Endorsement: Thillens for state Senate in District 28
In the 28th Senate district, Democrat Laura Murphy, 56, got a leg up when she was appointed by the party in October 2015 to replace the popular Dan Kotowski, who stepped down early after almost a decade in office.
But for someone with a year in the legislature under her belt, she can seem surprisingly soft when answering questions about state government. She says she supports limits on how long legislators can hold leadership positions and that she's a supporter of the move to have legislative districts drawn independently rather than gerrymandered by the party in power. But, although she did join four other suburban Democrats in opposing a Democratic-sponsored budget that was billions of dollars out of balance, we're not entirely convinced of the consistency of her independence.
Republican businessman Mel Thillens, 45, by contrast, is a persuasive outsider, not afraid to criticize the governor, and appears more able to compromise in the interest of getting things done. Unlike Murphy, he favors term limits for legislators and personally promises not to serve more than 10 years. He says he won't support a tax increase until there are spending reforms, backs moving to 401(k) style pensions for public workers and supports workers' compensation reform.
We strongly support him for a district that takes in big parts of Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Park Ridge and Schaumburg and portions of Roselle and Rosemont,