Competition for Hastert: Another candidate emerges for GOP primary
By BRENDA SCHORY
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Shaw Suburban Media
GENEVA – Ethan Hastert might have some competition in the Republican primary for the 14th Congressional District next year, as a Geneva maintenance man has also declared he will run.
And both Jeff Danklefsen, 41, and Hastert, 31, son of the former speaker Dennis Hastert and an Elburn resident, said they want to run against U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, a Democrat of Batavia. The district includes parts of DeKalb, DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties.
Foster, a former scientist at Fermilab and a business owner, won a special election and last year’s general election to fill Hastert's spot after he resigned. A spokeswoman said Foster plans to run for re-election, but he is working on issues in the district at the moment, not campaigning.
“Congressman Bill Foster is focused on working to solve the problems our families face and get our economy moving again – he is not thinking about elections right now,” the spokeswoman said in a news release.
Both Danklefsen and Hastert describe themselves as conservative Republicans. But while Hastert said he talked to local Republican leaders when considering whether to run for his father's old seat in Congress, Danklefsen said he just considered what he could do to stop government growth and spending.
"Why am I running? I think my situation and my message reflects that of a lot of voters' in the district," Danklefsen said. "I'm just a guy, not your typical politician. I think I have a point of view that would ... attract voters and move the Republican party forward. We have been losing a lot of elections."
Danklefsen said Republicans lost elections because the party did not stick to its traditional conservative principles.
Danklefsen said he is an anti-abortion, pro-gun rights, fiscal conservative who is true to the Republican party's roots
"Republicans tried to be like the other party instead of being who they are," Danklefsen said. "You pull in voters by standing up for principles of responsible taxation, a balanced budget."
His platform includes expanding job growth by reducing the corporate income tax and capital gains taxes. He said he is against a single-payer health care plan.
"Just because health care is a problem does not mean government is the answer," Danklefsen said. "Government rarely fixes anything they set out to fix. It cost more than they said it would and it usually does not solve the problem. We need to find a way to get people the health care they need. "
Danklefsen works as a maintenance manager for a real estate company in St. Charles, where he repairs heating, air conditioning, electric and plumbing. He is married with two children and is a member of St. Peter Catholic Church.
"I basically solve day-to-day problems for anything that arises," he said. Danklefsen said he did not want to say where he works just yet.
Hastert, an attorney with Mayer Brown in Chicago, said it seemed that Danklefsen and he agree on most of the issues.
"The economy is the top issue on everybody's mind," Hastert said. "Everybody's worried about their jobs and the level of spending and debt that's coming out of Washington under the current Democratic leadership. People want change – but they want the right kind of change. The Democrats promised change and what they gave us was change in quantity not quality" of spending.
Hastert said carrying the former speaker's last name both helps and hurts his campaign. His father represented the district from 1987 to 2007, and served as Speaker of the House for about eight years.
"When George W. Bush was looking at running for president in 1998 and 1999, that was one of the common questions," Hastert said. "How did he view his father's presidency and service affecting his? He said he expected to inherit 50 percent of his friends and 100 percent of enemies. And there's real truth in that ... I get some of the benefits and some of the negatives."
Hastert is married and has one child.
