(Produced by Eunice Alpasan and Nick Blumberg)
“We have the wind at our backs,” U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Illinois) told attendees at the fourth and final day of the Illinois RNC delegation’s daily breakfast meetings, striking an optimistic tone about GOP candidates’ campaigns to unseat incumbent Democrats in Congress.
LaHood called on Illinois Republicans to get out the vote for congressional candidates hoping to increase the state’s GOP representation from the current three seats they currently occupy.
The Peoria Republican said the resolve former President Donald Trump demonstrated after an attempt on his life — and the unresolved questions about whether President Joe Biden will be replaced as his party’s nominee — could create an opening come November.
“I’ve never seen Democrats so despondent … I actually felt so sorry for a Democrat, I thought about hugging one,” LaHood joked.
The day’s guest speaker was Bernie Moreno, GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio who’s hoping to unseat the long-serving Sen. Sherrod Brown. Moreno said after a contentious primary, Republicans were quickly able to unify in service of a common cause.
“At the end of the day, what we agree with each other (on) — whether it’s 60% or 90% — it’s a lot more than what we agree with Democrats on,” Moreno said.
Moreno’s challenge in taking on an established incumbent is familiar to Republican congressional hopefuls in Illinois who made the trip to Milwaukee — but Mark Rice, 8th Congressional District candidate, struck a positive tone when asked about his campaign against U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois.)
“That’s a massive opportunity, not an uphill battle,” Rice said.
Rice, who describes himself as a political outsider, says “the current political system (is) destroying everything that I hold dear.”
In taking his message about crime, border security and the economy to voters, Rice says he’s been well received.
“We have corrupt politicians that are not in it for us,” Rice said. “They’re lining their pockets and they’re doing a tremendous disservice to us, and people now are pissed. I hate to use that word, but they’re angry — and frankly, so am I.”
Jim Carris, a first-time candidate running against U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois) in the 10th Congressional District, said GOP challengers are “energized.” He said the state of the economy motivated him to run.
“We’ve got a bunch of new candidates who have never run for office before, like myself and a number of others from all over the state, who are giving of themselves, and they’re putting their own wealth and reputations on the line to serve the greater good,” Carris said. “I can’t think of anything more rewarding than trying to help others.”
Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg