The battle of a Republican legislator to turn growth and jobs into votes
The battle of a Republican legislator to turn growth and jobs into votes
GRANITE CITY, Ill. - Donald Trump's economic agenda will be in the spotlight when he visits southern Illinois on Saturday to campaign with the local US Republican representative. UU Mike Bost.
plant has reopened here, and the economy is picking up, pushing lower unemployment. But the scars of the last recession are palpable, and both sides argue that they have the best vision to keep prosperity.
President Trump took this traditionally Democratic district in 2016 by a margin of 15 percentage points, the same margin enjoyed by Mr. Bost in his last re-election. Today, it is qualified as competitive by Cook Political Report.
Bost's fight for re-election shows how the Republicans, with the days to come, are still struggling to translate a strong economy into victories at the polls.
Mike Bost, representative of the United States for the 12th district of Illinois, attending an event at City Hall in Belleville, Illinois.
Photo:
Whitney Curtis for The Wall Street Journal
Republicans say that straightened the economy with tax cuts and Mr. Trump is tough business agenda. Democrats respond that policies favor the rich Y they are not sustainable.
In battle districts such as the 12th district of the Illinois Congress, the economic pain was acute in recent years. A Wall Street Journal analysis of census data shows that average household income increased by 8.3% between 2012 and 2017 in the 72 battle districts of Cook, adjusted for inflation, with a delay in income growth of the 9.7% in the districts considered non-competitive by Cook.
The average income in Mr. Bost's district increased 6.1% during the five years ending in 2017 to around $ 49,000 annually. Unemployment there reached a peak of 11.9% in January 2010 and fell to 5% in the most recent month, still above the national average.
Mr. Trump will visit Murphysboro, which is in the 12th district, on Saturday to help Mr. Bost, co-chairman of the Congress caucus, reject a challenge from Democrat Brendan Kelly, an attorney for the state of St. Clair
The race has been too close to claim much of the campaign, although Mr. Bost is showing signs of moving forward. A survey conducted by the New York Times / Siena College shows him leading Mr. Kelly by 9 points; Previous surveys had their leadership within their margins of error.
Mr. Bost emphasizes the work in the electoral campaign, particularly the 800 that the steel plant is adding this year.
Workers leaving Granite City Works of the United States Steel at the end of their shifts on Wednesday in Granite City, Illinois.
Photo:
Whitney Curtis for The Wall Street Journal
"You put so many people back at work, that's a great thing," he said.
Mr. Kelly says that wages are not up to par.
People "live on the edge of the razor because their salaries are not up to the cost of living," said Mr. Kelly.
American steel for the most part left its plant inactive here in 2015, cutting around 2,000 jobs. According to the local chamber of commerce, another 26 businesses in the area closed that year.
"It stung for them, it stunned me," said Mr. Bost, a former representative of the State House of Representatives and former Marine, about job losses.
At a meeting in February 2018 at the White House, Mr. Bost told Mr. Trump that the security of the United States was threatened by reliance on imported steel. By then, U.S. Steel had begun to increase production in Granite City. After Mr. Trump announced Tariffs of 25% on imported steel., the company said it would restart two blast furnaces to meet projected demand. Mr. Trump visited the plant with Mr. Bost in July to celebrate before cheering steel workers.
Other manufacturers are investing in new or expanded facilities here. When Brenda Whitaker opened a restaurant in the center of the city a few weeks ago, the demand exceeded her expectations and she ran out of food the first weekend.
Brendan Kelly, Democratic Congressional candidate for the 12th District of Illinois, out of his campaign office on Thursday.
Photo:
Whitney Curtis for The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Bost's economic message resonated with Todd Manion, 53, a Granite City sales manager who voted for Mr. Trump. Manion said the area lost its democratic bent because "we started losing jobs and we all started to feel that the political leaders, who were the Democrats, were not doing anything for them." Plan to vote for the re-election of Mr. Bost.
Greg Whitehead, 33, of Belleville, was hired at the steel mill last week as a union iron maker earning just over $ 22 per hour. A strong supporter of Trump, initially hesitated to support Mr. Bost. In recent days, he went to his congressman as the best way to protect his work. "Any other candidate would hinder the movement of the president that I voted for," he said.
But the economic launch has not clicked with everyone.
Prosperity and surveys
Change in the average household income, 2012-2017, adjusted for inflation.
- In 72 competitive house districts *: 8.3%
- In 365 non-competitive districts: 9.7%
- In the 12th district of Illinois: 6.1%
* According to Cook's political report as of October 23.
United Steelworkers, which represents the plant's employees, supports Mr. Kelly, said Tom Ryan, chairman of the local complaints committee of 1899. He said Mr. Kelly's policies would better protect the middle class.
At a recent parade, Mr. Bost said a Kelly supporter complained that he was working in three jobs and earning less than $ 20,000 a year. He suggested that he show up at a tire plant on the street.
"I told him, 'I guarantee you that if you go to work there, it would be a single job and you would be earning more than you are earning now,'" Mr. Bost recalled. She also said that the tax law of the Republican Party would help her. "She did not believe me."
In the agricultural parts of his district, Mr. Bost faces complaints from soybean and pork producers struggling with the retaliatory rates of United States business partners.
Kelly, a former naval officer, said that nowhere in southern Illinois can a full-time minimum wage worker pay a two-room rent. In addition to the rising costs of recipes, gas and education, voters have also complained about it because of the rising price of beer.
Lorie Allen was cleaning a table while customers had lunch Thursday at Downtown Diner, a new restaurant owned by Brenda Whitaker that opened a few blocks away from Granite City Works of the United States Steel.
Photo:
Whitney Curtis for The Wall Street Journal
He is campaigning to raise the minimum wage and crack down on drug makers.
Andrew Carnahan, a 27-year old scrap metal packer at the US steel plant, said he has not decided whether to vote for Mr. Bost or Mr. Kelly. He said the city struggled for years before the jobs returned, and he did not see Mr. Bost helping much.
"People were bleeding," he said.
"Steel tariffs were absolutely a big deal," said Mr. Carnahan, who was briefly fired after the 2015 slowdown.
He gives Mr. Bost some credit for recovering jobs in the steel sector, "but he does not get my absolute vote," he said.
Write to Janet Adamy in janet.adamy@wsj.com
.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
fbq('init', '369524843414444');
fbq('track', 'PageView');
.
SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario