Spending cuts, jobs, security fuel 10th District race

With early voting beginning Monday, the eight candidates from two parties running for Congress from the North suburban 10th District got a last-minute chance to make a first impression with voters.

Nearly 100 people jammed the Arlington Heights village hall boardroom Saturday morning for a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Buffalo Grove Area.

Since U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Highland Park Republican, is vacating the seat to run for the U.S. Senate, one of the five Republicans or three Democrats will win the post Kirk held for five terms and Republicans have held for three decades.

Limited to 60 seconds to answer a handful of questions submitted in writing by audience members, most candidates touched on their personal and educational backgrounds while generally agreeing on broader political party positions.

Democrat Julie Hamos, 60, a state representative from Wilmette, and Republican Elizabeth Coulson, 55, a state representative from Glenview, touted their records in state government.

Democrats Dan Seals, 38, a Wilmette business consultant who had made inroads in his last two runs against Kirk, and newcomer Elliot Richardson, 37, a Highland Park attorney, talked about bringing fresh ideas to Washington, D.C. So did Republican first-time candidates Robert Dold, 40, a Kenilworth attorney who owns a pest control service; Winnetka resident Dick Green, 52, who runs a financial company; Paul Hamann, 51, an electrical engineer and commodities trader from Lake Forest; and Arie Friedman, 43, a pediatrician and first Gulf War veteran from Highland Park.

Candidates from both parties stressed the need to cut spending, create jobs, improve health care and protect the nation from attack.

"We're all going to say the same thing," observed Friedman during a segment when the Republicans all opposed tax increases.

The three Democrats united on the need for campaign finance reform and creating jobs through alternative energy, but Richardson was alone in opposing President Obama's troop buildup in Afghanistan.

Likewise, the five Republicans agreed on their opposition to Obama's plan to bring foreign detainees to the state prison in Thompson and all criticized the president's health care plan. Hamann broke from the GOP ranks to say the U.S. should pull all troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, while Green was the only Republican to oppose the death penalty.

Acknowledging that Saturday's forum just gave voters a brief introduction to their stands on the issues, the politicians urged people to visit candidate Web sites and do their own research.

With early voting starting Monday and the primary election on Feb. 2, League of Women Voters moderator Edith Auchter of Barrington reminded the crowd to act.

"Please vote," Auchter said. "Democracy is not a spectator sport."