Experience the difference in 49th state House race

Illinois House 49

In the race for the Republican nomination in the 49th Illinois House District, the main distinction might be the area of the district in which the candidates live. The district runs on the west side of the Fox River from Geneva north to Carpentersville, and includes rural areas west of Elgin and the Dundees.

Incumbent Tim Schmitz, a paid on-call firefighter and former Batavia alderman, has served in the state House since 1999. Challenger Jim Krenz, who owns a plumbing business in Carpentersville and is backed by the Family Taxpayers Network's Jack Roeser, has served on the Gail Borden Library Board, Elgin building commission and Algonquin zoning board.

Both are social and fiscal conservatives concerned about the state's pension obligations and its continuing bad habit of spending more than it is taking in.

Krenz takes a harder line, at least verbally, on illegal immigration than does Schmitz, standing in the "illegal means illegal" camp. He points to Schmitz's "yes" vote on in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, but Schmitz argued the bill actually tightened rules for students. And both believe Gov. Rod Blagojevich's efforts to prevent the use of E-Verify by employers seeking a legal work force was wrong.

Both advocate a two-tiered pension system that moves new employees away from defined benefits plans, but both believe the state must meet its previous obligations. Both support efforts to make Illinois less punitive for businesses, Schmitz calling the job climate "regressive" and Krenz saying the state economy cannot survive if the General Assembly "continues to aggressively attack the business of Illinois…"

This is a you pick 'em, depending on whether voters seek legislative experience or fresh blood. Schmitz gets the nod here based on his experience, although experience in Illinois' dysfunctional government isn't necessarily a point being used in campaign literature these days.