Lake County Gazette

Benjamin Salzberg, the Republican candidate for the District 29 state Senate seat, said he believes Illinois is better than the negative ads and attacks that have been circulating throughout mass media this election season.

This comes in response to the recent release video released by James O’Keefe and his Project Veritas, which allegedly exposed aggressive tactics by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign against Donald Trump supporters.

While Salzberg has not fully scrutinized the video, he noted that all of the negativity is not conducive to change in Illinois.

Benjamin Salzberg | Contributed photo

“We are losing our ability to make positive change,” Salzberg told the Lake County Gazette. “Instead of looking at what we can do to change the state and the nation, we are looking to attack and cause people to vote a certain way to win an election.”

Salzberg said this election cycle should be about restoring people’s trust in the government; giving them reason to believe again.

“It’s about bringing back faith to the government and the system,” Salzberg said. “It’s not about tearing each other apart. It’s about communicating with each other. Once you’re in the Senate or the House or even the leader of your party, we have to all work together.”

The negativity, Salzberg said, will not dissipate after the election, but will infect the culture of Springfield.

“It doesn’t look good when you continuously put out ads or have negative communication with each other,” Salzberg said. “I don’t care what side you’re on, you’re bringing that type of culture back into that environment and into the government. When you bring that type of culture into the government, how are you supposed to be creative and make new laws or promote healthy culture? How are you supposed to do that and work with both sides?”

Without a healthy productive culture, there won’t be progress, Salzberg said.

“Those ads are hurting our ability to create a healthy environment where we can make positive changes to all the communities in the state,” Salzberg said. “That is very unfortunate, that we continuously attack in a way where it pulls everyone apart. That is not really what everyone is supposed to be doing. We are supposed to be getting on the same page to create change.”

Salzberg, with a background as a Lean Six Sigma business consultant who holds an engineering and education degree, said he can unite both parties. It has been his focus in this election: to create change.

“We should be voting on true change and true bipartisanship, where we can all work together,” Salzberg said. “These ads only tear people apart, and ultimately, when people get elected, will only cause negative effects on the government. It carries on.”

With two weeks left in the race, Salzberg has been working relentlessly to spread his message of positive change. He has been communicating with voters about his goals, focusing on rejuvenating Illinois. Tied to that effort, he recently attended a League of Women Voters forum where he discussed his plans for changing the state.

“I believe they were very open to understanding what I was saying and what needs to be done,” Salzberg said. “The response was very positive. They want someone who understands problems and who can solve our problems in the state.”

Voters are worried about the lack of progress in Illinois, Salzberg said.

“People came up to me and were happy to see someone else run because they know that their current legislators like (state Sen.) Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) are not fulfilling the responsibilities that she has,” Salzberg said.

Overall, Salzberg said the forum was successful and a great experience.

 “I think it went fairly well,” Salzberg said. “I think that I agitated both the House and the Senate.”