With less than a month before the 2020 primary election, seven GOP candidates must make their case to voters as to why they are the right person to defeat U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, in November.
On Friday and Monday, the Northwest Herald’s editorial staff met with six of the seven remaining candidates in the 14th Congressional District’s GOP primary: state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove; state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris; Kendall County Republican Chairman James Marter; Catalina Lauf of Woodstock; Jerry Evans of Warrenville; and Anthony Catella of St. Charles.
Evans, Lauf, Marter and Catella sat down with the Northwest Herald’s editorial staff on Friday. Oberweis and Rezin met with them on Monday. Gradel did not attend either interview.
Some credited experience, others believe honesty made them the standout candidate and some felt the GOP was in need of new blood to help grow its base.
Oberweis credited his private sector experience – both starting Oberweis Asset Management from scratch and building Oberweis Dairy from one ice cream store to 43 stores – and the results of his campaign against U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin six years ago as the factors that would give him the edge in the primary.
Although Oberweis lost to Durbin, he carried every county in the 14th District.
“I feel fairly comfortable that I can beat Lauren Underwood and it’s critical that we replace Lauren Underwood because, according to a UCLA study, she has a more extreme liberal voting record than either Nancy Pelosi or [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and I don’t believe that that kind of a voting record fits with people in the 14th Congressional District,” Oberweis said.
Rezin said she joined the Illinois General Assembly in 2010 after unseating a 10-year incumbent bankrolled by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
“It was a grassroots campaign and we worked very hard for a year and a half and we ended up winning that election in a year that was very difficult for Republicans to win by a large margin,” Rezin said.
As a Republican representing a swing Senate district, Rezin said she always has had to run against heavily funded Democratic opponents but still prevails.
Oberweis criticized Rezin for not having the same perspective of the 14th District as he does since she lives outside the district’s boundaries. However, Rezin said it is likely she will be in the 14th District once district lines are redrawn in two years but, if not, she will look into moving into the 14th.
Jerry Evans of Warrenville described himself as a young millennial, small businessman, entrepreneur, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and an outsider to politics.
However, Evans said he is the candidate who, from day one has been straightforward with his stances on key issues and wishes to remain honest and transparent.
“I want to stop human trafficking, I want to go ahead and protect religious liberties for those Christians or Jews or Muslims or people who would ascribe to any other faith, as well as I want to solve immigration and solve health care issues as well as protecting the Second Amendment,” Evans said.
Woodstock’s Lauf, whose mother came to the country from Guatemala, said former state Rep. Randy Hultgren was beaten because of a systematic problem in the Republican Party: difficulty growing its base among shifting demographics.
Lauf attributed Underwood’s victory to an unenergized base of voters supporting Hultgren and a new electorate backing Underwood that the 14th District wasn’t used to. Lauf said that, as the only candidate who has received national attention, she stands the best chance to flip the district back to red.
“I see the American Dream that I’m the product of under attack today,” Lauf said. “We have a very far-left young socialist wing here – one here in this district, Lauren Underwood – and not only is it time for new faces and new perspective on the side of freedom in the Republican Party to stand forward, but we need people who are very supportive of President Trump and his America First agenda.”
Marter said his international business and manufacturing experience and his willingness to fight for conservative pro-life and pro-family values will make him the right candidate.
Marter said the 14th District needs someone who will go to Washington to support the establishment of term limits and a balanced budget amendment. He also would fight for Second Amendment protections and against bump stock bans and red flag laws.
“We have a socialist Democrat, Lauren Underwood, who wants to turn the American Dream into the socialist nightmare along with your leader, Nancy Pelosi,” Marter said.
Catella, an Army veteran and former Catholic priest, said his honesty makes him the right candidate.
He also said he believes there are good politicians and bad politicians.
“A good politician is someone who takes office and puts the people before himself or herself, and if there’s something good that can help him or her, that’s a byproduct,” Catella said. “But the real product is the help that he or she gives to his or her constituents. A bad politician is just the opposite of that.”
Catella said he also supports bipartisan cooperation and the importance of finding common ground.
