Bloomington Democrat announces candidacy in 88th District

Posted on October 3, 2019
Karla Bailey-Smith announced her candidacy Thursday at the McLean County Democratic Headquarters in Downtown Bloomington. (Photo Karla for IL 88th/Facebook)

 

By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington Democrat will try to unseat Republican Keith Sommer in the 88th Legislative District.

Karla Bailey-Smith announced her candidacy for next year’s election during a news conference Thursday at the McLean County Democratic Headquarters.

Bailey-Smith owns Artistic Answers in Bloomington.  She’s a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University.

Bailey-Smith said she feels unrepresented in the 88th District. She helped with fellow Democrat Jill Blair’s campaign, who lost to Sommer in the 2018 election.

“I want to spend as much time as possible in Tazewell County and I’m going to do my very best to connect with people on a personal level,” said Bailey-Smith.

Bailey-Smith said she does not agree with Sommer’s voting record, which included no votes to raising the minimum salary for teachers and increasing spending for infrastructure.

Sommer (R-Morton) has been in the legislature since 1999.

The 88th District includes central, west, and southeast Bloomington, and parts of rural McLean and Tazewell counties.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

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