EAST MOLINE - We now know who will be facing republican U.S. Rep Bobby Schilling in the 17th Congressional District.
Cheri Bustos won the democratic primary nomination over challengers Greg Aguilar and George Gaulrapp. The race was called a little bit before 10 Tuesday evening.
Even before she made her speech, Bustos made many comments about how different her budget platform is compared to Schilling’s.
"I think that's where people of this region and the 17th Congressional District will find there are distinct differences between what we feel are priorities and what the incumbent congressman feels like are the right priorities," Bustos said.
Bustos carried the majority of the vote in the district with 58 percent of the total vote. Aguilar and Gaulrapp came in considerably behind Bustos with about 21 percent of the vote each.
After her speech, Bustos spoke with WQAD about another big platform for her campaign, keeping social security for residents.
"The incumbent congressman has worked very hard on behalf of millionaires. What I will work hard on is the middle class,” she said. “Schilling wants to privatize social security. I want to make sure that social security is there for my parents generation, my generation, and my kids generation."
Challenger Greg Aguilar stopped by to congratulate Bustos after the race had been called.
“We're democrats,” Aguilar said. “Don’t ever forget that. This was the right thing to do.”
Aguilar's campaign party was just a block away on 15th Avenue in East Moline.