Metro East Sun

The announcement last month that Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton) was stepping down may fit a long-standing strategy Democrats have used to hold on to the seat, Chris Slusser, Madison County's treasurer and a former chairman of the Madison County Republican Party, said in a recent interview.

Slusser told the Metro East Sun that a string of Democrats who have held the increasingly conservative 111th District seat typically resign before their terms are up. Their replacements enjoy the advantage of incumbency while their predecessors typically become lobbyists, such as Jim Pike and Steve Davis, he said.

Beiser’s own legislative career started as an appointee in 2004 when he replaced Davis.

“This is 100 percent predictable,” Slusser said. “Everybody knew Dan Beiser wasn’t going to finish his term. That’s been the Democratic playbook for that seat for about 30 years.”

Although the Jersey County Board is largely Democrat-controlled (only five members are Republicans), the election last year of Republican Benjamin Heitzig to the first district, as The Telegraph reported, may signal a new trend.

“The report I saw here recently said that it’s the second most conservative district in the state that’s held by a Democrat,” Slusser said of the 111th District. “I think it’s very socially (conservative)  and very fiscally (conservative) as well.”

Although the growing voter conservatism, plus the state’s economic realities, are likely to pressure Beiser’s replacement, Monica Bristow of Godfrey, so far she has stuck to a benign agenda. During the Dec. 18 transfer of power ceremony covered by Nathan Grimm in The Telegraph, the former River Bend Chamber of Commerce president said her campaign would focus on finding more money for breast cancer screenings, Meals on Wheels and combating opioid abuse.

“Those are all important, but our state’s broke and we don’t have the money for all these things,” Slusser said. “We have a pension crisis, we have a major, major financial crisis, we have a horrible workers' comp and insurance situation, one of the worst in the nation. And for somebody who’s supposedly represented business and industry, I can’t believe that wouldn’t be the first thing she wanted to talk about.” 

The financial problem Slusser mentioned is multifaceted. First, as reported by the Illinois Policy Institute, the state ranks No. 1 for its tax burden and faces a $111 billion unfunded pension liability. Organizations like Intersect Illinois and the Illinois Manufacturing Association have suggested the state’s burdensome taxes and regulations may be pricing it out of reach for companies looking to relocate.

“Our state is a complete disaster fiscally,” Slusser said. “And there are very few people in Springfield who want to acknowledge the mess that we’re in.”

Slusser said the good news about the next election was that Mike Babcock, the Bethalto Republican who lost in a close race two years ago against Beiser, has filed to run again for 111th District seat.

“Republicans are willing to make decisions that aren’t necessarily popular but that will get our state back on track,” Slusser said. “We’re losing one resident every 4 minutes in the state of Illinois, and that’s a horrible place to be. Republicans are going to talk about fiscal responsibility and talk about doing whatever we can to create jobs, because that’s the only way we’re going to save the state.

“We’ve got to boost the tax base, not the tax rates,” Slusser said.