Metro East Sun

Madison County Board member Donald Moore wants to unseat incumbent Rep. Charles Meier (R-Okawville) after Meier supported a record-setting 32 percent state income tax hike this summer.

"I’m running for office to bring our conservative values and principles to state government," Moore, a Republican and the county Emergency Telephone System Board vice chairman, told the Alton Telegraph. "Our families deserve to be represented by a leader who will stand up and not waver when it comes to seeking a fiscally conservative approach to solving Illinois' debt problem."

The personal and corporate tax hike that angered Moore is projected to net the state $5.4 billion in additional revenue. Meier, who represents the 108 District, was one of 15 House Republicans who voted for it despite opposition from House Republican leaders. 

Moore was elected to his District 2 seat on the county board in 2016, six years after his retirement from the Marine Corps. As a Marine, he worked with the Defense Logistics Agency headquartered near Washington before his transfer to the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base near Belleville and O'Fallon.

A Southern Illinois native, Moore grew up in Caseyville and attended St. Albert the Great Church in Fairview Heights and Collinsville High School. Moore's father was employed at the Alton and Southern Railroad while his mother stayed at home with the kids. In high school, Moore was active in baseball and wrestling.

His first job was a farm hand in Caseyville, primarily digging and planting horseradish and potatoes and picking tomatoes and corn. Moore has said "the farm work helped him learn the meaning of being on time as well as developing character by enduring the long days out in the sun."

Before joining the Marines, Moore attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Naval Postgraduate School in California and Webster University in St. Louis.

Moore lives in Troy with his wife and two daughters. 

Besides politics, Moore also lists names among his passions his support for organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project, the Humane Society, Children and Cancer and the American Cancer Society. Moore says he also is "a vocal and passionate supporter of local police officers."

Moore said he got involved in politics when he realized that his representatives were not reflecting his conservative values. He said he spends his free time investing in the stock market, being a father and coach for his two younger daughters, playing racquetball, taking long distance hikes and camping.

He said he also reads the Investor Business Daily and Backpacker Magazine and regularly watches cable news.

District 108 includes includes Clinton County and some of Madison, St. Clair, and Washington counties.