Democratic Party 18th Congressional District candidate visits Logan County

 

[July 21, 2020] 

The Logan County Democratic party held their monthly meeting Thursday evening in the pavilion in Kickapoo Creek Park. Logan County Democratic Party chairman Gary Davis brought the meeting to order and welcomed their special guest, George Petrilli of Springfield. Mr. Petrilli is the Democratic Party candidate for the 18th Congressional District in November’s election.

“I am an attorney in Springfield, and a life-long resident of the capitol city. My wife and I have a young son,” he said. “I have always been a public policy wonk,” he said with a laugh. More to the point, he stressed that he is most interested in how elected officials and the government can best serve the citizens, and how the electorate can hold public officials accountable.
 

George Petrilli stressed that his main goals have a particular resonance in the 18th Congressional District. “The 18th has a large rural population with some urban areas. I want to focus on how we can best serve these people,” he said. To that end, he stressed the three main planks of his platform.

“First, I want to address the lack of affordable and quality health care in rural areas. Second, the cost of higher education is too high, and those who attend are many times saddled with large debt that can affect their economic advancement. Third, I want to address the lack of economic opportunities for people who have not attended college. The explosion in the cost of higher education has in many cases made grads mortgage their future to pay the debt, and prohibited others from even attending,” he said.  He thinks that more attention needs to be paid to increasing economic opportunity in rural areas so that residents don’t have to depend on minimum wage jobs which are prevalent in these areas. “Working from home in the rural areas of the 18th at jobs that pay a significant boost from minimum wage is a sure way to increase economic opportunity and advancement,” he said.

Logan County Democratic Party Chairman Gary Davis (left) with 18th Congressional District of Illinois candidate George Petrilli of Springfield who presented his platform at the July meeting.

On a national level, Petrilli mentioned that he would focus on agricultural issues and how international trade can benefit the farming community of the 18th.

Gary Davis spoke about a new initiative for the Logan County Democratic party. Next month, the county clerk will mail out postcards to everyone who has participated in the past three elections. The card will ask if the constituent wants to vote by mail in the approaching election on November 3rd. By returning the postcard to the county clerk, the voter will receive a Vote-by-Mail ballot. “Illinois is in the vanguard of the vote by mail initiative spreading across the country,” said Gary Davis. He encourages everyone to take this opportunity to vote.

Given the current pandemic issues, Davis contends that this will be the safest way to vote. “I truly believe that we can increase voter participation by this method. I plan to talk to all of my friends, and encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity. It has been proven safe and effective for many years in other states,” he said.

[Curtis Fox]

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