By HOI ABC
NORMAL – While the national primary race for President is ramping up across the country, there are also local races to decide.
This is the second time State Rep. Dan Brady and David Paul Blumenshine have competed in 105th House District residents in the Republican primary.
Civil discourse, that at times wasn’t very civil, was heard via WGLT and watched by a crowd at the Illinois State University Alumni Center, according to our news partner Heart of Illinois ABC.
One exchange between the two candidates went as follows: “That’s facts, it’s not fiction,” said Blumenshine. “Yes, that’s fiction and you’re the king of it,” replied Brady.
Brady, a 20 year incumbent, said he’s been able to get things done for his voters though he’s been in the minority in Springfield.
“They want things done. They want something tangible . We may not agree on how we get it done, we may not agree on everything and we wont. The reality is we have to continue to work to the best of our ability,” said Rep. Brady.
Blumenshine criticized Brady for being one of the 19 Republicans who voted in support of the capital bill, which included the 19 cents increase on the gas tax.
“We don’t have an income problem we have a spending problem. That gas tax has an automatic inflationary mechanism that happens every year. He didn’t raise the tax just last year, Rep. Brady voted to raise the tax forever,” said Blumenshine.
Brady said it was time to raise the tax because the money will go towards fixing roads and other capital projects such as improvements to ISU.
“The reality is we have to pay for that,” Brady said.
Blumenshine throughout the debate advocated for term limits and fair mapping, stating they need to clean up Springfield on both sides of the aisle.
“The corruption is not going to go away. We have too many people who are receiving way too much money from people that aren’t you and I. The tax payers here in the 105th,” Blumenshine said.
On the Democratic side, Chemberly Cummings is running unopposed. The 105th District includes northern parts of Bloomington-Normal and northeastern parts of McLean County. The primary is on March 17th.
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