Barrington Hills Democrat First in Line to File for 6th Congressional District

Leslie Coolidge, candidate for Congress in the new 6th District, was the first to file her petitions at the State Board of Elections in Springfield on Friday.  Dec. 23rd was the first day for Congressional candidates to file their candidacy papers, as ordered by a panel of judges who ultimately approved the newly-redistricted Congressional map. Coolidge, a Democrat from Barrington Hills, was in line at 6:30 a.m. with 1,700 signatures in hand.

 “I’m running because I want to hold Congress accountable,” said Coolidge who is a CPA and a former partner with the accounting firm KPMG.  “I first began thinking about running for Congress during the debt ceiling debacle when Congressmen like Peter Roskam, who currently represents this district, seemed to think only about politics and ideology and not about the damage a default on our obligations would do to the economy and nation as a whole.  Their refusal until last week to pass payroll tax reduction legislation was just more of the same.”

Coolidge said she is committed to making the government work more efficiently for everyone by making sure that the numbers always make sense.  She believes that the payroll tax agreement and extension of unemployment benefits, finally passed by the House last week after their initial refusal to do so, will help the economy by maintaining consumer demand that would have been hurt by allowing the payroll tax break to expire and ending benefits to unemployed people.  

While in Springfield, Coolidge visited a number of Lincoln sites, including his home and tomb, where she rubbed his nose for luck.  She considers Lincoln one of her heroes and feels that his acknowledgement that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” is quite a good description of what is happening in the House of Representatives today.  She believes Congress cannot move the country forward as divided as it is today, and that we must elect representatives who are focused on meeting the needs of all Americans rather than on politics.

“Visiting Lincoln’s tomb was very moving and reminiscent of travels with my late father who, as a high school history teacher, always visited cemeteries where there is so much inspiration to be gained from the people who came before us,” said Coolidge. 

The new Sixth Congressional district includes portions of southwest Lake County, southeast McHenry County, central Kane County, portions of Cook County and a large area of DuPage County. 

More information about Leslie Coolidge may be found at Coolidge for Congress. 

This information was provided by Coolidge for Congress.