46th District State Senate Candidates: Life Experience
By: WMBD/WYZZ-TV
Updated: November 1, 2012
In the race for the 46th district state senate seat, Republican Pat Sullivan is facing Democratic incumbent Dave Koehler. Our question: What life experience do you have that makes you best suited to represent the voters in your district?
Pat Sullivan: That can cover a lot of territory. I'm 61 years old and I've never run for office before. My biggest asset I believe is working on both sides of the aisle and getting people to work together to get things done. They want it fixed, and I want it fixed. We have to get everybody -- quit drawing lines in the sand. Let's get everybody together and get this thing fixed.
People aren't afraid to work. What they're afraid of is not working and it's hurting. I'm getting that off the front porches daily. So my business experience and my working on commission is dealt with cities, counties and states; I think my background of working hard will help this area and the constituents of this area.
Dave Koehler: Well number one, I'm not a career politician. I started out when I came to Peoria, I worked for Peoria Friendship House and I served on the county board. So I served on the Peoria County Board for six years. I then became the first Executive Director of the Peoria Area Labor Management Counsel, which is my full-time job. During that time, I was pastor of a small church out in Star County, the Star County Original Church. I served for eight years on the City Council. So I think with my experience and in terms of my location, my work life and my political life in terms of service to the Peoria County Board and the City Council, that's really given me a good background to understand what community is about.
