Daniel Swanson challenged by Matthew Rauschert in District 71 GOP primary election

Incumbent Daniel Swanson of Alpha will try to hold off challenger Matthew Rauschert of Avon in the GOP primary for the newly drawn District 71.

Swanson was elected as District 74 state representative in November 2016 after longtime Republican legislator Don Moffitt retired. Republican voters in a June 28 primary election will decide who should represent the party in the November general election. Christopher Demink is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for District 71.

The new 71st House District reaches north to Coal Valley and a small piece of East Moline and slices south in a rectangle picking up Galesburg, Monmouth, Roseville, and on down to Bushnell and Macomb.

We sent a few questions to the Republican candidates in the contested race in an effort to learn more about them and where they stand on key issues. We also requested biographical information.

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Matthew Rauschert

Age: 22

City of Residence: Avon

Education: Bushnell-Prairie City High School - 2018

Work experience: Owner at Bauhaus Company LLC - May 2019 - May 2020

Industrial Designer at Steinjager - August 2020

Political experience: I am a political outsider with no political experience.

Organizations and memberships: 

Volunteer at Youth For Christ - Bushnell

Member at Checkrow Community Church

Family: Married to Emma Rauschert

Daniel M. Swanson

Age:  62

City of Residence: Alpha

Education: AlWood Jr/Sr High School, Diploma, 1977

Black Hawk Jr College, East Campus  Associates Degree, 1986

Western Illinois University, Bachelor of Arts, Board of Governors Degree Program, 1995

United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth KS 1999

Work experience: Farmer - Lifetime

Illinois Army National Guard, 2nd BN, 123 Field Artillery Regiment, Battalion Commander Aug 77-Jan 01

United States Army, Deputy Director Iraqi Force Generation, Multi-National Transition Command-Iraq Jul 07-Jul 08

United States Army, Army Sustainment Command, Chief, Logistics Synchronization and Integration Cell, Rock Island Arsenal Apr 10-Apr13

Superintendent, Henry County Veterans Assistance Commission, Aug 13-Jun 15

State Representative, Jan 17 - Present

Political experience: AlWood (Alpha/Woodhull) Board of Education, Henry County Board

Organizations and memberships: 

Illinois American Legion, American Veterans, Military Office Association of America, Veterans Of Foreign War, Illinois Farm Bureau, National Federation of Independent Businesses, Illinois Pork Producers, Illinois Hemp Growers Association, NAACP, National Guard Association – Illinois, Alpha Baptist Church

Family: Tammy – Spouse, Mark and Abbi Swanson; Matthew, Sarah, Sadie and Reid Swanson

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What will you do about health care costs?

1. Health care costs continue to soar. What proposals do you have to address the escalating costs of health care including prescription drugs?

Daniel Swanson: Whether through my efforts to expand services for those suffering from Lyme Disease, increase screenings for genetic markers for conditions, and support legislation to reduce the cost of insulin, I understand and continuously work toward providing relief to families for the cost of healthcare and prescriptions.

The legislature has been remised, and I agree, to enact policies enacting prescription price control over concerns from prescription manufacturers that such a move could prevent innovation and keep more treatments from coming to market.

I support efforts to work with manufacturers in encouraging and incentivizing rebate programs for those who need financial assistance with prescriptions. A more competitive environment for healthcare providers and insurers would also reduce healthcare costs in Illinois.

Matthew Rauschert: We should cap all product liability awards within the medical industry within a reasonable limit. This would help drive down the overall cost of the medical system and, therefore, would drive down healthcare costs.

Generally, the high cost of prescription drugs is attributable to a lack of competition and the regulatory environment. We need to encourage competition and limit regulation to drive consumer costs down.

If our society becomes healthier, our healthcare costs will go down. If elected, I will deregulate local agriculture, local food processing, and local food retail. It is incredibly difficult and complicated for an individual to grow local healthy vegetables or meat, process it, and sell it without violating government regulations.

How will you ease tax burden?

2. Illinois has been ranked as the least tax-friendly state for the middle class in the nation. How will you try and help ease the burden on taxpayers?  

Matthew Rauschert: To lower the overall tax burden on our communities and families, we need to do a top-to-bottom review of ALL state expenditures to ensure that every government function creates value for Illinois taxpayers. This is a messy process since it would expose special interests and corruption. But, it is essential for us to restore our state. I am willing to get messy and am not controlled by special interests.

We need to end unfunded mandates in education. Once we stop these mandates and lower the operating costs of our school districts, the property tax rates will decline.

We need to end the death tax in Illinois to keep high-worth individuals from moving their wealth, income, businesses and ideas out of our state. The death tax is destructive to family farms. We want our family farms to pass from one generation to the next without being crippled by our state government.

Finally, we need to eliminate the gas tax. If we can eliminate waste, we can fund our roads without passing the burden onto people's gas budget.

Daniel Swanson: To retain professional talent and keep families here, Illinois must be more competitive with neighboring states. Our state’s overall tax burden leads the nation, including the second-highest property taxes of any state. That drives families away. We must ensure we continue to have world-class educational opportunities for students and tradespeople and public policies which attract families to stay here and grow here

Those most hurt by rising prices are the very people who can least afford them. Hard-working families are stuck trying to make ends meet as their paycheck gets increasingly smaller due to inflation. We need to get people in the General Assembly who see the need to reduce spending, increase government efficiencies, lower fees, and be fiscally responsible. After several years, we were able to reduce trailer fees … a small victory to some, but a meaningful fee reduction for many.

What about gun violence and crime?

3. How would you address crime and gun violence in your district?

Daniel Swanson: First, repeal the SAFE-T Act and hold criminals accountable for their actions. In some cases, before the officer can complete the paperwork at the jail, the criminal is released and walking out the door. The seriousness of this action is highlighted in cases of domestic violence, where defendants have not even had a chance to de-escalate their behavior.

Improving economic opportunity and access/availability of quality education can reduce crime. A government’s most foundational responsibility is the safety of its people.

As I talk with my sheriffs and police chiefs, the employment application pool to become a law enforcement officer is very small. Fewer qualified law enforcement professionals usually result in more criminals on the streets creating violence.

Matthew Rauschert: We need to support law enforcement. We need to take the fear away from our police. We can restrain the very few "bad cops" out there without giving fear to all of law enforcement. We need the laws and regulations to recognize that law enforcement officers are often put in high-stress and dangerous situations. We should not punish every officer every time, but only if an officer has a clear pattern of abuse. Additionally, we need to implement the maximum penalty for any individual that kills a police officer. Our system is highly effective at stopping crime. We only need to support our police and their authority, and crime will decrease.

Additionally, we need to eliminate the FOID (firearms owners identification) card. In many instances, individuals wishing to purchase a firearm have to wait 9 to 10 months to receive their FOID. I firmly believe it is your God-given right to own firearms.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Illinois elections: Swanson, Rauschert run in District 71 GOP primary