West Central Reporter

Jonas Petty sees himself as a problem solver through and through.

While Petty said he thinks Illinois Lottery Control Board Chairman Blair Garber was terribly out of line to recently refer to East St. Louis in a Twitter rant as the “sh**hole of the universe,” he adds the people of that community might be better served by strategizing and building with their representatives than by dwelling on what Garber had to say or the fact that the man appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner has since been forced to step down from his position.

“That’s the way you make things better for yourself, the way you solve problems for your community,” he told the West Central Reporter. “I’ve always thought career politicians spend too much time talking about problems instead of solving them.”

Petty, a Pittsfield Republican, is aiming to take that bottom-line approach to problem-solving to local government, running against Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville) in the Republican primary in the 100th House District. He said what separates the two is he’s had to work and fight for everything he's ever gotten, while Davidsmeyer has sort of just coasted along.

“I’ve worked my way from college to start my own company with 30 employees, while he has been appointed to office a couple times and has never even run on his own,” he said. “I have the experience of being a problem-solver through running my business, and if we are ever going to get Illinois back on the right track we’re going to need people that are problem solvers in Springfield.”

As the click down to the March 20 primary, Petty said his campaign is starting to pick up traction and he will soon start hosting regular town hall meetings so voters can get to know him better.

“We’re also still going door to door and interacting with as many voters as we can,” he said. “We have to be willing to work harder, we don’t nearly have the money my opponent has available to him.”

The 100th House District includes all or parts of Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon and Scott counties.