ALTON - Wood River Township Supervisor Mike Babcock announced his candidacy for state representative at Lincoln Douglas Square on Market Street in Alton Monday morning.
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Babcock will be running against State Representative Dan Beiser (D-Alton), who has been in the Illinois General Assembly for over a decade. Babcock said he has considered running for the position over the course of the last five months, but decided within the last 30 days he had to do something, citing the current state budget crisis.
"It will be difficult to run the race," he said following his announcement, "But it's time for change."
That change, Babcock said, must come from opposition to current Illinois Speaker of the House of Representatives, Michael Madigan, who has served in that capacity for more than two decades. He accused Beiser of "answering to" Madigan. Babcock accused Madigan of "holding the Illinois budget hostage."
In a release, Babcock stated, "The Dan Beiser/Mike Madigan agenda has been a failure. Their agenda has left the state bankrupt, with out-of-control property taxes, a crumbling education system and has forced nearly 1 million Illinois citizens to flee our state in the last few years seeking employment." 
Babcock promised he would champion reforms in many areas including, state pension, education, workman's compensation, property taxes and other factors keeping employers from wanting to create jobs in the State of Illinois. He also wanted to address the issue of term limits.
"We need common sense reform to make it easier on employers," Babcock said.
Those reforms, he said, would include consideration for pensioners, people who require unemployment insurance and people who deserve workman's compensation.
After serving for more than seven years as Wood River Township Supervisor, Babcock said he lowered the property tax levy, the township budget, and the tax rate. He cited the 2010 Illinois tax increase of $7 billion as a failure, saying the following budgets passed were still unbalanced.
At the announcement, Babcock was introduced by Madison County Board Member Tom McRae who served as a trustee for the Wood River Township and currently represents Bethalto to the county board.
"Mike sees problems and addresses them," McRae said. "If you have a house with termites, it doesn't do anything to paint the walls. Mike will come in and re-construct the house."
Babcock also encouraged Beiser to debate him at the square, saying he finds a debate to be a great idea.
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