Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and the Rev. John Elleson, pastor of Lakewood Chapel in Arlington Heights — the candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 9th Congressional District — have different approaches to make life more affordable for district residents.
Elleson, 64, a Republican, said focusing on the national debt will curb inflation because the $40 trillion burden is devouring the country’s revenue. He admits it is not a popular issue, but it is one that must be faced before it is too late.
“There will come a time when this will come back to bite us,” Elleson said. “Printing money causes inflation. (Does) the war cause it? Absolutely. It doesn’t help. The number one driver of inflation is our debt. You can’t spend more than you take in; eventually it will crash.”
Biss, 49, a Democrat, thinks undoing certain policies of the administration of President Donald Trump is the place to start, but concrete steps like increasing the housing supply, as well as reducing the power of major corporations who are “able to gouge prices and cut wages,” are part of the mix.
“We need to enforce the antitrust laws,” Biss said. “Undo the damage. The war in Iran and the tariffs have been devastating for any number of given things. They need to be reversed. Add housing supply. Unless you have more housing, the cost of housing is going to go up, up and up.”
Elleson and Biss exchanged their ideas before more than 100 people during a League of Women Voters forum on Sept. 24 in Skokie as part of their effort to persuade voters to vote for them in the Nov. 3 election to replace U.S. Rep. Jan Schkowsky, D-Evanston, who is retiring after 14 terms.
Suggesting voters take the national debt more seriously, Elleson said curbing inflation will make life more affordable for Americans. He understands dealing with the national debt is not an issue many discuss, but he suggests it get more attention.
“Young people don’t get excited (about it),” Elleson said. “I get it. Most elected officials will not talk about it. It’s not every day business.”
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In referencing the trend of large corporations helping the wealthy get wealthier at the expense of working people, Biss said the situation has developed in the country over a “generation or more.”
“Unions are shrinking and weakening, and the dial of power is shifting from ordinary people to the biggest corporations,” he said. “We need to break up the big corporations. Medicare for all is a way to make healthcare more affordable for everybody.”
Making Medicare available to everyone is part of Biss’ platform. He does not suggest doing it all at once. He said dropping the eligibility age from 65 to 55 is a possible first step. It will make healthcare more affordable for a lot of people.
“I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege,” he said. “I support Medicare for all. It’s the best direction to go to cover everybody. It gets rid of the profit motive with the insurance industry and simplifies the system.”
A supporter of Medicare as it is, Elleson said he opposes changing the law to allow any American to buy into the system. Before making changes to Medicare, he said, “We really need to think about that.”
“I don’t think Medicare should be a carte blanche thing,” Elleson said. “A lot of people paid into that. We need to keep it solvent. We need to keep it for the elderly. It’s not for whoever says they have whatever. That’s going to water down the system.”
Though both candidates oppose war in general, Elleson said the conflict in Iran was a necessity. He also wants to see a change in the United States’ approach to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.
“No one likes war,” he said. “I think it was necessary for us to go into Iran. Who wants to kick the can down the road? Look at the bombs Russia is throwing into Ukraine. That’s a disgrace, and we need to push those sanctions.”
Should he be elected to Congress, Biss said his approach to any war is following the U.S. Constitution, which gives the legislative branch the power to go to war and the executive branch the responsibility to fight it.
“I’m so old-fashioned that I think Congress should declare war if we’re going to go to war,” Biss said. “That’s what the Constitution says after all. It’s unfortunately not what Donald Trump thinks. Congress has abdicated its responsibility here, and it needs to reassert its role.”
Data centers and artificial intelligence are issues where Elleson and Biss differ, but not to a great extent. Biss said he wants to see a moratorium on data centers, in part because it may slow the growth of AI, which “presents a truly unique threat, perhaps unique in human history.”
“We ought to have a moratorium on data center construction because that provides a throttle from AI development,” Biss said. “At this time, nobody can demonstrate that superintelligence can be safe, so we ought to ban superintelligence.”
Agreeing AI requires guardrails, Elleson said at this time he is uncertain what they should be. He does see data centers as an opportunity for municipalities to make money should a company want to put one in their community.
“I believe AI has some safeguards,” he said. “I believe government has a role. I think we should keep going. I don’t know what guardrails (we should have) other than our country needs to be a leader in this.”
Moving to the northwest suburbs more than 45 years ago, Elleson said he got his degree in theology from Christian Life College and was ordained a minister in the Assemblies of God church in 1989. He has been at Lakewood Chapel for the past 24 years.
A University of Chicago mathematics professor before he entered politics, Biss earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Elected mayor of Evanston five years ago, Biss finished second to Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Before that, he served two terms in the Illinois House of Representatives before becoming a member of the state Senate for four years.
The 9th District includes all or part of Buffalo Grove, Tower Lake and Hawthorn Woods, as well as parts of Cook and McHenry counties.
Early voting is underway between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Lake County Courthouse & Administration Building in Waukegan through Oct. 16, when it expands to 17 other locations throughout the county.
Some are open extended hours, including weekends. A complete list with times and locations is on the Lake County Clerk’s Office website.