From Sen. Jim Oberweis Facebook page
AURORA – State Senator Jim Oberweis (R-North Aurora), who is running to be the 2020 GOP candidate in the 14th CD, wants it made clear: he likes the policies Donald Trump is putting into place, while he doesn't like Trump's style.
The controversy arose on a Facebook discussion in which the question was asked whether Oberweis supported Trump. "I've asked several times, but he has never answered," said political activist Joe Ptak in the discussion.
Oberweis saw the discussion online and called Illinois Review to straighten any misperceptions about his support for Trump.
"I don't like Trump's style, but I do like his policies," Oberweis said. " Many of his ideas are what I've been proposing for years – immigration, multi-state insurance plans – and I liked most of his tax plan. I support what the president is doing on those issues."
Oberweis had just returned from a D.C. trip with IL GOP Co-Chairman Mark Shaw to visit with the likes of Supreme Court Justice Bret Kavanaugh, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and members of the Illinois GOP Congressional delegation. He also stopped in to speak with the Trump Campaign and RNC officials.
"The 14th CD will be one of the top three districts the Trump campaign wants to win back in 2020," Oberweis said.
Democrat Lauren Underwood was part of the "Blue Tsunami" that swept Illinois in 2018, and her lining up with radical Leftists in Congress such as New York's Alexandria Osacio-Cortez could easily swing the normally-conservative 14th CD back to the polls and turn back red in 2020.
Oberweis attributed the loss of the 14th CD in 2018 to a nasty GOP gubernatorial primary and the $170 million JB Pritzker spent on the general election to get out Democrat voters.
That led to Oberweis saying he raised $100k within the last month and matched the donations, bringing his coffers up to $200k going into April.
Had Oberweis spoken with former 14th CD Congressman Randy Hultgren as to whether he might want to regain the seat in 2020? Oberweis said he had reached out to Hultgren via email and text, and while Hultgren did not declare his intentions, he did offer opposition research about Lauren Underwood for Oberweis' campaign use.
Thus far, Oberweis, military veteran Matt Quigley and State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (East Dundee) have made their intentions to run for the 14th CD GOP nomination known.