New district for Galesburg means new state senator; Here are 36th District GOP candidates
The new Illinois 36th Senate District, which includes most of the Galesburg area, also features new candidates.
Glen Evans Sr. and Mike Thoms, both of Rock Island, are running for state senator in the June 28 primary election to represent the GOP in the general election in November. Mike Halpin, Rock Island, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for District 36.
Thoms is Rock Island mayor and Evans is a minister and former candidate for state representative. Republican Neil Anderson, Andalusia, currently represents the 36th District, but was drawn out of the district in remapping. He is running in the 47th District.
The new 36th Senate District reaches north into the southern portion of East Moline and includes Coal Valley and Colona. The district runs south, picking up Galesburg, East Galesburg, Knoxville and Monmouth, before stretching down to include Bushnell and Macomb. Currently, Galesburg is represented by two state senate districts. Republican Win Stoller, District 37, represents the northern part of the city and Republican Jill Tracy, District 47, represents the southern part of Galesburg. The new 36th will include all of Galesburg.
We sent three 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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Glen Evans Sr.
Age: 52
City: Rock Island
Education: Ordained Minister
Work experience: Laborers Local 309 - auditor 2016-2018
Political experience: Second vice chairman Rock Island GOP - elected precinct committeeman
Organizations and memberships: Illinois Freedom Alliance
Family: Three children. A daughter and two sons
Mike Thoms
Age: 63
City: Rock Island
Education: attended Rock Island high school, Blackhawk College
Work experience: One year RadioShack sales, 29 years at Thoms Proestler company, (five years dockworker, 12 years other positions within company, 12 years Chief Operation officer, COO)
Political experience: Mayor of Rock Island (five years)
Organizations and memberships: currently: HavLife foundation, Junior Achievement, Putnam Museum, US Bank advisory Board, Quad City cultural trust. Past president of Renaissance Rock Island (DARI, Rock on economic growth, The District ), president Niabi Zoological Society board, president Unity Point Hosplital foundation board, Chair Two Rivers YMCA board, chair Rock Island Youth build board.
Family: Married 41 years, three grown children, 10 grandchildren, fourth generation family in Rock Island.
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What will you do about health care costs?
Healthcare costs continue to soar. What proposals do you have to address the escalating costs of healthcare including prescription drugs?
Mike Thoms: I believe there are several things that are driving up health care cost. One is duplication of services like testing, x-rays, etc. from one doctor or hospital to another or for the same issue. Another one would be the cost of liability insurance for doctors which requires them to raise their price of labor. We need to find a way to reallocate our funds in order to help lower and middle class families who are struggling to cover the cost of their prescription medicine.
Glen Evans Sr.: I am blessed to represent three non-profit healthcare organizations that are writing new standards of care in mental health, pregnancy and prenatal services for expectant mothers, and biological medicine for comprehensive immune therapy. I will be introducing a combined package to the state legislature to move Illinois into a leadership position for 21st century health care. The public can review these organizations at; thegraymatterscollective.com for mental health; qcpregnancypartners.org for pregnancy resources and thestowefoundation.org for Applied BioLogics. Allopathic medicine and prescription drugs have apparently run their course in the treatment of chronic illness and mental health issues. It is time to look in a new direction. It is past time to have alternatives to Planned Parenthood.
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How will you ease tax burden?
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?
Glen Evans Sr.: I will campaign to fire Governor Pritzker and to elect a true grass root America first conservative to the governor's office. This is necessary to end the political corruption in Springfield that steals revenue and raises taxes. I also encourage all voters to identify and elect America first conservatives to the state legislature, such as myself, to end the supermajority of the Democratic Party in Springfield. That sets the stage to lower property taxes, address the pension fund crisis, end tax and spend by Socialists and generate new revenue by being business friendly in our tax policies. Prosperity emerges when people have a decent job and pay low taxes. My many years of labor union experience will be invaluable in the Illinois Senate when addressing right to work Laws vs. collective bargaining. When we reduce property taxes, create a business friendly state, control spending, fix the pension crisis, grow jobs, and end corruption, the tax burden created by the thieves in Springfield will evaporate. You can vote your way to lower taxes. I will be your voice.
Mike Thoms: I believe one reason property taxes are higher than most states is due to the inability to balance state funding for schools throughout the state. Funding should be based on enrollment, not location. There are also too many state regulations on schools which increases cost and drives them to raise property taxes. More local control and less state control is the answer here. There should be less unfunded mandates put on cities that cause them to increase their property tax.
What about gun violence and crime?
How would you address crime and gun violence in your district?
Mike Thoms: I believe we need to have penalties for criminals that match the crime. In Illinois, we aren’t tough enough on criminals. We need to increase funding and decrease regulations for our law-enforcement departments. We also need to increase access to mental health services and community programs in order to to stop offenders from recommitting crimes.
Glen Evans Sr.: I will vote for and campaign with David Shestokas for Illinois Attorney General. David Shestokas has a complete plan to drive violent crime out of Chicago and political corruption out of Springfield by making crime illegal again, dave4ag.com The way you accomplish this is to actually prosecute and convict criminals and thieves, not practice catch and release. I will work diligently with the new governor and the new AG to write a new crime bill that puts criminals behind bars not back in your neighborhood. I will also provide the county sheriffs in my district the resources they need to apprehend criminals and the state's attorney the resources to prosecute and convict. Defund the police will be terminated. I will also sponsor legislation to provide mental health services to our schools and place a priority on interrupting the mental health issues that often lead to violent behavior later in life.
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This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Republicans Mike Thoms, Glen Evans seek GOP nod for Senate District 36
