GOP had a winner with Burns in race
In my opinion, Bill Foster did not win the congressional seat in the 14th District. Rather, the Republican Party lost the seat because Dennis Hastert and the Republican Party in the 14th District endorsed the wrong person in Jim Oberweis.
No disrespect to Bill Foster, as he seems like a nice gentleman, and I'm sure he'll represent the district with dignity. However, I firmly believe that had Dennis Hastert endorsed Kevin Burns, the popular and current mayor of Geneva, in the original primary election, the results would have been different.
I must admit that I do not reside in the 14th District, but have many friends who do live in the district, most of whom are either independents, or in many cases staunch Republicans, and the consensus was that none of them, or very few of their friends, were going to vote for Jim Oberweis, but would have voted for Kevin Burns, had he remained on the ballot.
Personally, I had the opportunity to meet Mayor Burns early in the campaign, and found him to be intelligent, energetic, and very personable, and just took an interest in following his candidacy to fill Congressman Hastert's seat. I believe he had the endorsement of the mayors of Batavia and St. Charles, as well as numerous other leaders in the 14th District, was running an aggressive and clean campaign, and appeared to be well-liked by those people who turned out to hear him speak, or came in contact with him through numerous parades and rallies throughout the district.
I can only surmise that his reason for withdrawing was that he probably felt that without Dennis Hastert's endorsement, he wouldn't have the backing or help from the Republican Party, and without that backing and aid in funding his campaign he wouldn't be able to compete with Oberweis's bankroll.
It's a sad day when a hard-working, inspiring, and dedicated person can't compete fairly in today's world of "big money" politics and hopefully, Mayor Kevin Burns will consider running again in the future.
John Graham
Lake Zurich