Although a clerical error indicated state Sen. Jim Oberweis would be running for the U.S. Senate in 2020, he instead has his sights on the 14th District U.S. House seat currently held by Democrat Lauren Underwood.
A campaign staffer for Oberweis accidentally indicated the candidate was running for U.S. Senate, rather than the U.S. House seat he is actually running for, according to CapitolFax.com. The candidate later clarified he is running for Congress, not the Senate.
It will be the 72-year-old candidate’s second run for national office (he lost a U.S. Senate seat to Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin in 2014). In making his announcement, Oberweis, an investment manager and CEO of his family’s dairy farm, said his business background would help the country grow jobs and the economy.
State Senator Jim Oberweis (R-North Aurora)
| http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?MemberID=2032
“I believe it is critical that we have representatives in Congress who understand economics and business,” Oberweis said in a statement to the DuPage Policy Journal, pledging to “do what it necessary to keep our economy growing as rapidly as is reasonably possible so that we create more jobs and help boost the earnings of hard-working Americans.”
Underwood defeated incumbent Randy Hultgren by 5 percentage points last November. Her term ends in 2021.
In a Feb. 18 Chicago Tribune article, writer Rick Pearson pointed out Oberweis' previous stances against gay marriage and illegal immigration have drawn the ire of social justice advocates.
In addition to operating the Oberweis Dairy chain of stores and its milk-delivery service, the candidate has carved a reputation for business acumen by establishing a $2 billion hedge fund, Oberweis Asset Management.
His earlier forays into politics include two lost Republican primaries that would have pitted him against Democrats Durbin and then-Sen. Barack Obama, a primary loss in the Illinois comptroller’s race, and a special election loss to complete the remainder of Rep. Dennis Hastert’s Congressional term.
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