A former health-care executive who once served on the East Moline City Council will challenge first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling in November for the 17th Congressional District seat.
Cheri Bustos held a comfortable lead over her two challengers in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election.
With 534 precincts of 696 reporting from 14 counties that make up the 17th District, Bustos was leading with 14,165 votes, or 60 percent. Greg Aguilar, the multicultural services coordinator at Augustana College, was a distant second with 5,122 votes, or 22 percent. In third was Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp with 4,202 votes, or 18 percent.
Bustos, the former vice-president of communications at Iowa Health Systems, will turn her attention toward Schilling, R-Colona, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary. The two will square off in the Nov. 6 general election.
Bustos is running a campaign focused on branding and expanding a “manufacturing triangle” between Peoria, the Quad Cities and Rockford.
She seeks to take advantage of industry in each of the district’s three major cities, as well as other logistics, shipping and manufacturing operations in smaller communities in between.
Her top priority is job creation, and she wants to add incentives into the tax code to encourage more companies to relocate businesses back to the United States. She proposes to create an Infrastructure Bank financed through repatriated corporate profits held in overseas tax shelters.
Bustos was the best financed candidate in the primary, by far. She raised $676,891 during the election cycle, with $547,985 coming from individual contributions. Incumbent Schilling, for instance, raised $886,386 during the past election cycle with $455,536 from individuals.
Gaulrapp raised $19,030; Aguilar, $18,498.
The district includes Knox, Mercer, Warren, Henry and Fulton counties and parts of Peoria and Tazewell counties as well.
Source Article from http://www.galesburg.com/newsnow/x1704640890/Bustos-will-face-Schilling-in-November
