ENDORSEMENT: Mohammad ‘Mo’ Iqbal for Illinois House in 65th District Democratic primary

Mohammad “Mo” Iqbal asked a good question in 2016 when the Kane County Board started talking about saving money by eliminating a $720,000 electronic home monitoring program for people who might otherwise be held in jail.

“Did you ever do a cost-benefit analysis of this program?” he asked. The answer was no. When the cost-benefit analysis finally was done, it turned out the monitoring program was saving Kane County taxpayers $3 million a year.

That issue led Iqbal, a lawyer and civil engineer, to run for the county board in 2018, where he defeated an incumbent Republican. Now Iqbal is seeking a seat in the Illinois House, a step up that works for us. Illinois could benefit from a few more practical, clear-thinking and fiscally smart legislators.

We endorse Iqbal in this Democratic primary.

If elected, Iqbal hopes to work to lighten the burden on Illinois taxpayers by reducing the overall number of taxing bodies, including township governments. He would work to cut the size of county boards across the state. And true to his calling as a civil engineer, he would push for more state-funded road and infrastructure improvements in his far northwest suburban district.

Also in the race is Martha Paschke, a former teacher who works as a patient intake coordinator for a psychology practice. Paschke’s first priority, if elected, would be to improve the state’s mental health care network and bring economic development to this far northwest suburban district.

We endorse Iqbal, but encourage Paschke to stay in politics. The winner in this primary will face Republican incumbent Dan Ugaste in the fall.

Illustration by Caroline Hurley

For more information about this race and others, including candidate questionnaires, go to our Illinois primary voting guide. Our newspaper is owned by a group of civic-minded and, in some cases, politically active investors; for details, see our owner information page.

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