We don’t know much about him yet but Peter Roskam now has a Democratic opponent in his 2010 bid for re-election. According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Benjamin S. Lowe of Wheaton filed on November 2nd to oppose Roskam. Congratulations, Ben, and welcome to the race. And a big thank you for stepping forward to take on Roskam who has failed to represent the interests of the majority of 6th District residents since taking office in 2007.
Ben has the beginnings of a web site here. He also has a Twitter account and we encourage all our readers to follow him as Ben begins to communicate about himself. Ben is also on Facebook.
Update: Ben’s campaign web site has been updated with a bio and a letter from Ben. From what he’s written here, Ben sounds like a progressive fellow:
His years living overseas, coupled with a summer science-research grant in rural sub-Saharan Africa, nurtured another passion in Ben: a concern for a more nuanced foreign policy, and the renunciation of foreign adventurism and nation-building. He advocates the highest care for our troops serving bravely in the face of danger; one of the highest forms of care is a foreign policy which acts more judiciously before thrusting troops into danger. Ben supports an expeditious end to wars that have proven devastatingly costly in terms of both American soldier and local civilian casualties. Money saved from war could more usefully promote economic development abroad, so as to re-brand America’s image throughout the world, using our global position of influence to encourage peace, respect for human rights, and religious freedom.
The son of a naturalized U.S. citizen, Ben has spent considerable time interacting with both prosperous and impoverished immigrant communities. This experience drives home the need to reform our broken immigration system.
Yet another dimension of his life overseas – and his career serving with non-profit organizations – has been first-hand experience of the risks of being uninsured or under-insured. He advocates reform of our health insurance system to ensure that all Americans have access to adequate, affordable health care. Additionally, the recent economic downturn underscores the need to provide a safety net for those facing joblessness and homelessness, yet within the parameters of fiscal conservatism.
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I checked out his website and a youtube video of Ben’s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQQpFPVkwkc
Seems to be a thoughtful guy and would probably serve us well on enviromental issues but he needs to flesh out his positions on many other things and tell us why and how he’s better than Roskam. His appeal will be narrow and he’ll lose alot of potential support if he wears his Christianity on his sleeve throughout his campaign. Ben’s our only hope?
Agreed. Filing deadline has passed. Not sure if there is an alternative path to the ballot.