Rock Island Today

Mark Kleine is proud to say he’s not a politician, but the Galesburg Republican is just as adamant in insisting the policies he stands behind are just what the people of the 17th Congressional District need at this moment.

“I think a lot of it goes back to my background and what I’ve done over the past 20 years,” Kleine, who is running for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Moline), said during a recent appearance on WGIL radio. “I’m not a politician, I’m a business leader, definitely a political outsider. But I do know how to work with people; I know how to get things done. Obviously, I’ve created jobs. I understand what it takes to build a successful company. All those things going into my preparation for Congress.”

Bill Fawell, a Galena Republican who hails from a family long known in DuPage County politics, is also running in the GOP primary for the congressional seat.

Kleine, president of Kleine Cos. and a partner in MAK Properties with his wife, Jeannette, has said he is running on a platform of greater job creation and reduced government spending.

“Running for Congress is a way for me to take my service, leadership and what I’ve done in my community to next level,” he said.

Kleine added he chose to run for Congress because that’s where he thinks his experiences will allow him to make the most significant changes.

“I think it boiled down to that’s what we need as a country,” he said of his decision. “The people in this district I think I can effect change for.”

As for Bustos and her supporters, Kleine hinted he thinks they may already be starting to feel the heat of his challenge.

Right around the time he formally launched his campaign, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee circulated a news release claiming Kleine once attempted “to silence congresswoman Bustos for trying to protect Illinois children from lead contaminated water."

“For Mark Kleine, it was all about money,” The Register-Mail quoted the release as saying. “Worried that the bad press might hurt the value of a Galesburg housing development he was building, Kleine tried to silence Rep. Bustos and publicly called on elected leaders to sweep the issue under the rug.”

Kleine wasted little time defending himself against the allegations.

“First of all, I find it interesting that I had just applied to be a candidate for Congress, after that comes the press release targeting me with negative stuff,” he said. “That’s what establishment candidates do. I have never been critical of (Galesburg) Mayor (John) Pritchard or what the city has done to fix the lead issue in Galesburg. I was critical of my opponent and the way she blew into Galesburg and said we had a water problem and tried to make us look like Flint, Michigan.”

Finally, Kleine added he thinks Bustos has now lost her way and is all about being seen on a national stage.

“She has name recognition,” he told WGIL. “She’s on (U.S. Rep.) Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) team. She hasn’t worked the district; she’s spent a lot of her time in D.C., fundraising nationally. These are all thing that don’t apply to the constituents or the district. To me that’s not what this job is about.”