A former Springfield resident and United Auto Workers national organizing director is circulating petitions to challenge an Illinois Congressman in the November 2020 election. Mark Haasis of Peoria is currently circulating petitions to run as a Democrat for the 18th District Representative seat in the U.S. House, according to reports from the Peoria Journal-Star and State Journal Register.
Haasis moved to Peoria in 1978 when he began working for Caterpillar after college. Haasis began his work with UAW in 1998 and retired last year. For three of his years with the UAW, from 2007 to 2010, he was the coordinator of the union’s political program in Illinois.
Haasis will challenge Republican incumbent Darin LaHood. LaHood first won the seat in a 2015 special election to replace the disgraced Aaron Schock, and will be seeking his third full two-year term in the 2020 election. LaHood reportedly has nearly $2 million in his coffers for re-election next year.
Haasis is expected to make a formal announcement of his run in a matter of weeks.