Incumbents confident in Illinois House Races

by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI

Twelve-year incumbent Democrat John D’Amico said that he doesn’t think that his job is in jeopardy as he vies for re-election against Republican challenger and Edgebrook resident Jonathan Edelman in the 15th Illinois House District.

D’Amico said that he has been working hard as he does during election campaigns and that he takes every election seriously.

"There is no doubt that people want to have good schools, good parks and good libraries in their communities," D’Amico said. "There’s going to be some legislators that will need to work a little harder during this election."

The 15th District encompasses portions of the Northwest Side, including the Edgebrook, Mayfair and Wildwood neighborhoods, and parts of the suburbs of Niles, Park Ridge, Glenview, Morton Grove and Skokie.

D’Amico defeated Fair Allocation In Runways Coalition co-founder Jac Charlier in the primary election on March 15.

D’Amico received 11,289 votes, or 59.8 percent of the total cast, while Charlier received 7,582 votes. D’Amico got 54.7 percent of the 11,736 votes that were cast in the city and 68.3 percent of the 7,081 votes that were cast in the suburbs.

"My opponent and I, we are getting along with each other," D’Amico said of Edelman. "We have different points of view. I don’t think that I am in jeopardy, and I think that the Democrats will pick up some seats."

D’Amico said that he has concentrated on his record instead of going negative against his opponent.

Edelman said that he had raised about $30,000 for the campaign and that he believes that he has a better chance than most people think.

"I’m very encouraged," Edelman said. "It’s looking a lot better than I expected. I haven’t had cases were people were ardent supporters of John.

"I’ve met John only during the campaign, but a lot of people are telling me that it’s time for a change and this has been a recurring theme. The great disadvantage was not having a one-on-one debate before the local community. I believe in talking about issues and not demonizing or distracting the voters through negative advertising."
Edelman said on his campaign Web site that if he were elected he would be accessible and transparent and that he would work for a limited government, self-imposed term limits and greater community involvement.

Edelman wrote in a booklet that he prepared for the campaign that to get the state back on track, "we need to end political royalty" through term limits, changes in the voting system and ending gerrymandering. He said he also would introduce legislation authorizing police departments to deputize civilians to patrol their neighborhoods.
"If I were elected I would not cast a vote for Speaker Madigan," Edelman said. "We should come up with some sort of a solution that would be an alternative to Madigan. Even (some) Democrats have a problem with him."

Edelman said that he proposes having no taxes on income up to $25,000, a 4 percent tax on income between $25,000 and $1 million, and a 5 percent tax on incomes of more than $1 million.

"I would not rule out a tax increase, but we would have to consider other courses of action," Edelman said. "I would insist on changing the budget policy so that we don’t keep going into debt through more borrowing I will only consider lending my vote to a bill if I’m elected if who ever the sponsor is shows me how it will be paid for."

"Rauner will have to work with us and meet us half way if he wants to fix what is ailing our state," D’Amico said. "If he doesn’t want to work with us, this election will tell you a lot about how it is going to go in Springfield after the election."

"When you have a billionaire governor who doesn’t think twice about dropping $3 to $4 million into Republican television ads, you get bombarded with those things all the time, but we don’t know what kind of Trump-effect we will have on the election," D’Amico said."

said that he looks at each vote on an individual basis and that he can’t say whether he would vote in favor of a tax increase or not. "I can only run on my record," he said. "With certain votes it’s not that easy to say yes or no because you think about every vote as they come.

"I can’t outright say to my constituents that I will either vote yes or no on something when, for example, what if I need a school or funding will get pulled if I vote a certain way. You have to think about ramifications of your actions all the time."

D’Amico said that he opposes term limits because "we already have term limits and it’s called the election."

In the 55th Illinois House District, incumbent Democrat Marty Moylan is seeking his third term against Republican challenger Dan Gott.

Gott did not return phone calls requesting an interview.

Moylan said that he has been working 50-hour weeks going door to door to campaign. In the 2014 election, Moylan received 15,026 votes, or 52.7 percent of the votes cast, and Republican challenger Mel Thillens received 13,508 votes, or 47.3 percent.

Moylan campaigned on a platform of saving people money and said that the biggest complaints people had were about noise coming from O’Hare International Airport and taxes.

Moylan, who was an alderman and the mayor of Des Plaines before he became a state representative, said did not raise taxes in the municipality and that he voted against Michael Madigan’s bills on numerous occasions.

"We are definitely getting the Trump effect, and some people don’t want to vote for a person that treats people that way," Moylan said. "The airport and taxes are the biggest issue that people constantly talk about with me."

"My opponent has limited resources, and our polling shows that we are the projected winners three times over," Moylan sad. He said that he has received campaign funding from unions and the working people and not the "1 percent."

Gott said on his Web site that he would be a leader with "integrity and a strong, independent voice to promote transparency, fiscal discipline and accountability working hard to help turn around Illinois."