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Vote 2012 Preview: 13th Congressional District
The boundaries of the newly drawn 13th Congressional District stretch
from Collinsville to Normal, and Greene to Champaign counties.
Six-term Rep. Timothy Johnson's decision to step down left the seat wide open.
"My obligation would be to our country first," Democratic candidate David Gill said.
"I'll walk into a room and ask
not what's the Republican or Democrat solution, but what's the best
solution," Republican candidate Rodney Davis said.
"Being a person that feels capable of leadership, I feel I need to emerge," independent candidate John Hartman said.
All three candidates in the 13th Congressional District vow to work across party lines to break the stalemate in Washington.
One priority they agree on is lowering the unemployment rate, which is nearing 13 percent in part of the district.
"I speak to the job creators in
the 13th district," Davis said. "What they tell me is they need
certainty in understanding what their tax bill is going to look like at
the end of this year, and also what their health care costs are going to
look like."
Republican Rodney Davis is an aide to Congressman John Shimkus and a Taylorville native.
"We need to provide them
certainty by extending our current tax rates, not talking about a tax
cut or raising taxes at all," Davis said.
Democrat David Gill disagrees. He's an emergency room
physician in Bloomington. He supports raising taxes on families
making more than $250,000, as well as renegotiating trade agreements with
Canada, Mexico and other countries.
"While they've been good for
some of the big corporations, they've been terrible for the people who
live in the district," Gill said. "People understand those free trade
agreements are responsible for the loss of a million jobs or more here
in the country and tens of thousands throughout the state."
John Hartman is running as an independent. The
Edwardsville native is the chief financial officer at a research and
manufacturing company.
"The role of government is to
provide an environment where business can thrive," Hartman said. "The
principal thing we need to do is avoid a further trajectory of deficits,
so that we're really asking for trouble. We've got to avoid worse
unemployment and let the private sector create jobs."
When it comes to health care, Hartman supports the Affordable Care Act.
"We cannot go back on that," Hartman said. "What
we need to do is address the fact that our health care spending per
person in the U.S. is higher than other countries."
Gill supports parts of the law, including access to
coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. He'd like to expand
Medicare.
"What I would propose is
ultimately all American citizens should have the opportunity to be
within the Medicare system, rather than have this surtax," Gill said.
If elected, Davis would vote to repeal the Affordable
Care Act. He supports a market-based approach, including the ability
to buy insurance across state lines.
"I hope we can put that plan forward to have a system that can work, because the status quo is unacceptable," Davis said.
Voters will have the final say on three very different candidates.
WEB EXTRAS:
Watch the raw interview with Rodney Davis
Watch the raw interview with David Gill
Watch the raw interview with John Hartman
Watch the 13th Congressional debate hosted by ABC Newschannel 20
