Our endorsement for Congress, Dist. 14: Hultgren
We didn't endorse Republican Congressman Randy Hultgren in his first run for that office in 2010 against Bill Foster, but he's grown on us over time.
We endorsed the Plano resident two years ago on his record of pushing science and innovation, something near and dear to the 14th Congressional District. He continues in that vein today. And he has a strong record of doing the work and showing up for votes.
Make no mistake: Hultgren is a conservative Republican through and through. He views the staggering debt as the country's greatest threat.
While he still would like to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with what he calls a more “targeted” solution to health care that puts doctors and patients in the driver's seat, Hultgren nonetheless didn't lose sight of his constituents. He held a sizable health care forum to help them learn how to manage it. “It's the law,” he said. “It's our responsibility to help people navigate it.”
Challenger Dennis Anderson, of Gurnee, however, is not a candidate to be disregarded. A retired executive from the medical industry, he is a nimble thinker with a political science degree, and he is remarkably well versed in a variety of topics necessary to serve in Congress.
While he is an unapologetic pro-union Democrat, on balance he is a moderate. Citing gridlock in Congress as the biggest threat to the country, he is calm and collegial and likely would do well in bridging the party divide on Capitol Hill.
But it's an extraordinary leap from zero on-the-job political experience to being a congressman. We'd like to see Anderson pursue a seat in the state legislature to get a taste of what that's like before running for Congress again.
Hultgren is endorsed.
The 14th Congressional District makes an arc from Gurnee south to Kendall County.