MILAN, Ill — The Illinois primary will take place on Tuesday, March 19. One of the most competitive races in the state this election cycle will be for the Illinois 17th Congressional District.
The northwestern Illinois district stretches from Rockford in the north to Peoria and Bloomington in central Illinois.
On election night in 2022, the race between Democratic candidate Eric Sorensen and Republican Esther Joy King was too close to call. Sorensen was later declared the winner by just four percent of the vote.
There are two Republicans on the ballot hoping to unseat Sorensen. Scott Crowl is a farmer and former union president from Milan. His opponent is Joe McGraw, a retired judge from Rockford.
News 8 sat down with Crowl to talk about what inspired him to run for Congress and what his goals are if elected.
"The current congressman is not doing a good job," Crowl said. "It's like, I can do better, I can make America better, I can make the 17th District better. So therefore, I decided to try it."
Crowl has farmed in Milan for 33 years. He's also a former AFSCME union president from his work at the Quad Cities International Airport. While he's always followed politics, he's a political outsider. Crowl thinks that's what the 17th District needs.
"I walk in their shoes, I work with them," Crowl said. "I've done everything that they've done. So you need to have a person who walks in their shoes to understand their plight, and I've done it."
One of Crowl's top three issues he's campaigning on is immigration and securing the southern border. If elected to Congress, he said he plans to finish building the border wall and also wants people crossing the border to prove through DNA testing they are the biological parent of the child they're crossing with.
"The other one is economics. We have to get our economic house in order to survive," Crowl said. "If we don't balance our budget, live within our means, we're gonna go bankrupt."
The third issue he's campaigning on is American energy independence.
"American energy independence, we lost," he said. "That cost us a lot of money in a lot of different areas, such as a farmer, it doubled my fertilizer cost and fuel costs."
Crowl wants to encourage private-sector investment into American energy infrastructure.
His campaign is focusing on his ability to appeal to "Reagan Democrats." He believes that cross-party appeal would be the key to flipping the 17th District in November.
"I'm the person who will support them and not be a RINO in Congress, or a party man first. I'll be an American man first," Crowl said. "That's what we need to preach to people that we need America first. Not a party, but America first."
You can read more about News 8's conversation with his opponent Joe McGraw here.
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