INSIDE
NEWS Breaking down Evanston Township Referendum
SPORTS Hawks fall to Niles North in Semifinals Page 11
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Election2012 2012primaries 2012primaries 2012primaries Our Village, Our News
MARCH 15, 2012
Vol. 56 No. 23
The Race is on Voyager Media’s got you covered
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Candidates battle for 9th, 10th Congressional Districts
By Rick Kambic Staff Reporter
Area Democrats are the most active in this year’s two main congressional races. While a politically unknown elementary school teacher is challenging Jan Schakowsky for the Democratic nomination in Illinois’ ninth Congressional District, a group of four Democrats are feuding for the right to challenge Republican Robert Dold in the 10th Congressional District. Running with the slogan “Corruption is the biggest tax of all,” Simon Ribeiro, of Evanston, is challenging Schakowsky for the party nomination. Ribeiro opposed Schakowsky in the last election, when he ran on a Green Party slate that has since been disbanded by the Illinois Board of Elections. After taking the Democratic designation, Ribeiro began referring to himself as a nonmachine Democrat and promoting Schakowsky’s connection to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – who has recently been named in a federal insider trading investigation. While Ribeiro’s actual political experience is lacking, Schakowsky
is looking for her eighth term as a congresswoman and prides herself on being nominated by Pelosi to be on the 18-person presidential commission for finance reform. Schakowsky stakes her claims in senior issues and health care, emphasizing her involvement in passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – otherwise known as Obama Care. The 12-year member of Congress has also worked toward legislation that“rewards”companies for hiring American workers and eliminates tax incentives to businesses for sending jobs overseas.Schakowsky has also proposed larger tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires in order to ease the burden on middle-class taxpayers and prevent program cuts. Both Schakowsky and Ribeiro see eye-to-eye on protecting the middle class. Leaning on his Green Party background, Ribeiro believes ending war would pull large sums of money away from defense contractors and return it to the natural economy whereAmericans live and work. His non-traditional stances also include prohibiting the federal government from paying independent bankers to distribute
counterfeit “Federal Reserve” money. Instead, Ribeiro says printing actual “United States Department of Treasury Notes” and handing currency issues internally would save money and create jobs simultaneously. The Democratic winner will face Republican challenger Timothy Wolfe, who runs unopposed in the March 20 primary. Wolfe is the least politically experienced of the three, as he runs in his first-ever campaign. Originally from Bloomington, Wolfe now resides in Arlington Heights. He has owned a Mt. Prospect-based tax and accounting company for 20 years. The political rookie said he decided to seek office to protect the assets and principles the common citizen has worked hard to accrue in a given lifetime. District 9 grew slightly during redistricting, as more northern lakefront towns are now included. Redistricting caused problems for District 10 incumbent Robert Dold, whose house in Kenilworth is now in District 9. To the surprise of many Democrats, Dold is being allowed to run for the 10th District with the guarantee that he will move in
district if he wins. Dold is unopposed in the Republican primary. Republicans have dominated District 10 for three decades. The Republican Central Committee publically gave its support for Dold despite relentless concerns over his stability and popularity among members. After Mark Kirk’s appointment to the U.S. Senate, Dold narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Dan Seals in a special election to fill Kirk’s vacancy. Primary campaign issues for Dold include repealing Obama Care and lifting tax preferences that target high-income families and profitable companies. His job-building agenda includes removing legislation that he labeled “deal breakers” for expanding companies. Locally, Dold is working with the College of Lake County to have laser technology taught at the school. The curriculum would supply new hires to a local employer. Dold currently owns a pest control company that his family started 150 years ago. The redrawing of District 9 not only took Dold’s house, but it also took the Republican strongholds
of Winnetka and Wilmette. Portions of liberal-heavy Niles and Des Plaines, as well as various other Democratic towns near Wisconsin, were added to District 10. The pool of Democrats who hope to challenge Dold in November consists of attorney Vivek Bavda, who graduated law school three years ago; political activist Ilya Sheyman, who barely meets the minimum age requirement of 25; Air Force Reserve colonel and health food expert John Tree, former brand manager for Rice Krispies Treats; and longtime management consultant Brad Schneider. All four candidates support health care reform, clean energy implementation and removal of Bush tax cuts. The differences between the four include resume, charisma, financial planning and ability to fund raise. Schneider, a 50-year-old Waukegan resident, leads the last two after raising more than $630,000 as of Dec. 31 – $150,000 of which coming out of pocket. Sheyman is a distant second with nearly $433,000 at the close of 2011. rkambic@buglenewspapers.com