By Tia Messino
IV Leader Staff, Nov. 5, 2009
Two Republican candidates are starting now in their efforts to unseat first-term 11th District Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson in the November 2010 election.
Two of the potential Republican candidates vying for her seat are Adam Kinzinger and Dave White.
The majority of White’s platform is based on term limits and aggressively attacking the actions of the current congress. He found issues with the career politician because they would be too focused on re-election to truly serve the interests of the people.
For his part, Kinzinger recently began receiving support and press and has been referred to by many as one of the young guns of the Republican Party. He has been trekking across Illinois selling his message since May after a tour in Iraq. As of right now, he is the top fundraising Republican candidate for the 11th district with $113,000 raised. He is supportive of the idea of term limits; however, he feels that there are more important issues to focus on at this time.
Kinzinger said, “You have three big jobs as a congressman…to vote in line with your district…advocate for the economic interests of your district…and the third is constituent service.”
Of all the issues facing the country, the economy and fiscal responsibility are towards the top of the list.
Kinzinger cited that most experts feel the stimulus has had no effect on job growth and was used to “pay off” several groups; he feels that we have two options to use the stimulus effectively. The country can either give it back or focus the rest of it into infrastructure without having it spread over several years.
Also on the topic of fiscal responsibility, Kinzinger suggested that instead of fixing the Medicare waste post-healthcare bill, lawmakers should address it now and then evaluate before overhauling the healthcare system.
On the subject of education, he said it is important to focus on where the money is being spent and what is being cut. “We’re not giving students what they need to get ahead,” said Kinzinger. However, “students need to be responsible and work in some cases to go to school.”
Kinzinger opposes Halvorson on some issues: “she does not represent our district, she has a 95 percent voting record with Nancy Pelosi which is not representative of our moderate to conservative district.”
He also noted that while she has had no face-to-face town hall meetings on healthcare reform, he has had five.
Immigration and corruption also came up. He explained that he supports securing borders, but the Republicans especially need to change the rhetoric and be more compassionate to immigrants.