Desi Anderson, the Republican candidate for the Illinois State Senate in the 46th District hosted Duck Dynasty’s Jep Robertson on Sunday at the Hessed House Venue owned by her and her husband as part of an Outdoor Family Fun Day.
Activities for youngsters included face painting and outdoor games such as Tee ball. Older guests enjoyed fishing and golf. And all ages enjoyed good food which was provided by food trucks.
Also in attendance were a number of local politicians. Among those in the audience were: Dan Caulkins, Illinois State Representative for the 101st District; Matt Lane, unopposed candidate for county sheriff, county board member Chuck Erickson and county board candidate Ross Webb.
Anderson has spent time serving with the United Nations and in places including Uganda, Sudan, Geneva and Guatemala. She has served as a US Congressional intern in Washington DC.
Desi believes in; access to quality childcare for every family, a low cost of living, low taxes, safe communities for children to grow up in, empowering law enforcement to tackle violent crime, giving parents a voice in education and reducing public corruption.
Jep Robertson is the youngest son of Phil and Kay. Jep is married to Jessica and together they have five children: Lily, Merritt, Priscilla, River, and Jules. After Duck Dynasty, Jep had his own show, a spinoff called Growing the Dynasty, which followed the TV personality and his wife, Jessica, raising their children.
The series also showed the couple with their pot pie themed food truck. In January 2018, the Robertsons opened a new food truck called Jep’s Southern Roots in Dripping Springs, Texas. The family later moved to Austin and launched a YouTube channel to support their business.
Jep has been open about his battle with addiction. He and Jessica have published his memoir, The Good, The Bad, and the Grace of God: What Honesty and Pain Taught Us About Faith, Family and Forgiveness.
Desi and Jep are aquainted. They have gotten to know each other working on adoption issues.
Caulkins said this about Desi, “I came out to support her and this event. She’s got a great campaign and an opportunity to flip what has been a Dem seat. We want to be out here and enthuse people and let them know that this is a race we need to be paying attention to.”
Lane bought up the SAFE-T act saying, “At the state level we are looking at this reform bill. It could be a very bad thing. It could be disastrous. And I am here to tell you, Desi is the type of person that will go in there and try to get change for the better.”
Webb describe Desi as “a hard worker and dynamic personality” saying “the number of people at this event shows she is creating a movement in Illinois 46.”
Following the afternoon activities a $250 a plate dinner fund raiser was held in the evening.
Anderson’s opponent is incumbent Democrat David Koehler. Koehler was appointed to the Senate in December 2006 to fill the term of retired Senator George Shadid. Koehler serves on the following committees; Agriculture Committee (Vice President) Appropriation Committee, Education Committee, Energy and Public Utilities Committee, Health Committee and Labor Committee.
Earlier this month Koehler wrote on Facebook about working alongside legislators from across the country at the National Conference of State Legislatures. He is co-chair of the Energy Supply Task Force for that group. Koehler has been involved with other task force members attempting to make make clean and sustainable energy more accessible for everyone.
Koehler wrote, “I especially enjoyed speaking with representatives from Harley-Davidson, and getting to check out their first-ever electric motorcycle: the LiveWire. They were very interested to hear more about the electric motorcycle rebate we offer in Illinois.”
Koehler will be in Bloomington on September 2nd for a First Friday Meet and Greet at the Democrat Headquarters on Main Street downtown.
