Rauschenberger to run again for state senate

Elgin Republican Steven Rauschenberger will take another run at a state senate seat in the 22nd District, a position he held for more than 14 years from late 1992 to February 2007.

Rauschenberger said he will begin his comeback in the February 2010 primary election. That seat is currently held by Michael Noland, an Elgin Democrat.

A former Assistant Republican Leader, Rauschenberger vacated his seat after an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2007.

"It is time to send a message to the Chicago Democrats that they need to go to work," Rauschenberger told the Daily Herald Friday morning before making his decision public at a 2 p.m. engagement. "They are responsible for the whole state. For too long the suburbs have been a piggy bank for the Democratic city patronage."

But Noland denied those claims, noting the $30 million he has secured for the district, which includes parts of Bartlett, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, and Streamwood.

"I am ready for an open and vigorous discussion on our respective records," Noland said. "I will prove that I have a stronger record in the district."

Rauschenberger also chided Democrats in Springfield for approving "five unbalanced and unconstitutional budgets in a row, increasing spending by $1 billion per year" and leaving the state unable to fund basic human services in the suburbs.

"Their only solution is the largest income tax increase in the state of Illinois," Rauschenberger said. "Raising income taxes in the worst financial downturn in half a century is not the solution for getting people back to work and this state moving in the right direction again."

Rauschenberger said his record under former Gov. Jim Edgar should bolster his chances for re-election.

"Health and human services were healthy and we held the line on taxes," Rauschenberger said."

Since leaving office in 2007, Rauschenberger says, he has consulted Washington companies on understanding the complexities of individual states.

"I had the chance to see what goes on in other states, and Illinois stands out for all the wrong reasons," he said. "No state has sent hundreds of public officials to prison. No state has convicted one governor and indicted another. No other state has started the process for bankrupting the state."

But Noland said the Democratic Party should not be blamed for the state's fiscal troubles.

"We didn't get into this problem over the last six years," Noland said. "I think rational people will recognize that."