Niemerg says he wants to ‘speak up’ for downstate Illinois
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[November 30, 2021]
By ANDREW ADAMS
For Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – Republican state Rep. Adam
Niemerg grew up in a family that cared about politics, so it felt like a
natural step for him when he ran his first campaign to get a seat in the
House of Representatives in 2020.
“There's a lot of things that I wanted to say and that I wanted to do
and my values really reflect the district’s,” Niemerg said.
Niemerg lives with his wife and two children in rural Dieterich, just a
few miles from his hometown of Teutopolis.
Prior to coming to Springfield, Niemerg spent 12 years as an insurance
adjuster for Country Financial.
“I spent a lot of time on roofs, spent a lot of time in basements for a
house fire or basement flood,” Niemerg said. “I spent a lot of time on
farms, in combines on tractors.”
Despite enjoying the job, Niemerg said he didn’t like the direction the
state was going.
“I looked at my children and what was happening and felt like I had to
make a difference,” Niemerg said.
Niemerg won his first election to fill the seat of Darren Bailey, who
moved to the state Senate.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/30/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
He won by one of the largest margins in the state, receiving 82 percent
of the vote in the race against Democrat John Spencer. Only two
representatives won contested elections by a wider margin — incumbents
Tim Butler, R-Springfield, running against a Green Party candidate, and
Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, running against a Libertarian candidate.
“It's very easy for me to be a conduit for not only my political
ideology, but also the ideology of southeast Illinois, and the 109th
district,” he said.
For Niemerg, next year’s election is voters’ first chance to elect him
with a record in the Statehouse. While in office, Niemerg has been
focused on issues popular among his Republican base.
“Right now, I am so focused on getting the masks removed in schools. I’m
so focused on getting vaccine mandates removed in the state of
Illinois,” said Niemerg. “It’s important we remember our bills regarding
the right to live, regarding the Second Amendment, regarding limited
taxation.”
Niemerg’s focus on masks has included speaking out on the House floor
and introducing legislation to bar state agencies from requiring masks.
“I get calls constantly about the vaccination and mask mandate from all
over the state, not just my district,” Niemerg said on the House floor
in August.
Since then, several school districts in his area have engaged in battles
over the state’s mandate that students and teachers wear masks. In
mid-September, Teutopolis Unit 50 schools became the center of a lawsuit
brought by Thomas DeVore on behalf of several district parents seeking
to remove the mandate.
“Any action that’s taken to fight mask mandates in schools should be
supported, whether that be action taken by a school to file litigation
in a certain way or whether it be action taken by parents,” said Niemerg.
He added that he wants the legislature to take action on the issue of
masks in schools, though he doesn’t expect the Democratic-controlled
chambers would remove the executive branch’s authority on the issue.
“I would like to at least see some accountability in the House and the
Senate,” Niemerg said. “If we’re called into session, they have to hit
that ‘yes’ button if they want to agree with the governor. Then we can
hold those individuals accountable.”
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As a lawmaker, Niemerg has introduced more than twice the number of
bills and resolutions as any other freshman representative.
The 51 bills and resolutions he has introduced include provisions that
would have, among other things, instituted stricter voter identification
rules, lowered the minimum age to obtain a Firearm Owners Identification
Card and make so-called “partial-birth abortion” a state crime.
Despite the number of bills he introduced, he was the chief sponsor on
only one bill that became law. The measure was introduced in the Senate
by Bailey, R-Xenia. It expands the eligibility to become a firefighter
to include volunteer and part-time firefighters with five years of
experience.
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Rep. Adam Niemerg (CREDIT: https://repniemerg.com/)
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When asked why he introduces so many bills, most of
which have slim to no chance of passing, Niemerg said he feels like
it’s his duty because the people of his district feel left out of
politics.
“They feel Chicago takes the majority of the attention and really
drives the politics of the state,” he said. “They wanted me to speak
up and to discuss what their values are to really represent them on
the House floor.”
Niemerg, Bailey, and Rep. Chris Miller, of Oakland, were among a
group of Republican lawmakers who sent a letter to Miller’s wife,
Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, asking her to object to certifying
the 2020 presidential election.
“I believe we really need to look into election integrity, not only
in the state of Illinois but throughout the country,” Niemerg said
when asked if he stood by this position.
There is no verifiable evidence that calls the 2020 election outcome
into question or indicates any credible, widespread allegations of
election fraud.
When pushed on the subject, Niemerg indicated the issue of election
integrity is about more than just fraud.
“When it comes to the next governor’s race, when it comes to any
race we have that will be somewhat close in the legislature and
Senate, we have got to get out and vote,” Niemerg said. “If we have
folks sitting at home saying ‘What does it matter? It’s all rigged
anyway,’ then we are not going to win.”
Niemerg’s relationship to his district might be up in the air as he
faces reelection.
On Sept. 24, Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law new legislative maps
which rearranged the boundaries of Niemerg’s district. Niemerg
currently represents an area stretching from White County to the
south up to Effingham County.
Niemerg’s new district is almost entirely different. It now covers
an area stretching from Lawrence County all the way to Champaign
County.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/30/images/ads/current/werth_lda_HFH_2021.png)
To add onto that, the new area Niemerg is running in, District 102,
is also home to Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland.
“The boundary line for the 101 can’t be 200, 300 yards from my
property line,” Miller said, referring to an adjacent district with
no incumbent lawmakers in it. “The reasonable thing for them to do
would be for them to move that line 400 yards east.”
Illinois law allows for incumbent lawmakers to run either in the
district they live in or in a district which contains part of their
previous district.
“Adam, (state Sen.) Chapin Rose and I have talked about this a good
bit,” said Miller, adding that the three have come to an agreement
where Niemerg will run in District 102 and Miller will run in
District 101. Rose, R-Mahomet, will run in the Senate district that
covers the same area.
Republican leaders and the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund have filed lawsuits in state court challenging the
maps.
Kent Redfield, emeritus professor of political science at the
University of Illinois Springfield and an expert on Illinois
redistricting, said the lawsuits likely won't result in fundamental
changes to the maps.
“If the Republicans thought they had a solid case on procedural
grounds, they would have filed a suit in state court,” said
Redfield. “But they didn’t.”
On Oct. 19, a panel of federal judges gave MALDEF and the
Republicans a chance to submit "proposed revisions" to the maps.
Redfield added he believes there is partisan intent on behalf of
Democrats to protect their power in the state, though that’s mostly
done by protecting incumbents.
“The Republican districts are kind of leftovers,” he said.
This story was distributed by Capitol News Illinois
on behalf of the University of Illinois-Springfield’s Public Affairs
Reporting program. The story was written as part of the PAR
coursework. |