Hauter vs. Gill: 87th District State Rep. candidates share why they should win the candidacy

NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — With election day just a few weeks away, voters in the 87th district get to choose from two doctors for representation.

The map of the 87th district can be viewed below:

Hauter vs. Gill: What gave them inspiration to run for office

Independent candidate Dr. David Gill is challenging State Representative Bill Hauter, a Republican.

Gill wants to increase ballot access for third-party candidates.

"I spent 90 days knocking on 12,000 doors in 30 communities throughout the district, gathering signatures to get myself put onto the ballot so that we could at least have a battle," Gill said. "I think that most Americans have had enough of these two major parties that make life so difficult."

Both men have Central Illinois roots which they believe helps them understand what citizens need.

"I'm an ordinary person who lives in an ordinary place," Gill said. "I'm from Funks Grove, Illinois. It's a rural area about ten miles south of Bloomington with a lot of trees and deer and squirrels. I've got six kids and a wife and two granddaughters."

"I'm such a part of this district," Hauter said. "I have so many connections. Family, friends, I've lived my whole life, really, and raised a family of five children, married for over 32 years. My wife's from Tremont. I own land in Hopedale and we live in Morton."

On the issues

Both Gill and Hauter said a medical viewpoint is essential to crafting legislation, especially on health issues.

"I'm a physician, I'm a hospice medical director," Gill said. "I was present for a lot of miscarriages. I'm very much in favor of women making their own health care decisions."

"I was just disgusted a lot of times by the decisions made by this state," Hauter said. "I was very opposed to the lockdowns and the mandates. I'm a pro-life physician and there's other conservative issues on regulation and taxes that we're kind of losing a lot on."

It's something Hauter said inspired him to run for office in the first place.

"To see that there is not one physician in the whole Illinois general legislature, the General Assembly did not have one physician, not a nurse, not anyone that would speak from a medical perspective, from a health care perspective during a public health emergency," Hauter said. "I just felt very compelled to run for office."

The general election will take place on Nov. 5.

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