Incumbent 2nd District Congresswoman Robin Kelly was in Danville Monday. With the redrawn 2nd District now reaching from Southern Cook County all the way down to Northern Vermilion County through Danville, that’s more area to visit. But Kelly says she once served in an association that met in Danville so she’s certainly been here before. When we caught up with her Monday afternoon at Rich’s Delux Restaurant on North Street, she had just met with some farmers in the Gibson City area. Kelly says, be it Chicagolanders or Downstaters, all people have plenty in common. She also mentioned special meeting and listening sessions she likes to have with downstate farmers, similar to what she does with those up north in Eastern Will County.
AUDIO: I look at, no matter where you live, urban, suburban, or rural; that there are certain things people want. They want a roof over their head, a job, health care, good education for their kids, and a safe community. And that’s how I approach everything in all the people that I deal with. I do really feel like we’re more alike than different. But of course here it’s more rural, more farms, more spread apart. I just met with a bunch of farmers; I was telling them that every year I have a “barn hall” meeting instead of a “town hall” meeting. So I will do that in this area.
In Congress, Kelly sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She says when it comes to changes in the world of energy, such as fading out coal and fading in more renewables; it’s a matter of combining ‘the future’ with ‘not leaving anyone behind.’
AUDIO: Well I do think that we need to be conscientious about people’s livelihoods, and frankly whole towns, that might depend on coal. But we do need to move away from it, I don’t argue with that. But I think that there’s an understanding that, again, things aren’t going to change overnight, they can’t change overnight. People even need to be given other opportunities to retrain, so they can move to the other jobs. And also, we need to make sure that we have the stakeholders at the table.
Kelly’s opponent is Cissna Park resident Thomas Lynch, who won the Republican primary earlier this year.
