Caulkins Won't Run for Re-Election, Potentially Setting Up Bloomington vs. Decatur Showdown
Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) won’t seek re-election next year.
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Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur), a founding member of the so-called “Eastern Bloc” of conservative members which morphed into the more formal “Freedom Caucus” told The Illinoize Tuesday he will not seek re-election in 2024.
Caulkins, 76, was elected in 2018 and was drawn into a district with another House Republican in 2021, leading to a decision to run in a new district forcing him to choose to move or give up his seat in the House.
(Disclosure: I worked against Caulkins in the 2018 GOP primary.)
Caulkins is a retired nursing home executive who says he’s holding to a pledge he made to serve no more than three terms when he was first elected. He also declined a pension, state employee health care coverage, and donated his after-tax legislative pay to a charity.
Caulkins said he has received “several serious offers” to move into the new district, but chose not to relocate from his home on Decatur’s south side.
He said aligning himself with the hard right conservatives in the legislature caused riffs, both with Democrats and sometimes with fellow Republicans.
“When you’re in the super minority, [we were] sometimes at odds within our own caucus, but we were drawn together by a common ideology and beliefs and principles,” he said.
But Caulkins played down rumored rifts betweeen moderate Republicans and more staunch conservatives in Springfield.
“There aren’t enough of us to be divided,” he laughed of the GOP’s super minority status and smallest number in the House since the cutback amendment took effect in 1982.
Caulkins is plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the state’s recently enacted assault weapons ban, which is scheduled before the Illinois Supreme Court next month. He also says he’s hoping to pass reforms to the state’s embattled Department of Children and Family Services before he leaves the General Assembly.
The pending opening could create a battle between Decatur and Bloomington-Normal area interests, including a popular former lawmaker. Former Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington, who lives in the new district, says he is still considering his options, which include seeking the House seat or the hotly watched 17th Congressional District race. Brady didn’t seek re-election to the House last year, losing the race for Secretary of State to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.
McLean County Board member and former McLean GOP Chairman Chuck Erickson is said to be considering a campaign, though he told The Illinoize last night he has not made a decision. Former congressional candidate Regan Deering of Decatur is also said to be interested. She did not return a message from The Illinoize Tuesday.
One potential candidate, Decatur City Councilwoman Lisa Gregory, said Tuesday night she will not seek the seat.
The new 88th wraps around the north and west side of Decatur and northern Macon County and includes Piatt County, a portion of DeWitt County, and much of eastern McLean County, including the southern and eastern edges of the city.
McLean County made up about 50% of the primary vote last year while Macon County accounted for about 30% of the vote.