Congressional challengers pile on people in Washington

Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk didn't attend a candidates forum Saturday but Democrats Dan Seals and Jay Footlik kept his name in the spotlight.

"Up until 2006, Mark Kirk voted 90 percent of the time on party lines," Wilmette resident Seals said.

The 10th Congressional District incumbent has "campaigned like a moderate and governed like a conservative," said Footlik of Buffalo Grove.

While Seals and Footlik piled on Kirk, Democrats vying for their party's nomination in the 6th Congressional District defined their priorities to the crowd of about 50 at the Mount Prospect village hall.

Stan Jagla, a Roselle businessman, focused on Iraq, saying, "the only reason we're staying there is corruption and war profiteering."

His opponent, Jill Morgenthaler of Des Plaines, talked about problems facing the middle class.

"Citizens are working harder than ever but facing escalating costs," said the former Army Reserve colonel and high-ranking state homeland security adviser.

The forum, organized by the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce, also included hopefuls running for state representative and Senate spots in the Feb. 5 primary. Candidates gave opening and closing remarks and took questions from a panel.

Both 10th District candidates touted familiar refrains about a need for change in Washington, with Footlik tying it into a salvo against his rivals.

"I believe we need change," the security consultant and former Middle East policy aide to President Clinton said. "Change that Mark Kirk isn't interested in making. Change my primary opponent is not prepared to make."

Seals, a business consultant and adjunct professor at Northwestern University who lost to Kirk by 5 percentage points in the 2006 election, accused the Republican of "flip-flopping" on votes for minimum wage and a seniors prescription drug program.

"We deserve better, but we're not going to get it unless we fight for it," he said.

On the war against terrorism, Seals criticized the government for wiretapping without warrants and eavesdropping on domestic calls.

"It was done to protect personal liberties but it had the opposite effect," he said.

Footlik said the Bush administration had fumbled diplomacy in the Middle East.

"We can do better reaching out to the Muslim and Arab world," he said. "We've chased the moderates into the hands of the extremists."

Whoever wins the 6th District primary will face incumbent U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, a Wheaton Republican.

Morgenthaler fielded a query about gambling expansion -- a state issue -- saying she opposes raising money through gaming.

To solve its revenue problems, the federal government should end tax breaks to special interests, Morgenthaler advocated.

"Why are we subsidizing energy (companies) and pharmaceuticals, and why are we funding an endless war?" she said.

Asked about health savings accounts, which allow people to set aside tax-free earnings for medical care, Jagla called them "a disaster."

"It shifts away attention from problems with health care's escalating costs," he said. "Savings accounts don't let anyone accumulate enough to pay for health care."

The 6th District includes portions of northeast DuPage and northwest Cook counties.

The 10th District includes parts of northeast Cook and southeast Lake counties.