Incumbent Reggie Phillips recently outlined his reasons for pursuing a second term as the 110th district's representative.
Incumbent Reggie Phillips recently outlined his reasons for pursuing a second term as the 110th district's representative.
Incumbent Reggie Phillips, state representative of the 110th district and construction company owner, is hoping to further promote business growth, education and economic reform for his district, which covers all or parts of Coles, Cumberland, Clark, Edgar, Crawford and Lawrence counties.
Phillips has also pledged to stop the unnecessary and tedious delays that plague local procedures.
“I have been in office a year and it takes about six months to get water under your feet and then another six months to get real work done,” Phillips recently told East Central Reporter. “You've got to have good relationships and you have to build trust.”
Phillips explained that he thinks he has built that trust with his district -- and he has considerable support for another term.
“I still finance most of my own campaign, and I work hard at everything I do,” he said. “If I don’t think it is right for my district or for my state, I am not going to vote for it.”
Phillips believes that education and jobs are a top priority because one leads to the other. He said he is not a career politician, but a public servant and businessman who wants to bring job creation back to the district.
“If you are going to college to get an education and then graduate to find you have no job options, then you have a problem,” he said.
Phillips stated that he is running for state representative because he does not approve of career politicians throwing away the district's future.
Phillips said that his opponent, Republican Jonathan Kaye, doesn’t have the experience or trust to represent the district. Although he refused to contribute to disparaging comments about Kaye, he did say that Kaye’s recent attacks on him are unfounded.
Despite his opponent’s recent negative campaigning, Phillips has tried to stay focused on his goals. They include engaging the people that live within the 110th district, having their voices heard in Springfield, ending the political corruption and addressing the high cost of Illinois government.
“I ran for office in the first place because I did not like the previous representative -- who was ‘triple dipping’ -- and it is not feasible to keep up such practices and it not hurt the State of Illinois,” Phillips said.
One of Phillips’ top priorities is to change the economic climate in Illinois and enact meaningful business reforms.
“One of things I find so frustrating is that there are a few simple changes we can make to really get our economy going, but we continue to ignore these simple reforms,” he said. “Enacting real workers’ compensation reform, reducing excessive business regulations and unleashing the full potential of Illinois’ natural resources would put us back on a course to economic growth and prosperity.”
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