With the way the Democrats cut Crystal Lake into two congressional districts, State Senator Jim Oberweis’ new campaign office is a bit out of his 14th congressional district.
He opened the facility in the Crystal Lake Plaza under the scaffolding in the “V.” Oberweis is renting the space from the Republican Party.
Saturday he met with volunteers, feeding them ice cream, milk, lemonaid, hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwurst.
In short remarks, he pointed out that Democrat Lauren Underwood is “the most vulnerable” member of the U.S. House.
The opponent I’m running against has “the most extreme liberal voting record in the whole House.”
He pledged to match dollar for dollar all contributions up to $1 million.
Oberweis reported that three of four mailed in ballots were cast by Democrats and this year the General Assembly passed a law requiring County Clerks to mail ballots to all who had voted via mail previously.
“I beat Durbin in every single county in the 14th District with the exception of Lake County, where I carried the 14th District part,” he said making his case that he is the most electable candidate.
These political gatherings have to be the most extreme, conversational Hanoi Hilton Tiger Cage’s, devised by man.
14th Congressional District Update 6/23/19
Jim Oberweis Congressional Campaign Web Site Modified Over the Weekend
In addition to opening the 2nd campaign office in Crystal Lake on Saturday, Oberweis’ congressional campaign modified their website (Jim2020.com) over the weekend, too.
The website added an issues page with high-level positions on the 5 major issues facing Congress, per the campaign’s perspective: socialism, border security, spending, term limits and health care. The site also added multiple reply-devices for supporters to sign-up to help. To the Oberweis campaign’s credit, it did not mention Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s name.
Oberweis’ campaign did not update Oberweis’ picture it has on the website by its bio, and given the pictures taken at the Crystal Lake office opening, his campaign’s made more blow-ups of that same 11 1/2 years old picture, too.
Oberweis’ Statements Concerning He’s the Most Electable Challenged under Discernment
Discerning Republican primary voters will likely be taking apart what all of the congressional candidates say about themselves. It is necessary for voters to apply discernment in order to cast informed votes in the March 17, 2020 Republican primary in order to nominate the best Republican who can beat Lauren Underwood in November of 2020. Let’s apply some of that discernment with a statement Oberweis has been saying lately:
“I beat Durbin in every single county in the 14th District with the exception of Lake County, where I carried the 14th District part,” he [Oberweis] said making his case that he is the most electable candidate.
Now for discernment, beginning with the U.S. Senate election in the 2014 midterm elections Oberweis refers. 2014 was a Republican year, given it occurred in the middle of Democratic President Obama’s 2nd term. In Illinois, that was the midterm when the Republicans flipped the governor’s mansion, 10th and 12th congressional districts, but the U.S. Senate race Oberweis lost, granted to 3-term incumbent Dick Durbin.
Voters need to remember how Oberweis made it to the fall ballot against Durbin in 2014. Oberweis beat a qualified but grossly underfunded candidate in the primary that year in a head-to-head matchup. Now 6 years later, Oberweis could be facing as many as 6 other candidates in the primary. Of those 6 opponents, 2 are also in the Illinois General Assembly. Among the 6, at least one is a self-made millionaire, and two others may not have a couple of million dollars they can get to easily, they have access to significant financial resources, too.
And given Oberweis may be 1 of 6 male candidates and the 7th candidate being a woman, the gender mathematics is not in his favor. Small wonder Oberweis attacked the currently perspective female candidate, State Senator Sue Rezin in his Facebook meme back on June 13th because of her gas tax hike vote, where Oberweis voted “present”.
And, Oberweis was 67 years old when he won the 2014 U.S. Senate primary. He’s 73 now, and the next oldest candidate is in his late 50s. Candidates James Marter, Sue Rezin, and Ted Gradel are in their 50s. Candidates Anthony Catella and Allen Skillicorn are in their 40s (Catella turns 50 within 2 weeks of the primary). Danny Malouf is in his 30s. The district is getting younger, and it is doubtful Republican primary voters want to go with another septuagenarian at the national level considering President Trump is 73, Speaker Pelosi is 79 and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is 78. And, the incumbent Democratic congresswoman hasn’t even reached middle-age yet, given she’s a millenial who turns 34 within a month of the General Election of 2020.
Oberweis’ electability talking point using the 2014 election, like his 11 1/2 years old campaign picture, is out-of-date given his age, the demographics of 2018, and the likely dynamics of 2020. Discerning voters should take note of this.
Sue Rezin Needs to Explain a “Present” Vote at the End of Legislative Session
In the closing days of the spring session, State Senator Sue Rezin voted “present” on the recreational marijuana legalization bill at the end of May. To this day, she has not disclosed why she voted “present”. Once she formally declares her candidacy for Congress, she needs to disclose her reason.
FEC Candidates Watch: Sue Rezin and Allen Skillicorn
It’s the last week of June, and both Rezin and Skillicorn said recently they would formally decide their respective candidacies before the end of June. Earlier this month, Rezin said she hoped to file her candidacy paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) before the end of June. The last business day in June is Friday, so we will be watching the fec.gov website, if not looking for formal announcements.
Starting July 1st, FEC 2nd Quarter Fundraising Watch
When July 1st arrives next Monday, the candidates who filed FEC paperwork, including Congresswoman Underwood, will begin reporting their 2nd quarter disclosure reports to the FEC, with a reporting deadline in mid-July. Jim Oberweis, in a May 22 email published on CapitolFax last Thursday, said he had raised $200,000 from donors, which he promised to match dollar-to-dollar up to $1 million dollars. Factoring the rest of May and all of June, Oberweis could have 1/2 million dollars cash-on-hand through June 30.
Back on April 30, Ted Gradel claimed in an article in The Hill he raised $150,000 in the first 6 days of his congressional campaign. Factoring the remaining 2 months, Gradel could have between $300,000-$400,000, assuming he puts some of his own money into his campaign, too.
Whether James Marter and Danny Malouf have done any significant fundraising in the 2nd quarter (Marter declared his candidacy May 30) remains to be seen.
James Marter’s Swedish Parade Invite Sent During the Parade
Hope this was a technical glitch, but candidate James Marter’s invite for supporters to join his campaign at the 70th Annual Swedish Days Parade in Geneva was not published until after the parade stepped-off at 1PM. I’m sure the other candidates were represented, too, but the timing of the invite for Marter is unfortunate.
Also, after last week’s unfortunate incident in Oswego, may all of the Republican congressional candidates keep an eye out for any troublemakers volunteering to be in the parade.
The Republican party leadership in McHenry County is a really unfunny joke.
An event for a primary candidate and the County GOP gives an endorsement???
Was there a meeting?
We’re the precinct committeemen given a vote?
Oh that’s it… No money left after paying legal fees for private citizens in a civil case.
Good luck getting donors in the future you idiots.
As pointed out previously, Oberweis is renting space from the local GOP.
I have seen no endorsement of his candidacy by the Central Committee.
By the look of the photos it appears Milk Dud is more than renting space.
More like the entire office.
I AM WRTING TO FOIND OUT THE ADDRES OF OBERWEIS HEADQUARTERS COULD NOT FIND ON WEBSITE I DON’T SEND
DOANGTIONS ON WEBSITES IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN ADDRESS OR PO BOX.
THANKS JOE GAUTHIER VIETNAM VET 100 PER CENT DISABVLED VIETNAM USMC