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Oberweis wins GOP 25th state senate nod

Corinne Pierog of St. Charles said Tuesday night, “You can’t buy votes. You have to earn a vote.”

The Democrat will have to work hard, however, in her campaign against Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove, for the 25th state senate seat in November. Oberweis, a Republican, has a substantial campaign war chest; Pierog’s might be better described as a campaign change purse.

“Jim Oberweis truly represents the 1 percent. My voters, my supporters, come from the 99 percent,” Pierog said. To overcome the financial disparity, she figures on getting a lot of small donations, and a “lot of walking” door-to-door to meet voters.

With all the precincts counted, according to unofficial results, Pierog had 66 percent of the vote over Steven L. Hunter of Geneva, in the Democratic primary.

Oberweis had 49 percent of the vote in the Republican primary. His challengers, Dave Richmond and Richard Slocum, had 30 and 21 percent, respectively. Oberweis received 10,816 votes, Richmond 6,616, and Slocum 4,520. Pierog received 2,784 votes, and Hunter 1,413.

Hunter, after his first run for office, congratulated Pierog, and said he would support Democrats in November.

“I’m not going away. ... As a party and a person we face many civil rights and economic issues in this state,” he said.

Oberweis, of Sugar Grove, campaigned on fiscal conservatism, saying the state has to cut spending and eliminate regulations that prevent businesses from locating or expanding in the state. He also pledged to limit himself to two terms. He would like to enact term limits for all legislators as a way of stopping politicians from turning service into careers, and therefore being beholden to campaign contributors. He also favors term limits on General Assembly leadership positions.

Slocum, of Sugar Grove, a longtime member and former president of the West Aurora District 129 school board, also favored term limits, although he didn’t specify a length.

Richmond, the Blackberry Township supervisor who lives in unincorporated Kane County near Batavia, also favored term limits. He also pointed out his experience as an elected official, saying his goal as supervisor was to “respect” the taxpayer and that he had reduced property taxes in the township budget. Richmond is a former constituent services worker for former Congressman Dennis Hastert.

Corinne Pierog
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