Oberweis likely to leave dairy if he wins Senate seat
SPRINGFIELD - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove said if he wins the seat in November he likely would step aside from his personal business ventures.
Oberweis, a state senator, said he doesn't run his famous dairy on a daily basis anyway.
"In the investment business, I'm still a trustee of our mutual fund family," Oberweis said. "If I win I probably will step down from that position."
"In the dairy business I'm still chairman," he added. "If I win I will probably step down from that position (too), but I'm not running the day-to-day operations now."
Oberweis said his two sons have been running the family businesses, Oberweis Dairy and Oberweis Funds, and that his influence has already started slowly melting away.
He said "that won't change, win or lose."
Oberweis is expected to run a campaign highlighting his business and financial experience. He is taking on U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, in November.
Durbin has been representing Illinois in the U.S. Senate since 1996, taking the place of Paul Simon.
Oberweis rose to the top in the March primary election to defeat political newcomer Doug Truax of Downers Grove for the GOP nod.
Oberweis has had a sense of humor about his milk company in the past in Springfield.
He once passed out ice cream at an Illinois Senate committee before asking members to vote to raise the rural interstate speed limit to 70 mph. He also has worn a neck tie with ice cream scoops on it.