Danny K. Davis, incumbent
Party: Democrat
Age: 65
Campaign Headquarters/Contact: 3333 West Arthington, Suite 215, Chicago, Ill., 60624. Phone: 773-638-1998. Website: www.davisforcongress.us. Email: danny.davis
Profession: Member of Congress
Education: Arkansas A.M. & N. College, B.A., 1961; Chicago State University, M.S., 1968; Union Institute, Ph.D., 1977.
Experience: Alderman, 29th Ward, city of Chicago, 1979-1990; Cook County commissioner, 1st District, 1990-1996; Representative in Congress, 7th District, 1997-present; ward committeeman, 29th Ward, city of Chicago, 1984-2000; state central committeeman, 7th District, 1998-present.
Top Three Issues: 1) Davis has opposed the invasion of Irag from the beginning. He holds that the diversion of resources to Iraq has had a negative impact on our ability to combat terror, protect the nation, negotiate effectively with other nations and maintain our Constitutional rights at home. He supports a withdrawal from Iraq according to a timeline consistent with the safety of U.S. troops. 2) Davis is working to curb the rising costs of health care. He advocates a National Health Insurance Plan, since 64 percent of our current health care system is already financed by public money. The remaining percentage, he argues, would be recovered by eliminating the wasteful overhead of marketing and administrative fees in the current system. 3) Davis seeks to improve the current Social Security system, rather than entirely dismantle and replace it with the private retirement accounts proposed by the Bush Administration. He points out that 48 percent of seniors would live in poverty without Social Security benefits. Also, he argues that dramatic loss in federal revenue from the privatization of Social Security would only further increase the already harrowing national deficit.
Charles Hutchinson, challenger
Party: Republican
Age: 38
Campaign Headquarters/Contact: 205 W. Randolph, Suite 1245, Chicago, Ill., 60606. Phone: 312-977-1475. Website: www.freewebs.com/hutchinsonforcongress/. Email: cehutchinson
Profession: Florist, politician, community organizer.
Education: Barrington High School; University of Kentucky, B.A. History.
Experience: Founder, Trade Wind Flowers; vice president, 2nd Ward Republican Organization; chairman, Old St. Mary’s Catholic School Board; chairman, Knights of Columbus, Chicago Chapter, Mental Retardation/Learning Disabilities Fund Drive; founder, Beta Theta Pi Alumni Organization.
Top Three Issues: 1) Hutchinson believes that a successful military campaign in Iraq cannot result from a publicly announced timetable of troop withdrawals. Troops cannot come home until the job has been finished. Congressmen need to provide the ideas that will get the job done. 2) Hutchinson maintains that a policy of “earned citizenship” would only worsen the current immigration situation by rewarding those who break the rules and encouraging more people to take even greater risks to cross the border illegally. He supports large increases in border patrol agents and resources. 3) To reduce the federal budget deficit, Hutchinson opposes raising taxes or increasing social programs by “going back to a fair tax system.” He holds that current tax cuts have increased the amount of money collected by the government. Spending must be cut.
