Niemerg Challenger Acklin Weighs in on "Unusual" Campaign
Chrisman Superintendent Jim Acklin, who is also the Interim Mayor of Ogden in Champaign County, was recruited by the Illinois Education Association to challenge Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) in an unusual campaign where both men will seek the nomination as write in candidates.
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The union-backed opponent of Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) is speaking about his last minute, unexpected campaign as the two men prepare for a mostly unprecedented write-in campaign.
Jim Acklin, the longtime superintendent at St. Joseph-Ogden schools in Champaign County, who is finishing his final school year as superintendent schools in Chrisman in Edgar County, confirmed he was recruited to run for the 102nd District by the Illinois Education Association after Niemerg was removed from the ballot last month.
That is likely to come with hundreds of thousands in union-led campaign donations.
Just this week, Acklin reported almost $100,000 in contributions from the IEA, Illinois Federation of Teachers, and the Laborers’ International Union. We’re told there’s significantly more to come.
But Acklin said he isn’t beholden to his union benefactors.
“I’m pretty conservative. I’m pro-life, I’m pro-second amendment, I’m all for holding the line on taxes and being fiscally responsible,” he said. “And they said ‘we’re looking for somebody that’s friendly toward K-12 public education.’ I would fit that category.”
Acklin also serves as the interim Mayor of Ogden, his small Champaign County hometown. He previously lost a tight race to Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) in 2016.
(Disclosure: I worked on Acklin’s race in 2016 and consider him a friend. I have no role in his current campaign.)
If elected, Acklin says he would model himself after longtime Rep. Roger Eddy. Eddy was a superintendent in southeastern Illinois while serving in the House from 2003-2012.
“If I can carve out the same niche that [former Rep.] Roger Eddy carved out for himself in the state legislature, then maybe I could be that voice of reason when it comes to K-12 education policy,” he said. “Right now, there’s nobody in the legislature with [that kind] of experience.”
One major issue where Acklin breaks from Republicans and sides with the teachers’ unions is on the Invest in Kids scholarship program, which provides tax breaks for donors to provide scholarships for low income children to attend a private school.
Acklin says he doesn’t believe it’s an impactful program downstate.
“This is what makes me a different animal,” he said. “I strongly believe in public education. Up there (in Chicago), maybe it has merit. Maybe it has a place for schools that are systematically broken. But for Edgar County and much of Champaign County, I would have a hard time getting behind that.”
All 40 House Republicans, including Niemerg, are on the record supporting extension of the program, which expired at the end of 2023 due, in large part, to teachers union opposition.
“Disavowing the scholarship program that has helped thousands of kids escape failing schools is one of many strings attached to the teachers' unions support,” Niemerg said Thursday night. “What other 102nd District values did Acklin have to give up to get his 30 pieces of silver? I would say Jim Acklin has betrayed Republican party principles to get in bed with the woke teachers' unions but that implies Jim Acklin had any principles to begin with.”
We also asked Acklin how he failed to register as a write-in in all 11 counties in the district. He said the person who was filing his paperwork thought the Jasper County Clerk closed at 4:30pm, but actually closed at 4:00pm.
Niemerg also failed to file his paperwork in Douglas County, though it shares a far smaller portion of the vote.
We’re told a “media blitz” for Acklin will commence in the coming days with mail, digital, and radio spending to boost Acklin’s name ID. IEA is working with longtime GOP ad maker Glenn Hodas on the race.