The state legislative district representing much of Springfield and Chatham is destined to have an Italian flavor.
The race for the 95th District House seat pits GOP incumbent Mike Coffey, a Springfield restaurateur against Democrat Kristen Chiaro, a Chatham village trustee and retired state worker.
Coffey, 54, emphasizes the business acumen he brings to the office. He owns Papa Frank’s, a restaurant at 4111 Wabash Ave., and manages a second eatery owned by his parents, Saputo’s Twins Corner, 801 E. Monroe St.
“What separates me from my opponent is that I’m a business person. This is the first time the taxpayers have ever paid me to do anything. I’m a job creator. I know what it’s like to run a business. I know what it’s like to have a payroll,” Coffey said. “I know the biggest concern out there is inflation and the cost of business. … When people are talking to me and say, ‘Hey, inflation is killing me,’ I understand, because it’s killing me. I’ve got a business where I’m buying groceries every single day. With me, you get somebody that really wants the job, but doesn’t need the job, which gives me complete freedom.”
Coffey was appointed to the post nearly two years ago after then-Rep. Tim Butler resigned to take a job with the Illinois Railroad Association.
He has also served on the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority (SMEAA) board, which governs the BOS Center, since 1997 and served as the chair since 2005.
Chiaro, 52, was laid off from the Illinois Department of Transportation in 2017. She contended in a lawsuit that she was fired for not supporting then-Gov. Bruce Rauner.
She said her political experience separates her from her opponent.
“I have held (elected) office for five years in my district, and I have been talking to the people in Chatham and understanding them and the environment we live in,” Chiaro said. She noted that much of the 95th District has demographics similar to Chatham and said she’s knocked on 20,000 doors since beginning her campaign in April.
Chiaro, who supports abortion rights, believes that women’s reproductive freedom is the top issue facing the state. Coffey said abortion should be illegal except in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
“I feel like we’re going to go back to those days where the health care isn’t there,” Chiaro said. “Reproduction is complicated, and it’s not easy, and it doesn’t always produce a happy, healthy baby. So we have to have protections in place to protect reproductive rights in general. And then when it comes to choosing, I feel like that is a highly personal situation that government shouldn’t get involved in. … I’m not going to sit there and tell some 12-year-old that she has to have a child.”
Both Coffey and Chiaro support legal protections for in vitro fertilization.
“I was supportive of the IVF bill because I consider that to be a bill that tries to create life,” Coffey said. “It was tough, because as a pro-life Republican a lot of people on my side were against that. But I listened to my daughter on that. We just had our first grandchild, Henry. He’s the best thing going on in our lives right now. I can tell you I would have spent every dollar I had so that my daughter could have a child. She didn’t have IVF, but we didn’t know whether or not she was going to (have to) have it.”
While the candidates agree on IVF protections, gun control is an issue that separates them.
Chiaro said she opposes military-style sporting rifles being available to the public.
“You don’t need that to go shoot a deer,” she said. “But let’s talk about the Second Amendment and when it was developed. The United States in total was the size of Chicago, and it was mostly farmland. We were primarily agricultural and people were really defending themselves when it was drawn up. We were talking about being able to pick up arms against our own government if we needed to. And are we going to do that now?
“We can look at the Second Amendment in a different light now that we are 344 million (people.) I’m pro-Constitution, and I believe in everybody’s rights to keep and bear arms. But there’s got to be a way to adjust these laws and to accommodate for the society that we have become.”
Coffey was succinct on the issue. “I’m not for gun control. I think we’ve got enough gun laws as it is.”
But he was more expansive on taxes.
“I think we’re headed down the wrong road in many cases, and taxing is one of them. So, we’re going to have to reduce the tax burden,” he said. “The (Chicago) mayor seems to think that the state of Illinois needs to be helping Chicago schools. … Chicago’s in trouble. They better get it straightened out. … If they think they’re going to come down here and the legislature is going to roll over and give them money because of their mismanagement in Chicago, that’s not going to happen.”
Chiaro noted both she and her opponent are proud of their families’ Italian heritage.
“My father in-law was president of the Roman Cultural Society. And then there’s the Italian American Society. The families are very tied together,” she said.
“I fully support his businesses and his right to do business, I just believe I can do a better job.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information about Mike Coffey’s elected position on the SMEAA board of directors.
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