About the Candidate

Name: Jim Oberweis
DOB: June 10, 1946
Occupation: Chairman of Oberweis Dairy
Political Experience: State Senator 25th District, 2013-present
Website: jim2020.com
Twitter: @jimoberweis

Candidate Statement

Hi. I’m State Senator Jim Oberweis.

I have lived in this district my entire life, in the same house for the last 42 years. I am a parent of 5 and a grandparent of 24, and I’m proud to call the 14th District my home.

I will be a leader for the whole district - Democrats and Republicans.  I will work with Democrats just as I did in the Illinois Senate by passing bipartisan legislation to increase the speed limit on Interstate Highways from 65 mph to 70 mph after four others had failed to pass that legislation.

Residents of the 14th District know exactly who I am and where I stand. They know they can trust me to lead on the economy, on healthcare and the issues they care about because they know I can and will be honest with them and I’ll listen to their concerns.  Unfortunately, my opponent’s beliefs are so different from the beliefs of a majority of our district that she knows she must mislead us as to what she believes and what she wants to do in Congress.

Finally, we have all witnessed some horrific mistakes by a few police officers, but such mistakes do not mean we should “defund the police”.  I believe we all have the right to protest wrongs we see.  I have done so myself.  But when we see people destroying businesses, rioting and looting to protest wrongs, that is absolutely unacceptable.  Yet my opponent called the rioting and looting an example of beautiful protests. No one should be allowed to serve in Congress with those beliefs.

Condemning violence should be bipartisan but sadly it is not. We should be working together as Republicans and Democrats to protect our citizens from the violent actions of a few extremists. We cannot heal and come together as a nation while our cities are under siege. We must stand together against this lawlessness.

I’m Jim Oberweis asking for your vote for Congress in the 14th District.

Thank you.

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

I have lived in this district my entire life. Unlike my opponent, I pay real estate taxes here so I understand what a burden they have become in Illinois. I’m proud to call the 14th District my home. I am a parent and a grandparent. Also unlike my opponent, I have extensive experience in the private sector, and I have a proven track record of job creation. In addition, I have served 7 years in the Illinois Senate and currently serve as the Minority Whip. I know how to work across the aisle to get things done.

My opponent is one of the most partisan legislators in Congress. She does not seem interested in working with Republicans on much of anything and has voted with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time this year.

I will be a leader for the whole district ‐ Democrats and Republicans. I will work with Democrats just as I did with the legislation to increase the speed limit on Interstate Highways from 65 mph to 70 mph.

Finally, residents of the 14th District know exactly who I am and where I stand. My opponent told the City Club of Chicago that it was probably in her best interest not to talk about presidential candidates in the Democrat party. She recognizes that the 14th Congressional District is not anywhere near as radical as so many in her party (Underwood included) seem to be. Underwood cannot be honest with her constituents about her positions on the issues because she knows they are not in line with the majority of people in the 14th. I can and will be honest with the people of this district because that kind of honesty and integrity is what voters need and deserve.

What is your vision for this office?

I plan to be a budget hawk as a member of Congress. We need to get government spending under control. The debt we are creating is generational theft and it is wrong. I believe we need to return to a true budget process. No more continuing resolutions that get rammed through at the last minute and are negotiated in secret. The recent CR was more than 2,300 pages. No one read it. No one truly knows what is in it. The current budget process needs to change.

Specifically, we need to:

 Substantially reduce discretionary spending;
 Reduce entitlement spending through structural market‐based reforms;
 Enact a federal Balanced Budget Amendment;
 Give the President the ability to use the line item to veto appropriations bills like most governors can do in the states.

I have signed the balanced budget amendment pledge and I will be a strong advocate for getting our spending under control as a member of Congress.

I will also propose term limits for members of Congress, though I know that will be a very tough challenge. But someone has to lead the way and I will. 

What do you think is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it?

In light of the shutdown of our economy, one of the most important concerns for the country right now is to get our economy going again. We had a robust economy with record low unemployment going into the pandemic and now we are facing the harsh reality that many of our businesses may not be coming back.

We need leaders in Congress who understand what it takes to create jobs and can help craft policies that will lead to job growth. I have extensive experience as a small business owner in creating jobs. I have received the NFIB endorsement because I have a 100 percent voting record on the issues small business owners care about. Democrats love to talk about spending money on one government program after another, but if more Americans had good paying jobs and more discretionary income – we could solve a lot of problems without creating yet another government program that takes money out of the economy.