Illinois House Minority Leader discusses upcoming election

Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna). (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – A top Republican in Springfield is optimistic of gaining ground on supermajority Democrats this election year. Even though Democrats hold 78 of 118 seats in the House, Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) says voters who put them there are dissatisfied.

“We were polling all over the state, and one of the questions we asked was, do you feel the state is on the right track or the wrong track?” said McCombie. “We haven’t found any district yet that they think we’re on the right track. and that’s a real problem. So our job is to help our colleagues on the other side get it to the right track. But if they’re not, then we’re just going to take over, we’re going to win those seats, and we’re going to put it on the right track.  

“And that’s what we’re going to do.”

McCombie told an audience at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale the voters’ top issues are the economy, immigration, and abortion.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…