Illinois House of Representatives District 32 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Illinois, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Illinois House of Representatives District 32 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

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• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 32

Incumbent Cyril Nichols defeated Carl Kunz in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 32 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cyril Nichols (D)	82.3	15,603
		Carl Kunz (R)	17.7	3,366

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,969
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Carl Kunz (R)

Get tough of crime: provide law enforcement and courts with necessary resources to arrest & jail criminals; support actions to restore civility to our streets & communities.

State's Financial Status: I support overdue pension reform, reigning-in excessive spending & reducing wasteful/overstaffed state agencies.

Parental Rights: I'll oppose progressive legislation that diminishes parents' rights or traditional family values.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Carl Kunz (R)

Socially, I'm passionate about issues including:

-School Funding & Curriculum--reduce the excessive state education administrative costs (among the highest in the country); require teachers to concentrate on the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, and U.S. history. Allow parents to teach morals/values. -Law Enforcement--provide police with necessary resources, funding, and training as necessary with respect to "serve and protect"; -Pro Life--those who engage in consensual sex should take responsibility for their choice at that time, not after the woman is already pregnant

Regarding fiscal public policies, among the issues most important to me are: -Gas Tax--Illinois has one of the highest gas taxes in the country; legislation should be passed immediately to reduce the tax burden to a reasonable level -Property Tax--also among the highest in the country...also needs to be addresses immediately; -Pension Crisis--identify solutions for our decades-long, underfunded pension problem;

-State Welfare Programs--reduce or limit dependency on state welfare programs.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Carl Kunz (R)

Honesty, integrity, empathy, patience, assertiveness, Christian morals & values, community service, policy making & implementation, managing budgets, financial markets knowledge,

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Carl Kunz (R)

The House Representative's core responsibilities are to vote public policy bills, set levels for state finances (e.g., spending, raising and lowering taxes), and vote to uphold or override gubernatorial vetoes. Elected Representative's votes should mirror the views of his/her voting constituents.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Carl Kunz (R)

My very first job was at Land 'O Sweets, a neighborhood candy manufacturer/store. I was about 10 years old & worked there for a single summer. My 1st job in the financial industry was as a teller at Cragin Federal Savings & Loan in Chicago's Belmont/Cragin area. I worked there from 1982 to 1984. Shortly after being hired, I was promoted to Finance Department Associate.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Carl Kunz (R)

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. He suggests ‘leaders must own everything in their world; there's no one else to blame.’ This would appear to be a favorable mindset for both leaders & the general public. Individuals should, in my opinion, consider incorporating this attitude into their everyday life. As a result, people may feel as though they control their own destiny versus being at the mercy of the world around them. Some of the topics discussed by Willink include: admit your mistakes when you make them & take ownership for them; stop making excuses, as excuses are lies, and they’re the centerpiece of failure; admit your mistakes when you make them, and take complete ownership for them; instead of blaming others or an external force, take responsibility and determine what you could've done differently to alter the unintended results; and learn from your shortcomings & identify what you can do differently next time to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Carl Kunz (R)

I believe Illinois' greatest challenge over the next decade is resolving its significant financial crisis. A major cause of this crisis is the underfunded state workers' pension fund. Instead of resolving the causes of the crisis, Illinois has chosen to continue to raise taxes on its residents (e.g., gas tax, property tax, sales tax, etc.). Until the legislature resolves this financial dilemma, its residences will continue to deal with the negative consequences, namely, excessive taxes & net outflow of residents & businesses.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Carl Kunz (R)

It could be beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience of politics, but not imperative. In a representative government, by the people & for the people, other experience can be as (or more) valuable. In my case, I feel my 35 years of experience with policy making (including implementation, enforcement & maintenance) is much more useful than prior governmental or political experience.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Carl Kunz (R)

I favor a nonpartisan redistricting process. perhaps using unelected nonpartisan legislative branch employees. The deciding body should generally NOTbe allowed to consider any measure other than population, and be required (when creating the districts) to stick as closely as possible to existing city and town borders.

See also

More about these elections:

• Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2022

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