Oswego GOP County Leader Takes On Kinzinger

OSWEGO, IL — Adam Kinzinger will square off against two republican contenders in the March 20 Illinois primary. Among them is James Marter, a 20-year Oswego resident looking to oust him from his 16th Congressional District. James, or Jim, as he's informally known, doesn't live in the district he hopes to represent, but he's made plenty of connections there along the way.

Jaye DeBates of Granville is the other Republican candidate. The four Democrats who filed for the March 20 primary are Amy "Murri" Briel of Joliet, Sara Dady of Rockford, Neill Mohammad of DeKalb and Beth Vercolio-Osmund of Ottawa.

Oswego includes the 11th district, held by Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, and the 14th, with Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Plano. But the 16th District covers parts of 14 counties, including DeKalb, Will, Winnebago and Grundy, where there's a focus on agriculture and energy. It's also home to Illinois's third-most-populous city, Rockford.

Although Marter is running with about $500,000 against Kinzinger's $1.8 million, he said his grassroots efforts make him a viable candidate.

Marter ran against former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk in 2016. Kirk won the primary, but lost in the general election to Rep. Tammy Duckworth. It wasn't a lost cause for Marter, though, who built a strong rapport with some people in the 16th district.

"Some folks in the 16th were not happy with Kinzinger and his voting record," said Marter. He's referring to the 2016 spending bill that Marter said funded Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.

"Folks like that started reaching out to me. They said they saw some success in running against Mark Kirk," he said of his grassroots campaign. Marter said he met workers in the sectors that matter most to the voters in that area. He added, "That's how we got nearly 30 percent of the vote in a statewide race."

In the summertime is when he started entertaining the idea of running for congress.

"If there were someone who were to emerge within the district, absolutely not. I wouldn't run." But, he said, no one showed serious interest in challenging Rep. Kinzinger. That, paired with a few nudges from party leaders, got the ball rolling. State Central Committeeman John McGlasson was looking for another candidate to run, anyway.

The two had done some work in the past, and when McGlasson asked him to run, Marter agreed, if he would stay on board for the campaign. In late September, they formed an exploratory committee. By early October, Marter formally made the announcement. Since then, more than 50 volunteers have helped gather 1650 signatures so he could secure his name on the primary ballot.

"I've had a 32-year career in the private sector and I'm very tired of Washington D.C. taking money out of my wallet and my fellow citizen's wallets," he said. "My goal is to get there and stop the nonsense."

At Kendall County party, he said he won't re-run for his precinct because the two races would be incompatible, and he wants to put his focus up north.

Image via Marter for Congress