A Mascoutah man is preparing a run against U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro in the 2020 election.
Joel D. Funk has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to raise money as a Democrat for a campaign in the 12th Congressional District, which encompasses most of southwest Illinois.
Funk is a Northwestern Mutual financial representative who previously served in the U.S. Army, according to his LinkedIn page. His last assignment in the Army was as a group aviation officer at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. He also served in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
A formal campaign launch for Funk, along with his ideas and positions, could come in the near future, Funk said via a Facebook message to a Belleville News-Democrat reporter.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has not identified the 12th district as a possible district to flip since Brendan Kelly, the former St. Clair County state’s attorney and current Illinois State Police acting director, came up short in his bid to unseat Bost in the 2018 election.
Earlier this week, Funk tweeted an article about the ongoing trade war as China has asked state-owned entities to stop buying American soybeans.
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“I’d love to see (Bost) explain why the trade war is good for Southern Illinois now,” Funk tweeted.
“The national debt is setting new highs. The fed is lowering rates to spurn growth. The tariffs that (Bost) supports are hurting trade and our cost of living,” Funk said in another tweet. “There is causality between all of these numbers. We are paying for it now, but he will pay for it in November 2020.”
Bost, who served in the Marines, has continued raising money despite not knowing whether he will be embroiled in competitive election next year. As of the end of June, Bost has raised more than $596,000 in this election cycle and had more than $423,000 of cash on hand, according to the FEC.
Bost said it would be strange if he didn’t have a challenger, as he usually has had someone running against him.
“Right now I’m doing my job, want to work hard for the people and do what I’m supposed to do,” Bost said during a visit to the Belleville Fire Department on Wednesday. “I do that by listening on a regular basis and meeting with people, meeting with fire departments, everything like that and getting out here whenever we’re back in the district.”
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Another center/center-right Blue Dog Democrat with financial industry ties? I guess the Blue Dog Establishment in the Belleville area still hasn't figured out that they can no longer win by simply competing for many of the same votes the Republicans are. This time, when they lose again, they won't even be able to blame Greens like myself since we're not going to be able to get the 30,000 or so signatures needed to ensure ballot access this time around. The Democrat Establishment's failure will be total, to the detriment of our nation's most vulnerable who need someone to stand up for them instead of playing political games.
If any Democrats are reading this, please prove me wrong by running someone left of center and anti-fascist this time around, just this once even.
I grew up on a farm, served in the military for a decade and a half, just got out of the Army two weeks ago, and have been working as a financial planner trying to help people with their personal finances for all of about two months. I assure you that I’m about as disconnected and unaffiliated with the establishment as you can get. I wasn’t recruited, but was personally compelled to make a difference in our community. You are more than welcome to check out my personal social media accounts and messasge if you’d like.
I grew up on a farm and still help my family there, served in the military for a decade and a half, just got out of the Army two weeks ago, and have been working as a financial planner trying to help people with their personal finances for all of about two months. I assure you that I’m about as disconnected and unaffiliated with the establishment as you can get. I wasn’t recruited, but was personally compelled to make a difference in our community. You are more than welcome to check out my personal social media accounts and message me directly if you’d like.
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