Election 2024: 3 Democrats make case for Lance Yednock’s seat in 76th House District

DeKALB – All three Democratic hopefuls vying for state representative of the 76th District say that, if elected, they would to do more to address climate change, support bodily autonomy and make life easier for taxpayers.

At a political forum hosted by DeKalb Stands and the DeKalb County Democrats Saturday at the DeKalb Public Library, the candidates also shared some differing views with voters on how to address issues of concern to taxpayers in the district.

State Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, is not seeking reelection.

On the Democratic ballot are a Yednock aide and two local elected officials. Amy “Murri” Briel worked for Yednock and has his endorsement. Cohen Barnes is DeKalb’s mayor, and Carolyn “Morris” Zasada represents Ward 1 on the DeKalb City Council.

Early voting begins Thursday for the March 19 primary. Whichever Democratic candidate performs best in the primary is expected to challenge one of the two Republican hopefuls, Crystal Loughran or Liz Bishop, in the fall. Bishop and Loughran also will face off March 19.

The 76th District covers parts of La Salle, Bureau and DeKalb counties, including Ottawa, La Salle, Peru, DeKalb, Spring Valley and Ladd.

The most significant issues believed to be unique to these rural areas of the district varies from one candidate to the next.

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Democratic candidates, Carolyn Zasada, (left) Cohen Barnes and Amy Murri Briel, (right) all vying for the nomination for the 76th district seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, answered questions Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, in a meet the candidates forum at the DeKalb Public Library. The forum was organized by DeKalb Stands and co-sponsored by the DeKalb County Democrats. (Mark Busch)

On big issues facing district

Zasada said she believes the district, which has significant farmland, is most challenged by climate change.

“Looking at how climate change is impacting our farmlands [and] looking at how we’re having increased flooding,” Zasada said. “We’re having increased drought and how that is impacting our long-term food sources is a really concerning issue.”

Barnes said he believes the district, especially the Illinois Valley region, feels abandoned by the state when it comes to infrastructure and access to health care.

Last year, the Illinois Valley lost two rural hospitals that would leave the region without access to healthcare. Barnes vowed to be a voice for the smaller communities.

“The burden that they’re putting on their volunteer fire departments and EMT is, in my eyes, ridiculous,” Barnes said. “When we look at the state of Interstate 80, it’s ridiculous. When we look at the state of some of our bridges and the infrastructure that we have – that is something that affects each and every one of us in rural communities.”

Briel pointed to access to broadband and wireless connectivity as what she believes to be the largest issues facing the district.

“If you don’t have broadband, which every part of this district faces and reliable access to internet and cellular service, that’s a basic start and it’s an easy fix,” Briek said. “We just have to find companies who are willing to say say, ‘Hey, we won’t take a $5 billion profit. Instead, we’ll work with you and provide this technology.’”

On gun control

Jan. 1 marked the deadline for when gun owners were required to register certain types of weapons with the state to maintain compliance under the the Protect Illinois Communities Act.

According to the Illinois State Police, fewer than 30,000 people filed registration forms ahead of Jan. 1, Capitol News Illinois reported. Those included about 69,000 firearms that fell under the ban, along with about 43,000 firearm accessories. It’s not known what portion that numbers represents of the total amount of assault weapons that fall under the ban in the state. According to Capitol News Illinois, many people have suggested that a large number of gun owners will refuse to comply with the registration law.

Zasada, a U.S. Marine veteran, said she backs common sense measures to encourage responsible gun ownership.

She referenced the 2008 mass shooting at Northern Illinois University that left five students dead and dozens more injured. Zasada also recalled the brutal murder of DeKalb County prosecutor Stacia Hollinshead, who was shot to death by her ex-husband in Wisconsin in March 2019. Zasada was close friends with Hollinshead.

“To me, it is very important to make sure that we are keeping our families safe and keeping our communities safe,” Zasada said. “Here in DeKalb, we experienced a mass shooting. We know how terrible this can be and how close to home this hits. Personally, I had a friend who was murdered just a few years ago by her ex-husband. People who have protection orders should not have access to weapons. So, I feel very strongly about being extremely cautious about responsible gun ownership [and] making sure that gun ownership is done responsibly.”

U.S. Army veteran Barnes, who’s a hunter, said that while progress has been made with gun control in the state legislature, he questioned whether enough is enough.

“We really need to focus on making sure it’s responsible gun ownership,” Barnes said. “As a state legislator, I will make sure that the legislation that we pass around isn’t punitive towards all the responsible gun owners out there. But ultimately, we have to be logical, we have to be reasonable and we have to understand the times.”

Briel acknowledged that gun control makes for quite an issue on the state’s hands. But she did not take sides on the matter.

“I know right now, [Joint Committee on Administrative Rules,] which is the rules and administration portion of the state government, is looking into executing the law and the way it can be handled,” Briel said. “They’ve extended that registration until June of this year because they know that they didn’t have the process in place or the complete understanding of what it would entail. So, I know that Springfield is working on fixing registration and there is discussion on those that don’t register going on, but I do not know where that stands right now.”

On workforce retention

All three candidates also shared their opinions about the district’s workforce and ideas to retain more talent in Illinois.

Barnes said he thinks the legislature must step up to help ensure that the state can retain more of its residents.

He said he believes a large issue is the high cost of living in Illinois.

“What we need to do is we need to be focusing on how can we make it to be more affordable to live here,” Barnes said “...You can do that through programs that we’ve implemented here in the state of Illinois. Especially, I’ve got to give Governor [JB] Pritzker a lot of credit. He implemented a thing called an enterprise zone. He’s implemented a megasites grant. He’s implemented a lot of programs that have driven economic development, which is what we’ve taken advantage of here.”

Briel said she doesn’t believe there’s a shortage of eligible workers.

She said responsibility falls on companies to ensure they’re investing in talent enough to want to remain in the state.

“I think that the state can give an investment into our higher education, in our community colleges, into our training programs, but I think that companies coming here need to make an investment, as well,” Briel said. “It’s time that they invest in the universities and the training facilities that will provide them with the workers to take care of their companies.”

Zasada said she believes the state needs to find a way to offer more employment opportunities for immigrants.

“I think making sure that we are welcoming immigrants and making sure that we are prepared to really get them on a path for personal growth gives us an opportunity to put immigrants in a position where they are going to be the future of our communities,” Zasada said. “...They are coming in droves. So, we need to be ready at the state level and at the community level to train them and prepare them and be ready with resources.”