Illinois US Senate Race Gets 6th Republican Candidate

By Benjamin Cox on August 13, 2019 at 9:12am

The Illinois U.S. Senate race on the Republican ticket got even bigger yesterday. A sixth member of the party officially announced he would be running against the 5 other challengers to oppose incumbent Illinois Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin in 2020.

Dr. Tom Tarter, a urologic oncologist for Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois, officially announced his bid on Monday. Tarter says high quality affordable health care, legal merit-based immigration reform, an advocate for strong military and cybersecurity as well as be a protector of Second Amendment rights are all pillars to his campaign, according to a press release.

Tarter is a native of Portland, Oregon but has lived in Springfield for the last 17 years. His wife Julie is a precinct committee person for the Sangamon County Republican Party. Tarter joins an already crowded field of declared candidates on the Republican ticket with former Lake County, Illinois sheriff Mark Curran, Berwyn radiologist Dr. Robert Marshall, former police officer and U.S Navy veteran Peggy Hubbard, Sugar Grove, Illinois former food retailer Dean Sepplefrick, and Chicago dermatologist Omeed Memar. No Democrats have declared to run against Durbin during the March primaries next year.