Election Day may seem like a long way away, but on Sunday, campaigns worked to gain momentum in both Illinois and Iowa on state and national levels.
Walking off her “Common Sense Express” bus at a stop in Moline, Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka announced to a crowd of supporters, she wants four more years.
“We want to do more that brings more efficiencies to this state, gets things done faster, takes care of constituent problems faster, pays people faster, really cleans the place up and makes it move,” said Topinka.
Topinka is on a nine city tour to announce her re-election plans. The stop at the Rock Island County Republican headquarters was an important one.
“This part of the world is just a little more conservative than some of the folks up north so it provides some balance. I'm always seeking balance, then you see something that works,” said Topinka.
“She's a proven winner, even in this very blue state, that we're turning purple,” said Former Republican Congressman Bobby Schilling.
Schilling, hoping to turn the state purple wants to take back his seat in Congress.
“The big thing is to get out and continue to reach out to communities that Republicans don't traditionally reach out to,” said Schilling.
Part of that he said, is for Republican candidates to not downplay the impact Illinois can have on a national level.
“Republican presidential candidates need to start coming to Illinois because if they just do a flyover and forget about us, we have happening what's been going on for years now. If they stop here and get the base interested it's going to really turn the state around,” said Schilling.
Making the Quad Cities an important stop in both the state and the country.
“Just got to get done,” said Topinka.