14th District GOP candidates say curbing government spending, overreach are top issues

Both Republicans running to represent Illinois’ 14th Congressional District cited financial issues among their top concerns — but the specifics varied greatly.

Oswego resident Jim Marter and Somonauk resident Gary Vician will face off in the GOP primary for the seat, which has been held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville since 2019. Underwood is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The 14th District includes parts of Kane, Will and five other counties southwest of Chicago.

Marter and Vician discussed their top campaign issues, U.S. border policy and other issues in questionnaires for the Daily Herald. They’ll be available at dailyherald.com.

Marter, a 63-year-old software consultant, said he’ll focus on fighting waste, fraud and abuse if elected to Congress.

He proposes reducing discretionary government spending in all budgetary areas except for those that concern the military and veterans.

“Nothing is off the table,” he said.

A former Oswego Public Library board member who lost his seat and a simultaneous school board race last year, Marter has unsuccessfully run for Congress four times and for U.S. Senate in 2016.

Marter said he supports President Donald Trump’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency project and its stated mission of targeting wasteful spending. He said he’d back a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and supports allowing line-item vetoes on budget bills.

Marter also wants to eliminate congressional spending earmarks for projects in home districts and federal funding for diversity-related projects and Planned Parenthood, among other efforts.

Vician, a 72-year-old retired teacher, said he is especially concerned about taxes and the cost of living, as well as “government overreach and intrusion.”

He favors term limits for elected officials and bureaucrats but didn’t specify for which officials or government employees, nor did he say what those limits should be.

Vician said the scope and size of government should be reduced. He called for fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Vician’s elected service dates back to the 1980s. He served as a trustee in both Addison and Naperville townships and then as Naperville Township supervisor from 2009 to 2013.

Illinois’ primary Election Day is March 17. Early voting has begun.