GOP candidates for 90th District state intentions

DIXON – Two Dixon men have said they plan to seek the Republican nomination for the 90th House District seat in the state Legislature, which as of 2013 will include roughly half of DeKalb County.

Lee County Board member Tom Demmer, 25, formally announced Monday his intent to seek the nomination. And Liandro Arellano Jr., 30, owner and operator of a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop in Dixon, intends to formally announce his candidacy at tonight’s monthly meeting of the Ogle County Republicans.

They are seeking the seat being vacated by longtime Rep. Jerry Mitchell, R-Sterling, who has held the seat for 17 years.

Demmer made his announcement Monday afternoon outside the Old Lee County Courthouse.

Demmer is the government and public relations coordinator for Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon. He has worked on campaigns for state Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, and Republican Bill Brady, who unsuccessfully challenged Gov. Pat Quinn last year.

Illinois has a lot of positives, Demmer said, and it has the “opportunity for solutions.”

For example, the state budget deficit can be helped through improving local economies, he said.

“We can’t hope to solve our problems through legislation,” he said, “but we can hope to solve it through identifying what Illinois is strong in already and building upon that.”

Arellano Jr. is an Iraq War veteran and a sergeant with the Rockford-based 485th Engineer Company.

In a news release stating his intention to run, Arellano Jr. said his business experience would be beneficial in the Statehouse.

He noted he entered the workforce earning minimum wage, worked his way into management and now operates all facets of a small business – including balancing budgets, creating jobs and sustaining a business.

“Far too many politicians talk about creating jobs without having any experience or knowledge of how to do so,” he said in the news release. “I do, and I plan on taking that knowledge to Springfield where it is desperately needed.”

He said he was compelled to join the Army after the Sept. 11 attacks, and said his time in the service made him a “stronger, more disciplined person” and that he has the “dedication and inner strength needed to go to Springfield and serve the district without getting influenced by power brokers and special interests.”

Bivins decided who he would support a long time ago.

“I’ve told a lot people in recent months that I don’t normally make endorsements before the primary,” said Bivins, who coached Demmer in T-ball when he was a child. “I said, ‘There is one exception if he ever decides to run,’ but I will admit I was talking about Tom Demmer.”

Mitchell also attended Demmer’s announcement Monday.

While he did not give an endorsement, he said he was “strongly leaning” toward Demmer. He plans to wait until closer to the primary to make an official endorsement.

“Now it’s time to pass that mantle on,” he said, “and this young man, I think, will do a fantastic job.”

Demmer drew on one more politician Monday.

“I came to learn what President Reagan was talking about when he said, ‘If anybody wants to know about community and what community is all about, come to Lee County and Dixon, Illinois,’” he said.

The office the two men are seeking is significantly different than the one Mitchell currently sits in because of the redistricting process.

The rewritten 90th District will contain parts of DeKalb, La Salle, Lee and Ogle counties. Redistricting happens every 10 years after a census.

State Republicans have filed a lawsuit challenging the map, which was drawn by Democrats who directed the process because they control the state House, Senate and governor’s office.

The new 90th District is drawn to include Lee, Sandwich, Shabbona, Somonauk and Waterman in DeKalb County. DeKalb and Malta would be split into the 70th and 90th districts. For Malta, everything north of roughly Route 38 would be in the 70th District, while residences south of Route 38 would be in the 90th District.

That boundary line would continue east into DeKalb, with the train tracks that run through town just south of Route 38 serving as the dividing line. Everything north of the tracks would be in the 70th, while everything south would be in the 90th.

The line would head south at Leonard Avenue until it hit Taylor Street, then go east to Haish Boulevard, south to Alden Place, east to South Second Street, south to Sunset Place, east to Route 23 and south to Fairview Drive.