Pantagraph.com Weather forecast, local radar and more
NewsSaturday, September 6, 2008 5:34 PM CDT
Comments Comments (17) | E-mail this page E-mail this page | Print this page Print this page | Enlarge type Enlarge type | Reduce type Reduce type | Search archives Search archives | RSS RSS feeds | Add to My Yahoo! Add to My Yahoo!
Area candidate Schock could become youngest congressman
By Dennis Conrad
Associated Press
Advertisement

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Aaron Schock is Hollywood-handsome, single and smart. He’s also ambitious. At 19, he unseated the president of the Peoria school board with 60 percent of the vote after a write-in campaign. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance in just two years, then at 23 toppled a Democratic state representative to become Illinois’ youngest lawmaker.

Now at 27, the second-term Republican has set his sights on Washington, D.C. — and the national GOP is eyeing him as a rising star.

Schock is heavily favored to defeat a Democrat 30 years his senior in November to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Ray LaHood, a feat that would make him the youngest member of Congress and the first born during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

President Bush attended a picnic-style fundraiser for Schock’s campaign and the Republican party in July that raised $700,000. Former U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert, the party’s longest-serving House speaker, has campaigned for him, as have LaHood and former Illinois Govs. James R. Thompson and Jim Edgar.

Schock even was asked to speak for a few minutes at the Republican National Convention.

“I think if I were the Republican Party or Republican members of Congress, I’d be sending him all over the nation doing things,” said William K. Hall, a Bradley University political science professor who was elected to the Kansas House in 1964 at age 26. “I would showcase him as the Republican of the future.”

GOP leaders are excited over Schock’s future.

“If we are going to earn back the majority, we have to offer appealing new candidates with fresh thinking grounded by tried and true conservative values, and Aaron Schock is the embodiment of the kind of candidates the Republican Party needs to win again,” Hastert said when he endorsed Schock in January.

A month later, Schock routed a businessman and former Peoria City Councilman with 71 percent of the vote.

Schock who grew up on a Peoria County farm with two brothers and two sisters, began working in middle school, initially helping a ticket brokerage with its computers and then starting what would be a six-year job shoveling gravel. He invested in mutual funds, plain stocks or certificates of deposit. He turned to real estate, buying a home, a duplex and, upon turning 18, some farmland.

While a high school junior, he wanted to go straight to college, but the school board insisted that he first take a fourth credit of physical education. So he returned for a semester of morning gym and marching band. Halfway through his senior year, he finally enrolled in Bradley University.

But he managed to get even with the school board — or at least its president — by soundly defeating her while he was still at Bradley.

“I don’t think he even planned a big political future,” said Schock’s father, Richard F. Schock. “If he wouldn’t have gotten upset with the school board president, he’d probably be working for Caterpillar,” the farm equipment manufacturer in Peoria.

But Aaron Schock says his political aspirations were driven by a desire to help people, sparked during visits to poverty-stricken nations with his father, a physician who was volunteering his medical services.

“Every time I would return I would say that it feels so good to help in other countries, but also I would think, ‘I live in Peoria, Illinois, and there are people just down the hill from me who are suffering from poverty with just as many ills, if not more,”‘ he said.

It wasn’t long before Schock found a home in the Democrat-controlled Illinois General Assembly.

Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz of Chicago said she has become “tickled by Aaron,” even though he had defeated her friend. She said Schock worked with her to pass a bill to fund school-based health centers, despite opposition from the GOP caucus.

“I’ve always voted my conscience, and, on a number of occasions, I have had to stand up to the base of my party and some of the power structure,” Schock said.

A self-styled conservative

He’s is a self-styled conservative. He opposes abortion, campaign contribution limits and was the chief sponsor of a bill to allow concealed-handgun ownership in Illinois. But he supported former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has favored abortion rights and gun control, in this year’s presidential primary.

“I don’t have a basic litmus test that if you don’t agree with me on a specific issue that I’m not going to support you,” Schock said. “Being in the Illinois Legislature, being on a local school board has taught me the importance of working with people of different philosophies and beliefs.”

With his overwhelming primary win and the high-profile support he’s received, Schock is feeling confident. Five months ago, with an intitial $10,000 contribution from a Peoria physician-businesswoman, he even started his own federal leadership political action committee, the GOP Generation Y Fund, to help like-minded House candidates across the nation.

Democrats warn, however, that all the attention and confidence could backfire.

“I think he’s been a little bit presumptuous about his certainty of election and that doesn’t wear very well in central Illinois,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Schock’s opponent, 57-year-old Colleen Callahan, a veteran radio broadcaster and Peoria County businesswoman, repeatedly calls Schock “ambitious,” and promises she won’t use the congressional seat as a stepping stone to higher office.

Still, there’s no doubt she faces a big challenge. The same day of Schock’s fundraiser— where 1,400 people paid $500 a ticket and some gave another $5,000 to have their picture taken with Bush — Callahan held a $15-a-ticket fish fry that she estimates generated $15,000. Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has not yet committed money to help her.

“He can raise money like he’s got a moneymaking machine,” Callahan said. “He appears to wake up in the morning with dollar signs in his eyes.”

Schock, though, said he’s forgoing a potentially more lucrative career to pursue politics.

“With my background in finance, you can make more money and have more privacy and freedom than in the public sector,” he said. “I’m a believer if you are going to put up with the sacrifice, then it’s not worth doing much unless you do what you think is right.”



More about Schock



Name: Aaron Schock

Age: 27

Party: Republican

Home: Peoria

Family: Single

Education: Bachelor’s degree in finance, Bradley University

Experience: Member of Illinois House, 2005-present; Peoria Board of Education member, 2001-2005, including one year as president. Real estate management

SOURCE: Web site: www.aaronschock.com

Take a look
President Bush is greeted by former Harrison Primary School principal Aurthur Perkins, left, as he arrives in Peoria to attend a fundraising event for state Rep. Aaron Schock, center, on July 25. (AP Photo/Peoria Journal Star, Fred Zwicky)
Video
Most commented stories
Browse online archives
Recent issues:
Reader comments on this story - 17 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Meh wrote on Sep 7, 2008 9:28 AM:

" $100 to Callahan. Thanks for reminding me, Pantagraph! "

Dave wrote on Sep 7, 2008 6:49 AM:

" He's just another Ray Lahood. Towing the Bush line. Wanting to stay in Iraq and wanting to start wars with anyone who frowns at us. He's for giving tax breaks to the wealthy while increasing taxes for the working class. People need to do some serious thinking before voting for him.
I'm in his district and he won't be getting my vote. "

bushIQis6 wrote on Sep 6, 2008 5:11 PM:

" one can be ambitious and book smart but still be street stupid. He is stupid. "let's sell arms to Taiwan" stupid. corn for fuel stupid. Bush stupid. he is the type who will hit the red button and send this country down the path of nuclear war. The current crop of repubs are intolerant and have no ability to engage in diplomacy. this country will go down the toilet and be completely isolated from the other countries with another repub administration "

DT wrote on Sep 6, 2008 5:06 PM:

" csfw wrote: "and I'm sure he can do more than read prepared speaches for him off a teleprompter. " So you're saying that other than age, he's more qualified than Obama. Don't forget that O has spent years dealing with Chicago politics and the criminals that includes. Of course, that only means he's ready for the Congress or prison (same qualifications). "

mdorf4 wrote on Sep 6, 2008 3:01 PM:

" OGS
Why would a hardcore democrat like yourself go to the IL Republican Convention? You are already in anger and hate mode before a Republican opens his or her mouth.
"Schock worked with her to pass a bill to fund school-based health centers, despite opposition from the GOP caucus." That doesn't really sound like a "tow the line for the party" hypocrite. "

Dr.Orangutan Chief Cardiologist Miller Park Zoo wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:37 AM:

" SWEET!!!!! "

reggiebird33 wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:27 AM:

" When he turns 30 look out in the Senate and when he turns 35 look out for the presidency. This is what America needs, fresh new ideas! "

Lighthouse wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:27 AM:

" What a condesending comment by Dick Durbin. I remember thinking way back when that Aaron had a political future. I hope he can stick to his guns and follow his own path and not let the GOP control him. Sounds like he and Sarah Palin would get along well. "

csfw wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:18 AM:

" For tatbtime: Better yet, maybe he should be the Vice Presidential candidate. He's got as much experience as Caribou Barbie has and I'm sure he can do more than read prepared speaches for him off a teleprompter. "

I like toast wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:39 AM:

" to Tabtime: except he doesn't have more experience then the two choices and he is only 27 which is 8 years too young to be president. But it sounds like he is on the right path. "

ugly angel wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:24 AM:

" I know a lot of people thoght he was a big joke when he ran for the school board, myself included...He is no joke, take a look @ his record...More power to him!!! Good Job Aaron.... "

Venture Bros. wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:21 AM:

" How disfunctional is our educational system when talented students are held back to take another semester of PE ? Im glad Schock pressed on and beat that myopic old school board woman. Schock is going to make a great congressman ! "

ugly angel wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:17 AM:

" Hey this kids headed in the "right direction" There were a lot of people who thought he was a joke when he ran for the school board, myself included. Look @ his record he is for real, and more power to him....You go Aaron..!! "

OGS wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:16 AM:

" I attended the IL Republican Convention as a guest and I saw Shrock speak. He is just another "tow the line for the party" hypocrite. And that is the neo-conservative GOP party. I would hate to see this guy get elected as his speech reflects the same old status quo that is our current problem with politics. "

The other Dave wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:15 AM:

" He has more experience than OCarter. Maybe he should be President. "

xkcd wrote on Sep 6, 2008 10:03 AM:

" 8 years from now we may have the youngest possible Presidential candidate, since one can't be younger than 35 to run. It'll be very interesting to follow Shock's progress. We may have another "fast-track" politician come out of Illinois. "

tatbtime wrote on Sep 6, 2008 9:45 AM:

" Sounds like he should be a write in candidate for President. He has more ambition and experience than the 2 choices we have running. This election is a sham. "
Add your own comments

Please read the rules before posting comments.

You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login?
(requires cookies)
  Forgot Your Password?
 
Lee Enterprises Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2008, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy