporations. A decentralized, local-based food supply will also be more resilient against future pandemics. People have proven: they want fresh, local food. We just need to stop pushing sugar, and other strange chemicals onto the population via national food/farm policy. With a healthier population, there will be less need to shut down the economy again, because most people will beat the virus on their own.
In 150 words or fewer, make a pitch for the presidential candidate you support.
Interesting question! Well, one candidate has very recently added trillions of dollars to the debt, while increasing the national deficit, and selling out to Saudi Arabia. Another current candidate for POTUS served in the previous administration, which also added trillions of dollars to the debt, while increasing the national deficit, and selling out to Saudi Arabia. This candidate’s administration also began new military conflicts in Yemen, Libya, and Syria. He even saw American tax-dollars used to arm Al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria, and probably Yemen too. Actually, on the subject of arming foreign terrorists, both Democrats and Republicans can be quite “sleepy.” This is why I support JO JORGENSEN: She vocalizes true solutions for America’s root issues. Both the Rs and Ds are proven to continue wars, reckless spending, and signing bills into law which promote toxic foods. Jo Jorgensen will not continue those, so I will give her a chance.
Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms would you be willing to support?
Only-250-words-is-not-sufficient-to-explain-these-2-complex-issues.
Social security is convoluted. Many retirees receive horrible return on their investment, and it is unAmerican to force people into a certain retirement account.
I would guarantee benefits to everyone who has paid into the system, while also offering anyone a full cash refund. Funding will be no problem under MMT and QE.
The greatest threat to retirees is pervasive and continuous inflation. Even at the Fed’s target 2-3%, the dollar loses half its value every 27-35 years. Worrisome is that new inflation calculations do not weigh the actual prices of goods. POTUS and the Fed tout low inflation, but the prices of many supermarket items increase. Why? How? Does anyone know? I am not an economics expert, but I have studied enough to see that many things in Washington do not add up.
Medicare and healthcare regulation do not add up.
I have spoken to doctors who say that they spend more money and resources on government compliance than they do on anything else. Government regulation and interference have only increased in our lifetimes, while prices (and un-affordability) have also increased #correlation. I suggest that we GREATLY deregulate private healthcare and insurance, while allowing government options to act as a standard. This, plus Making America Healthy Again would greatly lower prices, and then the public option could function properly too, and we could even offer medicare for all who want it to compete with private insurance.
When the foreign wars end, funding these programs becomes much more doable.
What do you view as the government’s obligation, if any, to help American workers secure health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program, such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it?
The fundamental issue is not whether or not the government offers a public option. The issue is a combination of (a) governmental over-regulation of healthcare and (b) domestic food policy that so promotes unhealth. These greatly drive up the prices of everything. Mathematically, the issue may be described as hindering supply of a service (over-regulation), while increasing demand for the service (unhealthy-farm-policy). We must change these two factors for any other plan to be successful.
The worst part of recent healthcare was the ACA outlawing so many previous policies that were liked by the people. My own family LOST its health insurance plan, and we were previously very happy with it. This is MOST UNACCEPTABLE from a government that claims to be American. A public option should not interfere with the privacy and freedom of individual citizens.
No, the government is not “obligated” to provide services. Its obligation is to protect the freedom of individuals to voluntarily associate, whether that be in public or private.
That said, I like having a Public option. If anyone is offered Medicare, then everyone should be offered it. I just do not believe in forcing people to participate. For funding it, there will be difficulty for as long as the underlying issues continue: over-regulation and national food policy that is so unhealthy. Once we fix these roots, the rest is easy.
Identify 3 national security threats to the United States. Choose one and explain your approach to dealing with that threat.
Threat 1: Unhealthy Population Most Americans suffer 1 form of preventable disease. Chronic conditions, disorders across the body, some new and mysterious, have greatly increased since the government began nationalizing the food supply decades ago. Corona viruses are nothing new, and the flu evolves every year. A new annual vaccine will not fix America’s problem with unhealth. However, since we are what we eat, we need only change our eating habits, and in a few short years, everything from healthcare, to pandemic response can change. Of course, change is made more difficult when your own income is being taken from you by the government to spend on sugar, corn syrup, and meats that are full of unnatural hormones, antibiotics, dyes, preservatives, etc. This security threat is exemplified by COVID19. Most Americans live with a compromised immune system, and it is almost always because of diet, largely processed sugar. If we had a very healthy population, like Norway or Sweden, then we would not have had to shut down our economy. It may sound too simple, but it really may not be.
Threat 2: Never-Ending War The many wars over-extend our military, such that we would be unprepared to defend American soil. Remember why Rome fell? If we were not spending so much on war, then appropriating big funds for pandemic response would be possible.
Threat 3: Our Own Government Face reality, politicians are so sold out to big, special interests, that they will print new dollars to subsidize them and pad their profits. They may inflate our currency into oblivion. They might hide Saudi secrets, denying Americans justice. The government could even consider something really wicked, like Operation Northwoods. Just search the internet for “Operation Northwoods” to realize the potential threat from our own government.
COVID-19 has destroyed jobs. The economy needs to be rebuilt. What policy steps should Congress take (beyond stimulus money or bailouts) in the next year to create as many jobs and as much prosperity as possible?
Need I repeat: Making America Healthy Again?
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End the lock-downs. Sweden and Norway never shut down. Open the economy, and let people take care of themselves, provide for their loved ones. End prohibitions on healthcare, and industry, while protecting property rights, and the economy will explode.
When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major import?
My party is all about independence, and individuality. The only mandatory “issue” is “voluntaryism,” which is freedom of association, not coercing people to participate in something that they do not believe in. This is fundamental for human freedom. I support that. I do not believe in prohibiting people from freely associating together, or spending their money however they want. Much government regulation prohibits people from buying many things, or collaborating with others to produce certain types of milk or enroll in certain types of insurance. I am certainly independent of the establishment, but most any American could find themselves within the Libertarian Party. It is really hard for me to disagree with the Libertarian Party.
That said, there is plenty of disagreement within the Libertarian Party. Some Libertarians are pro-choice; some are pro-life (like me). Some are pro-borders; others believe in easy borders. I believe in common-sense borders. Anyway, I am straying from the topic. Suffice it to say: unless you are a fascist or socialist, then it is hard to disagree Libertarian principles.
If you are an incumbent, tell us the most significant accomplishment of your current term. If you are a newcomer, tell us how you as a rookie would keep from being a backbencher.
I will not be a “backbencher” in the same way that I may win this election: Taking the issues straight to the people. I have already met thousands of people, and waved signs for many thousands more. My website is clearly pictured everywhere I go, and I am explaining to people who I plan to fix the greatest issues we face: A chronically ill society fed by government-sponsored junk food; Never-ending wars fed by bad intelligence and dishonest leaders; And the lack of real representation of the people and their interests in Washington, which is the heart of all these issues. All legislation up for vote will be posted online for constituents’ to comment and vote themselves, and I will explain all of my votes. I will also reveal to people and the willing media how the votes are being effected by big money, and point out when and where it is happening, as well as who are those Representatives voting mostly in favor of their big-moneyed donors. To me, a “backbencher” is one of those who sits in the back, voting quietly as his party bosses instruct. As a Libertarian, my vote will be ordered by my conscious understanding of the written Constitution of the United States, and the individual people represented therein.
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