Quigley for 5th congressional district
Congressman Mike Quigley understands that anything that gets done in Congress gets done in the middle, and so he has tried to live there, much of the time. The Democrat from Chicago co-founded the bipartisan Congressional Transparency Caucus and was one of 38 representatives who voted in 2013 for the groundbreaking alternative budget proposed by Democrat Jim Cooper and Republican Steve LaTourette.
"It was big, balanced, and bipartisan," he wrote in his Daily Herald questionnaire. "By authorizing $4 trillion in deficit reduction through a mix of revenue raising and spending cuts, the plan was something that members of both parties should have agreed on." Alas, Republicans balked at the increased taxes and Democrats at the cuts to programs like Social Security.
Quigley was elected to Congress in 2009 after 10 years on the Cook County Board, where he made a name for himself in environmental legislation and a series of reports on reinventing government.
Since going to Washington, he has been a valuable ally for the region and the state as the only Illinois member of the House Appropriations Committee. He is smart about global trade, and is the ranking Democrat on the Emerging Threats subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee.
The Republican candidate is Vince Kolber, of Chicago, CEO of a transportation capital equipment asset management company. Rob Sherman of Buffalo Grove is the Green party candidate.
The 5th congressional district covers much of the north side of Chicago and suburban areas that include parts of Rosemont, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village and eastern DuPage County.