Munson maintains vote not anti-veteran
On May 21, a measure for the state to provide funding for veterans was approved in Springfield with votes rigidly following along party lines.
House Bill 6545 passed by a margin of 63 yes votes, all from Democrats, to 50 no votes, 48 of which came from Republicans.
Republican Ruth Munson, who is seeking her third term for the 43rd State Representative seat, was one of the no votes.
Democrat Keith Farnham, her challenger for Tuesday's election, has said during his campaign that this vote shows Munson doesn't support veterans.
Munson has maintained she took an oath to pass a balanced budget and didn't want to let Gov. Blagojevich decided what to cut.
"I voted no on the one budget and I voted no on the 29 bills that added up to the same thing," she said.
Two downstate Democrats, Kurt Granberg and Jay C. Hoffman, also voted no.
Granberg was unavailable for comment, but Hoffman's spokeswoman said he did not want to vote for a budget with a $2 billion deficit.
Farnham, a Navy veteran, declined to comment on whether he believes Hoffman, too, turned his back on veterans.
"I'm not running against him. I'm running against Ruth Munson and I'm looking at her voting record," Farnham said.