6-Jun-22 – Undeterred by two previous losses to Mike Quigley, and one loss to Rahm Emanuel, a River North resident is on the ballot again in the race to represent the 5th congressional district of Illinois.

Tom Hanson, a commercial real estate broker and owner of a condominium unit on East Erie Street, must first win the Republican Primary Election on June 28 to run in the November 8 general election. Early voting for the primary started on May 19.

The 5th congressional district covers parts of Chicago, including the Gold Coast neighborhood north of Goethe Street. However, redistricting proposed last October by the Illinois General Assembly could push the southern tip of the district as far south as Grand Avenue in River North, from the east side of State Street to the west side of Michigan Avenue.

Quigley has represented the district since a special election in 2009 to replace Emanuel, who resigned to become White House Chief of Staff.

Hanson says high prices are the biggest problem for downtown residents. “As I speak with voters, they are tired of hearing a repeat of last year’s news,” says Hanson. “They want to know why gas prices are so high and everything is getting so expensive. They are exhausted from the ‘crazy’ going on in the world around them.” (Left) Hanson at a gas station, from a video he posted on YouTube on Sunday.

Hanson says gas prices can be resolved by restoring oil and gas leases recently cancelled by the Biden administration. One lease would have allowed drilling for oil in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Two other leases were being considered for the Gulf of Mexico.

He also says the Keystone XL Pipeline, sidelined when Biden denied the pipeline a key permit on his first day of office, should be reopened.

“Gasoline affects the supply chain price, which ends up in everything we do because of transportation costs. Let’s put this in perspective. We terminate oil and gas production because of the effects on the environment. However, we purchase our oil and gas from countries like Venezuela, who pollute the environment and have nowhere near the clean energy efficiency as the United States.”

In 2018, Hanson received 65,134 votes, representing 23.3 percent of votes cast, losing to Quigley (right), who received 213,992 votes.

Hanson says he spent about $200 on his 2018 campaign, estimating his cost per vote at less than one cent. Quigley, according to the Federal Election Commission, spent $1.2 million – or about $5.69 per vote.

Hanson spent about $250 on his 2020 campaign, he says, and received 96,200 votes, representing 26.6 percent of votes cast. Quigley received 255,661 votes, or 70.8 percent of the vote.