Taxes, business, child care: Here’s whose running in Illinois 70th House District

SYCAMORE – Two DeKalb County residents will compete at the ballot box this fall, as both are vying for the Illinois House 70th District seat in the Illinois House of Representatives.

State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, is running as an incumbent against Randi Olson, a Democrat who currently serves as a Cortland Board of Trustee member.

The 70th District extends from west of Sandwich through predominantly rural areas of eastern DeKalb County and western Kane County to southern McHenry County, between Huntley and Lake in the Hills. It includes all or part of Sycamore, Cortland, Hampshire, Burlington, Kaneville and Big Rock.

Keicher, who has represented the district in the Illinois House of Representatives since 2018, said he said he first ran for the office because he wanted to address the financial issues that had plagued the state.

“We had to have adults in the room [who] stepped in and started to address that, so that we can keep our citizens here, instead of what most of them at that time had, and that was an exit strategy to go to another state,” Keicher said. “In very general terms, I want Illinois to be a place that people come to, not flee from. And that’s why I’m running.”

Olson, 60, said she has volunteered behind the scenes for previous Illinois House Democratic Party candidates, but chose to run her own campaign this time because she’s tired of partisanship precluding governance.

“It just gets more and more disturbing by the year, how divided we are as a country and state and I don’t like that,” Olson said. “I really want to work on that. ... Even if the Democrats do have a majority, I still feel like Republicans need to have a voice. And sometimes that will need to come from the party that’s willing to reach across the aisle.”

Olson said she could not imagine not honoring the results of the November election, including the presidential election. Keicher said he will also honor the results of the election but said he thinks asking the question advances a “narrative of division among Americans.”

Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, former president Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, has refused to say that Trump lost the 2020 election. Other Republicans throughout the country, including Trump, have echoed those refutes for the last four years.

“In very general terms, I want Illinois to be a place that people come to, not flee from. And that’s why I’m running.”

—  State Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore

Keicher said he has focused on creating jobs and growing businesses within his district over his six years in office, and believes the 2019 GOP infrastructure and economic incentive package has helped spur business development in DeKalb County.

“We see that in the Kraft Heinz development, we see that in the Facebook, Meta data center, we see it in the Ferrara candy, and we see it in all the interest that’s been created since,” Keicher said. “Illinois didn’t have that circumstance before I was in office, and not that I’m taking credit for doing all that, I was part of the package that did it. But those are the kinds of things that we need to do, because good jobs will bring people back to Illinois.”

While the three-term member of the Illinois House of representatives said there’s more to do to correct the state’s finances, especially as it relates to pension funds, he said his efforts to create state policies that aid the victims of sexual and domestic violence are among his proudest achievements as a state legislator.

“That familiarity in trying to help survivors of domestic violence, in all of it’s shapes and forms, I would say is number one. And with our most recent set of human trafficking bills that we’ve passed, what we’ve sought to do is that that when those that come out of human trafficking situations are finally free from their capture, we want to make it so that their past life doesn’t need to prohibit them from creating a new life.”

Olson pointed to her three decades of work as an early childhood educator as being another factor influencing her decision to run.

She said she saw firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic, and government policy around it, impacted education for the youngest members of the community.

“I saw after [COVID-19], the crisis we were having in early childhood education,” Olson said. “We don’t have enough day cares or providers. With the pressure, losing staff so much, the quality was going down. And it’s just not affordable, so that is really something that I’m just very passionate about and want to work on.”

Olson said access to mental health care would also be a focus of hers if elected, but said she’s concerned by efforts to reduce a woman’s right to bodily autonomy.

“I am very concerned about women’s rights, women’s reproductive rights and women’s rights in general,” Olson said.

If she wins, Olson said she would walk away from her current job with an early childhood education program in DeKalb. Keicher, on the other hand has operated as a Sycamore-based State Farm agent throughout his three terms in office.

“It just gets more and more disturbing by the year, how divided we are as a country and state and I don’t like that.”

—  Candidate Randi Olson

From the questionnaires: Tax policy

How do the two candidates differ on tax policy? Both said they think taxes are too high for Illinois residents, but offered different takes on the situation in candidate questionnaires they filled out for Shaw Local.

To see more answers from the candidate question, go to shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/election/.

Olson wrote that it is easy to answer say cuts need to be made and that there should be no unfunded mandates, but asked what cuts could be made without negatively affecting residents.

“I never hear that answer,” Olson wrote. “Too often, I will see legislators who want a task force to decide where to make cuts, but then we have another unfunded mandate. Legislators in each department should be looking into where cutting can be made. Increasing revenue is also a good suggestion. Raising taxes is not an option, but bringing jobs to Illinois to reduce unemployment and increase revenue is the optimal option.”

Keicher wrote he thinks making Illinois attractive to businesses and investors can have positive impacts on residents because the economic growth can potentially create revenue to that enables legislators to create policy that reduces tax bills.

He also wrote that state, county and municipal legislators aren’t the reason for high property tax rates.

“The school portion of our property taxes is the issue,” Keicher said. “In the late 1990′s the state of Illinois funded local schools in excess of 50%. When I arrived in Springfield that had fallen to the mid 20% range. Because the state neglected its obligation in prior years it forced the property tax issue we see today. We need to step up funding our most critical programs in our communities the way we once did to alleviate the property tax burden.”