Logan County Democrats endorse Rob Mellon 18th Congressional District

[May 11, 2015]  LINCOLN - Rebecca Drake, chair of the Logan County Democrats, introduced Rob Mellon to the monthly meeting of the group at the Lincoln Public Library on Saturday morning. Mellon, a Quincy native, is running in the Democratic Party primary to represent the party in the 18th Congressional District general election.

A general election will be held in September. It has been made necessary after the resignation of Congressman Aaron Schock. Because this is a congressional seat, a special election is necessary rather than an appointment by the governor.

The primary will be held on July 7th to choose the Democratic and Republican candidates for the Congressional race to be held on September 10th. The winner of that election will represent the 18th district for the remainder of the Schock’s term.

Mellon began his remarks by saying that he appreciated the opportunity to speak to the Logan County Democrats. He has strong ties to the group having run in the last Democratic primary to represent the 18th. Mellon is an Illinois native and is currently a high school social studies teacher in Quincy, and a former officer in the United States Army, having served ten years. He is still a member of the Army Reserve.

Mellon stressed his concern at the disparity between the rich and poor in the country, and pointed out that it is at its greatest divide since before the Great Depression. His concern is about the shrinking middle class in the country. While the cost of living has been increasing, the wages of most working class Americans has been stagnant for years. With the stagnation of wages comes the lack of spending power of average Americans and the harm this will eventually cause to the economy. Mellon has strong family ties to unions, and expressed his support for them.

Mellon also sees this lack of spending power as having an effect on voting totals. “People just don’t think their votes count when they see the amount of money that the rich spend on lobbying efforts in Congress. The average person feels shut out of the system,” he said. He pointed out that Darren LaHood, a Republican running in the primary raised several hundred thousand dollars in the first week of his run for congress.

Mellon stresses that congress is not governing. With the strong enmity between the parties and the large divide within the Republican Party, nothing is getting done in Washington. He pointed out that the infrastructure of the country such as roads and bridges are being ignored and the safety of the American citizen put at risk while the parties bicker across the aisle in Washington. He wants to be a voice of reason in Congress. “The basic job of congress is to govern, and that is not happening,” he said.

After his remarks, the Logan County Democrats voted to endorse Rob Mellon against his challenger Adam Lopez in the Democratic primary.

The annual Logan County Democratic party chicken dinner fund raiser will be held at the American Legion on July 18. A raffle will be held for two tickets to a Cubs/Cardinals game in St. Louis to be held in September. Further information will be forthcoming.

[Curt Fox]