Illinois State Senate 43rd District: Connor, Bierley Face Off

LOCKPORT, IL — Democrat and current State Rep. John Connor will face Republican Ben Bierly in the race for State Sen. Pat McGuire's seat. McGuire, who has served as state senator for the 43rd District since 2012, surprised some when he announced he would not be running for a third term.

After McGuire said he wouldn't run, current State Rep. John Connor of the 85th District announced his candidacy for state senator. Connor had served as State Rep. since 2017.

The 43rd District is mostly in Will County and includes parts of Joliet, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Woodridge, Lockport, Crest Hill, Channahon, Ingalls Park, Preston Heights, Fairmont, Elwood and Rockdale.

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John Connor

Connor is a Lockport resident who was born and raised in Joliet. Connor spent nearly 20 years serving Will County as a criminal prosecutor in the State's Attorney's Office, eventually becoming the Major Crimes Chief. Connor ran the special grand jury for the Drew Peterson case.

On his campaign website, Connor listed his priorities as water, broadband, infrastructure, taxes, education, veterans, supporting seniors, healthcare, pension reform and responsible gun laws.

"John has also voted to pass budgets that help Illinois stabilize its fiscal situation and begin to pay the backlog of bills which are still costing Illinois millions of dollars in interest," his campaign website states.

In the past, Connor has worked on preventing the Fairmont area's water system from being privatized, expanding broadband access throughout Illinois through his seat on the Governor's Broadband Advisory Council, and chairing an Election Cybersecurity subcommittee to examine the state's election security in advance of the 2020 election.

Ben Bierly

Bierly is a retired major of the United States Marine Corps. According to his campaign website, he grew up in California and Pennsylvania and served for 20 years in the Marine Corps, including two deployments in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He received a non-combat injury to his back during his first tour in Afghanistan.

After retiring from the Army, Bierly taught JROTC at Romeoville High School until 2016, and is also an adjunct professor teaching political science courses.

His campaign website states Bierly's platform is, "fix state/local taxes, fiscal responsibility, end corruption, improve education, support our police, protect religious liberty, pro self-defense, pro-life and fair districts."

"My campaign is about "We the People!" it states on Bierly's campaign website. "Our current politicians seem to have forgotten that. Every dime they spend is ours. Every law they pass affects us directly. We don't serve them; they serve us! It's time We the People take our government back!"

Bierly also believes in term limits and has pledged to limit himself to no more than 10 years as a state senate.

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