Endorsement: Booras for Congress, Dist. 3

In the contest for Congress from District 3, Republican John Booras cites as his models two stalwart suburban GOP predecessors — Mark Kirk, whose 17-year congressional service included terms in both the U.S. House and Senate, and the late John Porter, whose distinguished public career included more than two decades in the House.

Sweeping westward from Chicago through Cook and DuPage counties and into Kane, District 3 is not the same as the North Shore area that produced Porter and Kirk. But Booras, of Homer Glen, could hardly have picked two better politicians to emulate. His well-thought-out, moderate Republican positions are well-suited to the interests of the region, and he brings a strong yet cooperative spirit to the race that today’s House of Representatives sorely needs.

A former police officer, he favors well-managed controls on border security, while insisting that economic realities and compassion must be important considerations in immigration policy. He favors tax deductions to help small and medium-sized businesses provide child care for employees. He proposes incentives for manufacturers that make special efforts to help get workers off welfare and unemployment rolls. And he wants to see a child-care tax deduction that helps working families keep up with actual costs.

On foreign policy, he favors strong support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and for Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet, in both theaters, he also recognizes the need for a measured U.S. influence. And on issues ranging from health care to education and criminal justice, he is similarly both strikingly outspoken and reassuringly open to reasonable compromises. We don’t necessarily agree with his every position, but we do think that we need more representatives like him, whether Democrat or Republican, in Congress.

Booras is seeking to unseat one-term incumbent Delia Ramirez, of Chicago. Ramirez has been energetic and enthusiastic toward her service in Congress, but, though she touts some efforts toward bipartisanship, her voting record and general political ideals have been among the most liberal in the House and feel somewhat out of step with the interests of this largely suburban district. Booras represents a needed shift toward the middle, and he gets our endorsement.