Our final five in state House primaries
Today we present our final five endorsements in Illinois House primary races in the Chicago area. The Illinois primary will be held March 17. Expanded early voting at satellite facilities begins March 2. For early voting sites, go to cookcountyclerk.com/agency/early-voting. To learn more about primary candidates, go to elections.suntimes.com/voting-guide/2020.
63rd District Democratic primary
You might wonder, were you to visit his office, why longtime Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager has pictures of bridges on the walls.
Those pictures, Sager will tell you, symbolize how he sees his job: Building bridges across political divides.
Sager is a former Republican running as a Democrat for this House seat. He has always worked both sides of the fence, walking as a Republican in parades and serving as a Republican precinct committeeman, even as he has allied himself with moderate Democrat Jack Franks, who held this seat for years. Sager really earned the GOP’s ire, though, when he endorsed Franks to become chair of the McHenry County Board.
Sager, a retired professor of international development who has served as the mayor of Woodstock since 2005, is more aligned with the Democratic Party on social issues and more with the GOP on fiscal issues.
Under his leadership, the Woodstock City Council actually cut municipal property taxes by 10% in 2017, after eight years of holding the line on tax increases. Curbing the property tax burden made it easier, no doubt, to sell residents on the need for small increases in sales and gas taxes to pay for street improvements.
Sager knows what he’s talking about, instinctively seeks common ground and can boast of a wealth of experience in public life that is rare for a guy running for the state House for the first time. We endorse him strongly.
Sager is opposed by Peter Janko, president of a company that restores and recreates historic lighting fixtures. The winner of this primary race will face incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Reick in the Nov. 3 general election.
65th District Democratic primary
Mohammad “Mo” Iqbal asked a good question in 2016 when the Kane County Board started talking about saving money by eliminating a $720,000 electronic home monitoring program for people who might otherwise be held in jail.
“Did you ever do a cost-benefit analysis of this program?” he asked. The answer was no. When the cost-benefit analysis finally was done, it turned out the monitoring program was saving Kane County taxpayers $3 million a year.
That issue led Iqbal, a lawyer and civil engineer, to run for the county board in 2018, where he defeated an incumbent Republican. Now Iqbal is seeking a seat in the Illinois House, a step up that works for us. Illinois could benefit from a few more practical, clear-thinking and fiscally smart legislators.
We endorse Iqbal in this Democratic primary.
If elected, Iqbal hopes to work to lighten the burden on Illinois taxpayers by reducing the overall number of taxing bodies, including township governments. He would work to cut the size of county boards across the state. And true to his calling as a civil engineer, he would push for more state-funded road and infrastructure improvements in his far northwest suburban district.
Also in the race is Martha Paschke, a former teacher who works as a patient intake coordinator for a psychology practice. Paschke’s first priority, if elected, would be to improve the state’s mental health care network and bring economic development to this far northwest suburban district.
We endorse Iqbal, but encourage Paschke to stay in politics. The winner in this primary will face Republican incumbent Dan Ugaste in the fall.
66th District Democratic primary
While serving on the McHenry County Board, Suzanne M. Ness worked to preserve services for vulnerable citizens and lower the tax levy.
Ness also has served on the Northern Kane County Chamber of Commerce board and founded a nonprofit coaching and mentoring program for teens at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville.
Both Ness and her opponent in this primary — Carpentersville Trustee Jim Malone — could do a commendable job in Springfield, but our endorsement goes to Ness, a small-business owner from Crystal Lake.
Ness’ priorities would be expanding public transportation, lowering property taxes, reducing health care costs and putting more resources into education.
In November, the winner in this Democratic primary will face the winner of the Republican primary, either incumbent Allen Skillicorn or McHenry County Board member Carolyn Schofield.
66th District Republican primary
Voters looking for a staunch conservative with impressive credentials would be well advised to look past the incumbent, state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, and choose challenger Carolyn Schofield.
They can rest assured that Schofield strongly supports the 2nd Amendment, insists on curbing government spending and opposes the state’s proposed progressive income tax. Plus, Schofield has a wealth of experience as a public servant on the McHenry County Board, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and other governmental bodies.
At the same time, Schofield understands that legislators do the public a disservice when they cling to absolutist positions at all costs. Big problems — and Illinois has plenty — don’t get solved by saying “no” over and over. Skillicorn, for example, most recently stuck to his “no new taxes” stand, even to the point of voting against a motor fuel tax hike that would finance desperately needed road projects in his own district.
Schofield is the better choice in this race.
83rd District Democratic primary
Hands down, Juan Thomas is the better qualified candidate in this Democratic primary to advocate for the people of the 83rd District, which includes Aurora and North Aurora.
Thomas, a lawyer and ordained minister, has a long history of serving his community and profession. From 2017 to 2018, he was president of the National Bar Association, a group with some 65,000 African American lawyers, judges and law students as members. During his tenure, the association created an LGBTQ division for members. At the time, Thomas said it was important to the association’s standing as a leading civil rights organization.
Thomas has been active in Aurora as well, going back to the 1990s when he was elected to the West Aurora School District 129 board. He still serves the school district as a member of its foundation’s board of directors. He also has been active in the NAACP’s DuPage County branch.
Our reading of Thomas is that he would not be reluctant to stand up, when necessary, to the leaders of his own Democratic Party. He gets our nod over the incumbent representative Barbara Hernandez, who was appointed to the seat in 2019.
For more information about this race and others, including candidate questionnaires, go to elections.suntimes.com/voting-guide/2020/.
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