McAloon bid about people, not politics
Looking to unseat 'political machine'

By Jo Ann Hustis
Herald Writer 1/5/2006 2:55:00 PM 
BOURBONNAIS – Taking on a strong incumbent isn’t daunting first-time elected office-seeker David McAloon.

“She’s an intelligent young lady, and a former prosecutor in Will County,” the Kankakee County Republican said of State Representative Careen Gordon, D-Morris, whose seat he wants to win in November.

“But, she’s not really the opponent — the opponent is the Chicago political machine. That’s where her campaign comes from. She’s got friends and relatives here, but (House Speaker Michael) Madigan spent $800,000 on the race last time, and I’m sure he’ll spend whatever it takes again to win again.”

McAloon, 41, is more concerned about talking to the people in the 75th Illinois Legislative District, and discussing their issues.

“Not what the special interests in Chicago want, and that’s pretty much what’s going on,” he noted Wednesday.

Before taking on Gordon, however, McAloon, who identifies himself as a long-time grassroots leader and community activist, must first defeat Minooka Village President Jason Briscoe on the GOP ticket in the March 21 primary.

Briscoe is equally interested in wrestling the district seat from Gordon, and says he has the full backing of the GOP in his endeavor.

“My primary opponent, Mr. Briscoe, plans on doing the same thing I’ve done in our community the past 10 years, and that’s talk about the issues — the things people care about,” said McAloon.

“Whether its jobs, taxes or education, the people in our district want to know they’re going to have principled leadership and representation in Springfield, not politicians.”

A self-described Ronald Reagan conservative Republi-can, McAloon said that, throughout the past decade, he actively fought for lower taxes and fees, smaller and less intrusive government, family rights for the unborn, property rights, and freedom of religion.

“I’m not a politician,” he said. “I’m interested in representing our district, and I’m involved in community activism. I’ve been active in a number of campaigns, and I worked on public policy in our community for over 10 years.”

Among the major issues he sees in the campaign are public education, taxes and fees, and employment, said McAloon.

“Taxes and fees have run jobs out of the state, and jobs are related to taxes and fees,” he added. “The current administration is raising taxes and fees and running jobs out of Illinois at a highly accelerated rate. That is why we’re near the bottom in terms of economic growth compared to the rest of the country.”

McAloon cited the increase in the commercial distribution fee levied on the trucking industry as example.

“As one of our very wise leaders once said, ‘The best government is smaller government.’ You have to reduce taxes in Springfield and get the financial situation turned around. The tax situation in Springfield is not being fair,” he said.

McAloon said government downstate is out of control.

“They have no control over anything they’re doing,” he said. “Generally their answer to anything is raising taxes and fees, and not being responsible for what they’re doing. If you have a negative business environment compared to our neighbor states, and a company can’t make any money here, they’re going to go somewhere else.”

McAloon said business has been fleeing Illinois at a highly accelerated rate for those reasons.

“And they (Springfield) don’t look like they have any inclination of stopping, so they run more jobs out of state,” he added. “Then again, the state government is pretty much controlled by a couple neighborhoods in Chicago.”

McAloon has been chairman of VirtuePAC the past six years. A state-registered, business-based political action committee, the main goal of the organization is good government in Springfield and Washington, D. C.

He grew up in Illinois, where he has lived 40 of his 41 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Illinois State University in Normal.

He has been on staff at Family Harvest Church the past eight years, where he works as a television producer in the media department.

McAloon and his wife, Brenda, whom he met in school, have been married 18 years. The couple has two sons, ages 14 and 8.