The newly redrawn 105th District was mostly represented by State Representative Dan Brady last year. Brady is running for Secretary of State this year and not seeking reelection to the House seat he has held for 11 years leaving the field wide open for four Republicans to run for the party nomination.
Kyle Ham, former CEO of the Bloomington Normal Economic Development Association is running against: Dennis Tipsword, a Woodford County Sheriff’s Deputy; Mike Kirkton, a Livingston County Board Member and Donald Ray Rients, President of the Bureau County Fire and Protection District.
Ham hosted a fundraiser at Rob Dobb’s Restaurant and Bar in Bloomington featuring U.S. Representative Darin LaHood as guest speaker. Also in attendance was Normal mayor Chris Koos.
Ham emphasized his work helping bring Rivian to Normal saying, “I was fortunate to serve as chair of the group that brought Rivian to this community … I was proud to bring Republicans and Democrats alike to bring Rivian here. …And I think that’s what I can bring to the community to this district.”
States Attorney and Circuit Judge candidate, Don Knapp, is not making any endorsements in the 105th race but echoed Ham’s remarks regarding Rivian saying, “Kyle and I worked awful hard to bring Rivian to town in a number of different aspects and so we have a number of the same supporters and Congressman LaHood is one of those supporters and we are both proud to call Congressman LaHood a supporter.
Congressman LaHood made it clear during his remarks that he supports Ham stating, “I’m supporting him whole-heartedly.”
Also endorsing Ham is McLean County Board Member Chuck Erickson. “The reason I am supporting Kyle is because I worked with him on the County Board to help bring businesses to McLean County. I believe he represents the conservative values and is a very articulate spokesperson for them,” Erickson said.
Knapp also expressed his opinion regarding all the Republican candidates running for the seat. “The people in the 105th district have an incredibly tough choice. There are four good candidates, four good people that I have met along the campaign trail …I am not endorsing anybody in the 105th but I am glad to talk to all of them, attend any of their events and learn more about them. … I wish them all well.
According to IL Campaign Cash,, a web site provided by the Illinois Center for Politics Ham currently has $46,000 on hand. Tipsford has $25,000 and Kirkton has $18,000 while Rients has $1,000.
Cities 92.9 reached out to Tipsword and asked him what he thought about Ham and his emphasis on Rivian. Tipsword responded, “Rivian was a great catch but this area is made up of small businesses. We have to figure out how we can nurture small businesses so that they can invest in their communities and hire more workers. We have to remove regulations. As a small business owner I am responsible not only for my family but also my workers families. Mr. Hams focus on big businesses misses the mark when it comes to small businesses.”
Cities 92.9 also asked Tipsword what his campaign was focused on. He stated, “Criminal Justice is something that is near and dear to me. I have seen the SAFE-T Act’s negative impacts on policies and the SAFE-T Act has made us less safe. People have walked away from police jobs. No matter if you are the state’s biggest department or the smallest the number one problem is having qualified police officers.”
