State Rep.-elect Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) takes to Springfield with the same agenda that fueled his run for the General Assembly.
“My top priorities remain the same, even though I wish we could have a few more members on our side to make all these things happen,” Ugaste told the Kane County Reporter. “But nothing changes my focus on our need to rein in spending, balance the budget, address all our pension costs and start to attract new businesses back to the state in the way that they are needed.”
While Ugaste bested his Democrat opponent, Richard Johnson, in his run for state representative in the 65th District with 52 percent of the vote earlier this month in the general election, Republicans as a whole fared much worse, with Democrats ending the night owning a super majority in the General Assembly.
State Rep. elect Dan Ugaste
Ugaste said that makes what he calls the job of all Republicans in Springfield—getting the state’s long-troubled finances back in order—that much more difficult.
“Not having people who initially think the same way you do may prove to make things a bit harder,” he said. “If nothing else, it will be more time consuming, because you have to spend additional time convincing some them why your way is the best way for everyone as a whole.”
When you cut through all the rhetoric, Ugaste said, he wonders if the two political sides are as estranged as it may sometimes seem.
“Everyone realizes we have issues, which makes me more optimistic that we might be able to come to some common ground,” he said. “We may have different ways of addressing certain issues, but we all realize change is needed. You can hear that same refrain from just about anyone you talk to.”
The 65th House District includes Batavia, Burlington, Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Grafton, Hampshire, Plato, Rutland and St. Charles.
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