State Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-North Aurora) recently announced in a statement he is "exploring a bid" for the 2020 Republican nomination in for the 14th District U.S. House seat.
Oberweis, who earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, said in a statement provided to the DuPage Policy Journal his business background would assure economic stability.
“I believe it is critical that we have representatives in Congress who understand economics and business and will do what is 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,” he said in the statement.
Illinois State Sen. James D. "Jim" Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove)
Former U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren held the Congressional seat from 2011 to 2019, when Democrat Lauren Underwood unseated him by a 5 percent margin. Her term expires in 2021.
Oberweis built a business career that includes management of a $2 billion mutual fund and oversight of the family dairy business.
This is the second time Oberweis has set his sights on national office. In 2014, he won the Republican nomination to challenge longtime U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois). Oberweis lost that race, however, taking 43 percent of the vote to Durbin’s 54 percent.
Otherwise, his state Senate victories have drawn comfortable margins. The 2016 race, for example, saw Oberweis defeat Democrat challenger Corinne Pierog in a 55-45 percent split. This contest virtually repeated his first victory in 2012 against Pierog, where he took nearly 58 percent of the vote.
His state Senate campaign themes have included term limits, job growth, lower taxes and reduced spending, according to a summary on Ballotpedia.com.
“We need to get control of some of the wasteful spending in Washington and stop the rapid rise in our national debt,” Oberweis told the DuPage Policy Journal in his statement.
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