Just over halfway through his sixth term in the U.S. House, Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, is proud of a lot of his accomplishments, including receiving compliments from people who do not agree with all of his policies.
“A man came up to me on the street and said, ‘We don’t agree on every issue, but I like the way you represent our district,’” Schneider said.
Morgan Coghill, Schneider’s opponent in the March 17 10th Congressional District Democratic primary, shares some values with the incumbent but differs on a number of others. He wants to create a single-payer healthcare system funded in part by imposing a wealth tax on the ultra-rich.
“I want to see a 2% wealth tax on anyone with a net worth of over $15 million,” Coghill said.
The winner of the Schneider-Coghill primary will face Republican Carl Lambrecht of Highland Park in the Nov. 3 general election. He is unopposed in the GOP primary.
Both candidates see the accelerating cost of living and the elements pushing it higher as an issue requiring significant attention. Schneider, 64, helped craft the five-point plan of the New Democratic Coalition. He chairs the 110-member caucus.
Calling the five categories — healthcare, family care, housing, groceries and energy — the most vital for most people, Schneider said the country needs 4 million new homes in rural, urban and suburban areas. Family care pertains to children as well as helping aging parents.
“I’m focused on the New Democratic Coalition agenda, which our caucus released two weeks ago,” Schneider said. “These are the expenses people encounter most in their daily lives. We need to decrease the obstacles they face.”
Putting healthcare at the top of his affordability list, Coghill, 46, runs a business which imports and distributes timber products. He said people’s health should not be the existing for-profit industry it has become.
“For-profit healthcare should go away and become extinct. A single payer system will cost us all less out of pocket,” Coghill said. “If we tax the billionaires, it will pay for universal preschool,” he added.
Defending the Affordable Care Act against continued Republican efforts to repeal or limit it since he was first elected in 2012, Schneider said he worked with his colleagues to keep the subsidies in place, but the GOP majority let them expire. They have increased as much as 114%, he said.
“Everyone should have access to quality healthcare when and where they need it from a provider they trust,” Schneider said. “No one should have to pay more than 8½% of their income for health insurance.
Refusing to vote to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Schneider said reforms are needed. The current method of immigration enforcement is unacceptable, he said.
“This has to stop,” Schneider said. “We have to hold the administration to account for its actions as well as the individual officers and their cowboy tactics. (Former DHS Secretary) Kristi Noem’s firing should just be the tip of the iceberg.”
For Coghill, immigration reform includes getting rid of ICE, increasing the number of immigration judges so people who are trying to live in the United States legally can have a fair resolution of their situation.
“I want to abolish ICE tomorrow,” he said. “They are not a legitimate police force. We need three times more immigration judges than we have. People should be able to have their hearing so they can be documented.”
With the 10th District containing a significant Jewish population, both the current war in Iran and the lingering situation in Gaza are issues of significance to a lot of voters. Coghill wants the war to end immediately.
“Iran is an illegal use of force in a war of choice. From my point of view, we should stop immediately. We were walked into it by the (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu government.” Coghill said. “We’re funding a genocide in Gaza.”
A founding member of the Abraham Accords Caucus, Schneider said the Middle East is a vast region extending from Morocco to Afghanistan, concentrated in the Arab world and Israel. He wants to see a two-state solution, with Israel and a Palestinian state living peacefully together.
“The Jewish people have been there for more than 3,000 years, long before Israel was established in 1948,” Schneider said. “The Arabs have been there for thousands of years as well. The Abraham Accords recognize, for the first time, that both Israelis and Arabs belong to the same land.”
As for Iran, Schneider said it has been the world’s greatest source of terror for 47 years. Nevertheless, he wants President Donald Trump to come to Congress and explain the goals and strategy.
“I challenge President Trump to fully express his goals and what he sees as the endgame,” Schneider said.
Early voting is ongoing at Deerspring Pool in Deerfield, the Fremont Township Center in Mundelein, the Grant Township Center in Ingleside, the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff in Lake Forest, the Lake Villa Township office in Lake Villa, the Lake County Central Permit Facility in Libertyville, the Vehe Barn in Deer Park and the Wauconda Township office.
Other early voting sites include William E. Peterson Park in Prairie View, Zion City Hall, Diamond Lake Recreation Center in Mundelein, the Highwood Library and Community Center, Lake Barrington Village Hall, the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, the Lilac Cottage at Bowen Park in Waukegan, the North Chicago Public Library and Round Lake Beach Village Hall.
The 10th District extends along the Wisconsin state line from Lake Michigan to just west of Hebron in McHenry County.
The Lake County portion hugs the shoreline south to Lake Cook Road and continues west to the eastern part of Buffalo Grove. From Buffalo Grove, the district goes northwest on a jagged path through Mundelein, Fox Lake and into McHenry County. It includes portions of northeast Cook County, too.
