The impending retirement of state Rep. Bob Biggins (R-Elmhurst) has set off a lively and spirited race to succeed him. Five candidates, three of whom are from Elmhurst are vying for the Republican nomination in the 41st district. The winner of the Republican primary will be the favorite to win the general election race in the generally Republican leaning district which includes parts of northern Brookfield, western Riverside and western North Riverside and extends all the way to Lombard.
The three candidates from Elmhurst are Brien Sheahan, 39, a member of the DuPage County board since 2002; Chris Nybo, 32, an Elmhurst alderman; and Rafael Rivadeneira, 38, an outspoken conservative and member of the DuPage County Regional Planning Commission.
Also running for the Republication nomination are LaGrange Park resident Matt Burden, 41, an Army veteran who now works as an operations director at the Shedd Aquarium, and Mike Manzo, 43, an Oakbrook resident who is the chief of staff for Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16th).
Brian Stephenson, an attorney from LaGrange Park, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the Feb. 2 primary.
Four of the Republican candidates met Jan. 10 at a forum sponsored by the Elmhurst chapter of the League of Women Voters held at the Elmhurst City Hall. Manzo, who watched the debate in the audience, was not allowed to participate because he did not respond to the League’s invitation before their Dec. 4 deadline, said Laura Kratz the president of the chapter.
There wasn’t much difference on the issues on display. All the candidates said that they oppose tax increases and said that the state must cut spending. The hour long forum can be viewed on the Internet at www.lwvelmhurst.org.
Rivadeneira, who said he is running as a “true conservative,” took the boldest positions at the forum.
“I have pledged to oppose any and all tax increases, not just some of them, all of them,” said Rivadeneira, who is the president of a small money management firm. Rivadeneira also called for the elimination of township government.
“We don’t need multiple layers of government to provide meals on wheels,” Rivadeneira said.
He said that he supported charter schools and advocated giving vouchers to parents to that parents could use to pay for their children’s education at any school.
“I don’t understand why we just don’t give parents a check and let them go the school of their choice,” Rivadeneira said.
Rivadeneira blamed Republicans as well as Democrats for the state’s dire fiscal condition. He said that he was an outsider and attacked “establishment candidates”.
“I am very fed up with our Republican establishment that is going along with the Democrats with overspending and taxation,” Rivadeneira said.
Sheahan, who along with Nybo is considered one of the two frontrunners in the race, said that he had a record of reform and accomplishment.
“I have a record, a seven-year record, of fighting for residents of DuPage County for smaller government, more transparent government and lower taxes,” said Sheahan who is an attorney with a solo practice and serves as the general counsel of the Illinois Republican Party. “I have results as a DuPage County board member.”
Sheahan said that he led the fight to ban travel expenses for intra-county travel for DuPage County board members and is sponsoring legislation to limit campaign contributions from county vendors. He said that he voted against three of seven county budgets because of they had excessive spending and lacked transparency.
Sheahan proposed that the state legislature meet just every other year instead of annually and he called on the state to cut spending.
“State government has got to tighten its belt,” Sheahan said.
Nybo, who is a management-side employment lawyer at the Chicago firm of Vedder Price, stressed the need to control state personnel costs.
“It’s just atrocious with what is going on in Springfield with the way we manage our state’s finances,” said Nybo, whose wife, Faye, grew up in Riverside. “We need to cut spending. We need to focus on pension reform, we need to focus on Medicaid reform and we absolutely need to focus on our personnel costs.”
Nybo said he, too, is against raising taxes.
Burden, who enlisted in the Army at age 17 and then became an officer who fought in northern Iraq during the first Gulf War, also said the state had a spending problem.
“Illinois doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem,” Burden said. “We need to roll back taxes and fees.”
Like Rivadeneira, Burden emphasized that he is an outsider.
“I’m not an elected official and am not beholden to anyone and have not cut any backroom deals,” said Burden, who is the author of a book, The Blog of War, a selection of blog entries by soldiers from the front in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a telephone interview, Manzo emphasized that he is the only candidate who has taken on the Chicago Democrats who he said control state government.
“I’ve taken on the Strogers, the Daleys, the Madigans alongside Tony Peraica and it’s a difficult job, because they make you pay a price, not only politically but personally,” said Manzo, who served eight years on the Proviso Township District 209 school board from 1995 to 2003 and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in Melrose Park in 2001.