PEORIA -- The Sept. 24 news conference on voter suppression featured a exhibit that many recall: the notorious 2004 post card sent to Democratic-leaning voters warning them that they might be arrested if they voted.
That post card helped to narrowly elect Republican Aaron Schock to the Illinois House and launched his political career that has propelled him to Congress from the 18th District in Illinois.
At the candidate forum following the news conference, Schock's current opponent, Democrat Steve Waterworth, challenged Schock to release his tax returns. That's because a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has named Schock one of the top 20 most corrupt congressmen, Waterworth said.
Schock is accused of converting $150,000 in campaign funds to his personal use, among other issues. "We need to know if he's evaded paying taxes on this money from his campaign fund," Waterworth said.
Schock did not appear at the forum, though he was invited.
Schock wants to become governor of Illinois, Waterworth said, echoing speculation in the press. He would be another right wing governor who would try to enact voting rules in Illinois to promote voter suppression, Waterworth said, like Scott Walker in Wisconsin, and others throughout the US.
"In the future, rich extremists would make every election about voter suppression," Waterworth said.
His appearance came at the end of the three-hour event at the Gateway Building, sponsored by the Peoria chapters of the NAACP, ACLU and the Peoria Christian Leadership Council.
It began, after the news conference, with a brief talk by Peoria Election Commission executive director Tom Bride on voter suppression, its origins and current forms. He urged voters not to be fooled by mail, phone calls, emails or other forms of communication designed to mislead them into not voting.
Then county board candidates in contested races, candidates for county-wide offices and the Illinois General Assembly spoke, finally followed by Waterworth, the only congressional candidate to appear.
Here are some highlights:
The race for Peoria County State's Attorney features Democrat Jerry Brady, appointed to the post earlier this year, and Frank Ierulli, a former Democrat turned Republican. Both talked about crime prevention in Peoria. Afterwards in brief interviews, Brady said he is pro-choice on women's reproductive rights. Ierulli said he is "pro life."
The contest for Illinois State Senate between incumbent Democrat Dave Koehler and Republican challenger Pat Sullivan means both must take stands on controversial state issues, such as the state's budget deficit, pension underfunding and cuts already made that put human services at risk.
Koehler said he voted to cut Medicaid but is having second thoughts as the impact of the cuts become visible. "We can't destabilize our communities for the sake of balancing the budget." he said.
While Koehler talked specifics, Sullivan spoke in general terms. "Our system is broken and should be fixed,"he said. Sounding like Romney, he said, "I'm a business man, we're taxing too much, borrowing too much and spending too much."
Asked about debt restructuring to pay state vendors, Koehler said it should have been done and would save money but Republicans have blocked it. Sullivan said he also supports that method.
Democrat Jennifer Allison, running for the Illinois House against Mike Unes, a Republican who did not appear, said she would "make sure every teacher's voice is heard," in solving pension problems.
The Peoria County Board and Recorder of Deeds races will be examined in a later post.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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