AUDIO: Peoria-area candidate forum “held” for Senate District 46 and House Districts 91 & 92

PEORIA — The debate set for Thursday night did not exactly go as planned. The event, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria, East Side Community Media and Fondulac District Library, would have to cut the event short. The reasoning: some of the candidates did not respond. Another couldn’t attend due to an emergency. The forum was featuring candidates running for office in Senate District 46, as well as House Districts 91 and 92. Participating in the forum was Democratic Sen. David Koehler, who is seeking re-election. Koehler has represented Senate District 46 since 2006. His opponent is Mary Burress, who was unable to attend. Neither Republican Mark Luft nor Democrat Joshua Grys would respond to the League’s invitations. Both are running for the open seat in House District 91. The current Republican representative, Michael Unes, did not seek re-election. A similar case would take place in the House District 92 race. While Libertarian candidate and 2014 gubernatorial nominee Chad Grimm was a participant, Democratic incumbent Jehan Gordon-Booth wasn’t. Gordon-Booth had a family emergency that would force her out of the forum.

Koehler, Grimm was given a five-minute allowance for a statement

Due to national and Illinois state LWV guidelines and an exception, both Koehler and Grimm would receive a five-minute allowance to speak. Grimm would offer his best wishes, prayers, and thoughts to Gordon-Booth, stating that “family trumps all politics.” He would mention that initially, he had no interest in running for the House seat. He said he was suffering burnout from politics. However, he would feel a motivation to run following the state’s disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grimm would also mention that there is an excessive influence in Springfield by influences from Cook County and the collar counties. Grimm adds that there should be done about the current marijuana law. Specifically, he is calling for a reduction in the sales tax on marijuana from 30% to a more normal rate of 6.5%. This is the audio conversion of the East Side Community Media video live stream on Facebook Live.