Schilling says voters are real winners as Republicans take control of Illinois 17th District

Bobby Schilling was telling anyone who would listen that his win over U.S. Rep. Phil Hare in Illinois' 17th District was actually a victory for voters and not for him personally.

"I felt the groundswell from the voters. We had 30 to 35 percent registered Democrats working in our grass roots operation," Schilling said.

The Associated Press reported Schilling received 53.1 percent of the vote, 42.3 percent for Hare and 4.5 percent for Green party candidate Roger K. Davis of Quincy. That victory puts the district under a Republican House member for the first time since the early 1980s when U.S. Rep. Lane Evans won the seat.

Schilling said he'll hold true to his promises for less taxes, less spending and limited government that gives power back to the people. He also said he will not worry so much about party line votes if they are not beneficial to Western and Central Illinois.

While Schilling was at a party with about 30 people at Crabby's in Cole Valley, Hare was giving his concession speech at the Holiday Inn in Rock Island.

"I don't look back with any real sadness," Hare said, according to Illinois Statehouse News.

He spoke with pride of legislation to help veterans, for workplace safety and about reforms for U.S. financial markets. Hare also said he had always planned to keep working for his former boss, Lane Evans, until Parkinson's disease made it impossible for the fellow Rock Island Democrat to continue in office.

Schilling said by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday he had still not received a concession call from Hare.

"I wanted to finish it off in a gentlemanly way. I had wanted to tell him i appreciated the things he had done for veterans," Schilling said.

As the House forms under a Republican majority, Schilling hopes for better cooperation with the Democrat-controlled Senate and President Barack Obama. Whatever the new mix brings, Schilling believes it will be better to have checks and balances rather than one-party control.

"My hope is that President Obama will come more to the middle, similar to what (President Bill) Clinton did" in 1994 after Republicans won control of Congress, Schilling said.

Adams County's vote totals were a pleasant surprise to Schilling's campaign staff, one of whom told him he was going to Congress after seeing the lopsided victory. Schilling received 13,915 votes locally, to 4,511 for Hare and 703 for Davis. Schilling said that was 700 or 800 votes more than was expected by campaign analysts.

In the end, he was neck and neck with Hare in Rock Island County as well. Schilling said several positive campaign activities made that possible. He put out a newspaper-style campaign piece that had stories about growing up in Rock Island. Schilling's wife also wrote a letter to women voters about her husband.

"I think Phil's negative ads really backfired. They really helped our name ID, and when he said I was shipping jobs overseas, people said, 'Wait, I don't think a businessman is going to do that,'" Schilling said.

Among his top priorities in Congress will be to halt the card check legislation that would allow unions to form without a secret vote of employees. He also wants to find ways to control health care costs -- something that the massive health care reform act did not address.

(http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003758270)

"112th Congress: Bobby Schilling, R-Ill. (17th District)

Election: Defeated Rep. Phil Hare , D

Residence: Colona, IL

Born: Jan. 23, 1964; Rock Island, IL

Religion: Roman Catholic

Family: Wife, Christie Schilling; ten children

Education: Black Hawk College, attended 1982-83

Career: Restaurateur; financial services agent; factory worker

Political highlights: No previous office

Schilling is leaving pizza for politics. The owner of Saint Giuseppe’s Heavenly Pizza arrives in the House with a vow to oppose all tax increases and to slash discretionary federal spending in his quest to improve job prospects in his native western Illinois."

He also has pledged to stay if office for maximum of four terms (eight years), refuse to accept any pay increase while in office, he will continue to pay for his own(and his family's) health insurance himself, and he says that he is looking forward to returning to his pizza business when finished in congress.

Sound like a new type of elected official to me.

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