Mark Kirk faces a viable challenger
Congressman Mark Kirk wants to upgrade his position to a place in the U.S. Senate, but are they aware that Kirk does have a viable Republican challenger? A few weeks ago, I met Patrick Hughes at an invitation-only event hosted by a Lake Forest couple which is definitely Kirk territory. It was attended by 40 individuals, all having grave reservations about supporting Mark Kirk's Senate bid, but who left feeling excited and energized about having a viable candidate in Patrick Hughes to challenge Mark Kirk. Just who is Patrick Hughes? He lives in Hinsdale with his wife and three young children. He grew up in a loving family, but not without financial hardships. Hughes succeeded by becoming a successful commercial litigation attorney, then left the practice of law to pursue careers as a homebuilder and real estate lawyer. Upon reaching his 40th birthday in January of this year, Hughes decided that the next half of his life would be all about service.
As fiscal and social issues have always been important to Patrick Hughes, it was Mark Kirk's renegade "yes" vote on cap and trade legislation back in June, as one of only eight House Republicans to do so, which prompted Hughes to explore challenging Kirk and then enter the race in August as a Reagan conservative. For how could Mark Kirk call himself a fiscal conservative after having voted for the largest tax increase in American history? Patrick Hughes is a fiscal conservative who believes in limited government and lower taxes. The $11 billion deficit in Illinois reeks of irresponsibility and the failure of the Democrat's tax and spend policies. As a strong supporter of the military Hughes is not afraid of calling the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan what they really are: Wars against terrorism. He further believes that Gitmo should not be closed down, he opposes transferring the facility's enemy combatants to an Illinois prison, as well as Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to bring terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed into a Manhattan federal court for trial.
Hughes considers Mark Kirk a patriot and honors his service in the military, but unlike Kirk who made a speech on the House floor against the Iraq war surge, Hughes would have supported the Petraeus Iraq surge, as he does the present Afghanistan surge request of 40,000 additional troops by General McChrystal.
It was politically expedient at the time for Kirk to oppose the Iraq surge as it wasn't going well, but might Kirk as a senator be tempted to put his political future above that of national security so as not to come down on the wrong side of history? On these issues there is a huge gap between Patrick Hughes and Mark Kirk.
• Hughes is an abortion opponent and Kirk is an abortion rights supporter.
• Kirk even supports the hideous procedure of partial birth abortion, putting him to the left of most Democrats.
• Kirk opposes parental notification. Hughes does not.
• Hughes, unlike Kirk, believes in the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman.
• Hughes believes that gun bans are unconstitutional. Kirk has received the lowest rating possible from the NRA - an F MINUS!
• Hughes believes in drilling for oil in ANWAR and off the Pacific coast and in nuclear energy. Kirk has not been clear as to what he believes, but he is beholden to environmentalists and companies investing in "green" energy for financial support.
There is a clear choice for Republicans in the upcoming February 2010 primary elections. It is between the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan or that of Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter. I have made my choice. What will yours be?
Nancy J. Thorner
Lake Bluff