Exit Interview: Sen. Win Stoller "Building Relationships" Key to Getting Things Done
Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria), who did not seek re-election in November, is reflecting on his time in the legislature.
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Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria) won his Peoria-area seat in 2020, but was appointed to the seat a few days early, during the 2021 lame duck session.
He got a crash course in legislating.
“It was right when we did the SAFE-T Act,” Stoller said, referring to the controversial measure eliminating cash bail in the state. “My third day, we went overnight and finished up at 6 a.m. and passed the bill. So it was like, welcome to the Senate.”
Now, as Stoller prepares to leave the chamber after four years, he’s looking back on his tenure.
He earned early praise on both sides of the aisle for his work passing a state and local tax deduction (SALT) bill in his first term, that he estimates saved taxpayers $2 billion after the federal tax bill passed in 2017.
But much of his time in the Senate was an uphill battle.
“I had kind of baked in a lot of that into my expectations,” Stoller said. In the super minority as a Republican, you’re not going to be able to pass anything without Democrat support. I felt like I did a good job representing my district and my conservative values in Springfield, [while] at the same time, building relationships across the aisle, which helped me get things done in the district.”
Stoller is stepping aside to spend more time on his office furniture company and has been open about how Democrats redistricted him into a district that stretched from the Peoria area to Dixon, stretching 80 miles north to south and 65 miles west to east.
“The district is certainly a challenge. There's just a lot of drive time,” Stoller said. “I actually looked at a map and did some analysis, and my district is larger than the state of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. So, you know, it's a big area. S lot of my connectivity is at the southern end of that district. And so it's a challenge to be present enough to feel like I'm up there getting to know people and being connected as much as I should.”
Stoller says he hopes Republicans can begin making gains in Illinois to prevent “one party rule” in the state.
“Whether it's currently Republicans nationally or if it's Democrats in Illinois that have control, nobody has a monopoly on the truth,” Stoller said. “When you get into a situation like a supermajority, you discount the other side. You discount opposing viewpoints because you can you have the votes, you can pass whatever you want. I'm not so arrogant to think that every position I have is the 100% correct, but also I would say that that's true for the other side of the aisle. Not every position they have, even though they think they're right. Some of the bills would be a little bit better with opposing viewpoint [worked] in to change or just the trajectory just a little bit. That's why two party government is so effective. I know we get we get frustrated with the debates and stalemate kind of stuff in Washington, but the alternative is worse. The alternative is having one party that goes unchecked. And with that, if I may be so bold, there comes with that the risk of some arrogance.”
Stoller says he sees the tide turning in Illinois.
“In this last election, we saw the state move to the right fairly significantly. That trend, I think, there's a good chance that you're going to see that continue,” he said. We have districts that are very, very blue or very, very red. It leaves very, very few competitive districts. Even with that headwind, I think people in Illinois are going to get frustrated with one one party rule. They understand the the spending and the budgetary mistakes that are happening in our state and some of the more extreme progressive positions on some of the social issues, I don’t think they resonate with those people in the middle. And so I think you're going to continue to see our state move to the right now, long term. that might help pick up some seats.”
We asked if he had advice for those joining the General Assembly, including his successor, former Dixon Mayor Li Arellano.
“A lot of sunshine gets sent your way from people opening doors, calling you ‘Senator,’ doing all these things for you or getting their picture taken with you. That can be kind of a drug that is addictive if you're not careful, not prepared for it,” he said. “That's why I think you see some politicians over the years, even in our state, get into a little trouble thinking it's more about them and them continuing in this career than it is to say ‘actually, I'm not a career politician. I'm a public servant. I'm an elected official that is here to serve for a period of time.’ I think that's kind of the the key to remember.”