A Murphysboro woman is running for the 115th District State House seat.
Terri Bryant currently manages the dietary department at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center. The wife and mother of two says she knows how to make payroll and balance a budget after managing a nearly $3.5 million budget with the Department of Corrections and as the original owner of the Bluebell Restaurant in Murphysboro. Bryant says she decided to run for State Representative after seeing first hand the mismanagement of resources by state agencies and the lack of leadership in Springfield that lead to closures of prisons and mental health facilities in the district. Bryant announced her candidacy Tuesday with stops in Anna, Murphysboro and Mt. Vernon.
Bryant says solving the state's budget crisis is the General Assembly's top priority. She says budget solutions start with pension reform.
Bryant says she like the pension reform plan proposed by the Illinois Policy Institute, which would give state workers, state university and community college workers and teachers a pension for their current service time, but then convert them into a defined contribution program from now on. Bryant ran unsuccessfully for Jackson County Board in 2010.
Bryant will face a GOP primary challenge from Jefferson County Board Chairman Bob White. White announced his candidacy last week. The Mt. Vernon resident says he has worked closely on issues with current State Representative Mike Bost since redistricting placed Jefferson County in the 115th district.
White says he felt the need to seek the nomination once Bost announced he would run for the 12th District Congressional seat. White says he thinks it's important to keep the 115th district seat in Republican hands since the conservative fiscal and social ideals of the district align more with the GOP. White owns an insurance agency in Mt. Vernon and was elected to the Jefferson County Board in 2008 and became chairman in 2010.
Murphysboro Republican Mike Bost has held the 115th District seat since 1995. He is seeking the Republican nomination to the 12th District Congressional seat.
