Channahon Republican to Seek Seat in Congress

A Channahon Republican announced his intentions to run for U.S. Congress over the weekend, according to a Morris Daily Herald report.

Chris Balkema, a Grundy County board member and longtime employee of Caterpillar in Joliet, will run for the new 11th Congressional District, which covers portions of Channahon, Shorewood, Oswego, Montgomery, Plainfield, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Woodridge, Darien and Naperville among other communities.

"In order to create jobs and restore economic opportunity for middle-class families, we need to start making things here in America again," Balkema told the Morris Daily Herald. "Manufacturing is what built the U.S. economy into an international leader throughout the 20th century, an edge we've seen decline sharply in recent years. I bring a unique manufacturing perspective to the national debate about the direction we must take as a country moving forward, focusing on the need to create jobs, products and opportunity here in America."

The newly drawn 11th Congressional district has no incumbent.

; , a Democrat; Republican ; and former Democratic Aurora Township Clerk Juan Thomas have also announced their bids for the seat, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.