NEW BADEN — A New Baden man has announced his candidacy for a state Senate vacancy being created with the retirement of GOP Sen. Kyle McCarter, of Lebanon.
Rafael Him, a Republican from New Baden, is a 22-year combat veteran and serves on the Clinton County Board along with having served as a trustee for the Village of New Baden. He said his experiences in the Air Force taught him accountability, teamwork, leadership and a passion for mission accomplishment.
Him says he’s running because of his love for Illinois, commenting that he can no longer sit back and watch the people of Illinois suffer from poor politics and corruption so he has decided to take action.
According to Him, he has voted on and passed three balanced budgets and helped guide his county to be debt free by the end of 2017 despite state budget cuts.
Him is the second Republican seeking the GOP nomination for McCarter’s seat in the 54th Senate District. Centralia businessman Ben Stratemeyer announced his candidacy last week.