This week, we are looking at the primary candidates running for Illinois state representative for the 76th district. Since there are five candidates, WNIJ will present the candidates in alphabetical order each morning throughout the week.
DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes is looking to expand his political reach to the Illinois Statehouse. Speaking at a forum organized earlier this month by DeKalb Stands, he made his pitch to potential voters, touting his involvement in the referendum to build the new DeKalb High School.
“That led to me being asked to run for the DeKalb school board," Barnes said. "During that time, I championed a one-to-one initiative — which the technology in our school district was eight years old. By the time I left, we were handing a device to every single one of our students."
Barnes has lived in the community since 1978. He served in the Army and currently owns an IT business in downtown DeKalb.
The Democrat says, if elected, he plans to work with several House committees to stimulate economic growth in the district.
“As mayor, I work with the state a lot," he said. "The Illinois Commerce Commission, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity — figuring out how we can invest in our infrastructure, how we can create more economic development, which creates more jobs, which creates more tax revenues. So, there's not just two that I want to be on, I want to be beating on every single solitary door there to be the voice of the 76th district.”
Barnes says economic development is crucial to improving the quality of life for the district while making affordable housing possible.
“Economic development — what that does is that creates tax revenue for all the services that we all want," he said. "It creates jobs that can improve the quality of life. But also, that tax revenue that comes in from those places also drives down our property tax rate. This is how we accomplish affordable housing. We make it cheaper to live here in the city of DeKalb, and I'll bring that to the 76th.”
DeKalb sits at the very top of the district which includes portions of Bureau, LaSalle and DeKalb counties. Given its proximity to farmland, Barnes believes there is strong demand for the expansion of renewable energy in Illinois.
“For me, renewable energy is number one," Barnes said. "I know the demand from being mayor right now and the corporations I'm talking to and going downtown Chicago in the boardrooms that I'm in, and the conversations that are around power consumption is something that a lot of our corporations need and are looking for. So, I'm in absolute support of bringing as much power as we can that deviates from fossil fuel consumption.”
Two issues that generate a great deal of passion among voters in the district involve reproductive rights as well as the right to bear arms.
Though federal protections for abortion went away in 2022, abortion is still legal and available in Illinois.
Barnes says the overturning of Roe vs. Wade was oppressive to women.
"It's fundamentally wrong," Barnes said. "I believe every woman in the United States of America should have that ability to make that choice themselves.”
Related to protecting Second Amendment rights and ensuring public safety, Barnes says he brings a unique perspective.
“I'm a veteran and swore that oath, and I understand it. But we really need to focus on making sure it's responsible gun ownership," Barnes said. "As a state legislator, I will make sure that the legislation that we passed around this isn't punitive towards all the responsible gun owners out there.”
Barnes faces Amy “Murri” Briel and Carolyn “Morris” Zasada in the democratic race while Liz Bishop and Crystal Loughran challenge each other on the Republican ballot.
The primary will be held March 19th.
Tuesday, WNIJ will profile Republican Liz Bishop for the Illinois 76th district. Learn more about our election coverage at wnij.org/election