Two Republicans are competing for the chance to challenge Illinois Democratic Congresswoman Cheri Bustos in the fall.
In Tuesday's primary, Republicans in the 17th District will choose between Esther Joy King, a lawyer from East Moline, and Bill Fawell, a realtor in Galena.
One issue they agree on is immigration - closing our borders and using a merit-based system to decide who gets in.
(Fawell) "We've gone from being very selective to opening the doors to anyone, and we can't do that anymore. I mean we might have 3 1/2 per cent unemployment but that's still about 90,000 people that are unemployed and are employable. So we really don't need un-educated workers anymore."
And Fawell's priorities if elected include term limits and limiting the power of the federal government.
King says if elected she would focus on trade deals to help farmers in the 17th District, and infrastructure.
"Infrastructure is so important for getting our food to the world. And so bringing in an infrastructure package that will actually help renew the locks and dams, rebuild, and update and innovate on infrastructure."
She also faults the news media for putting too much emphasis on the political aspects of COVID-19.
They spoke with Jim Mertens for last week's program of The Cities, on WQPT, Quad Cities PBS, Thursdays at 7 pm and Sundays at 4 pm. It also plays on WVIK Saturdays at 12:30.
