Two military veterans are vying to represent Illinois House District 71, which stretches from parts of Rock Island County through west central Illinois to McDonough County.
Republican State Rep. Dan Swanson of Alpha is seeking a sixth term. He faces Democrat Kermit Thomas.
Both served 27 years in the U.S. Army.
TSPR asked the candidates about data centers, property taxes, and the biggest challenges facing the district.
Dan Swanson (Incumbent)
Age as of Nov. 3, 2026: 67
Occupation/work history: Illinois State Representative
Served over 27 years in the Army and Illinois Army National Guard to include a tour in Iraq as a US Army retiree recall.
Farm in the Alpha and Andover Area
Assisted veterans as Superintendent, Henry County Veterans Assistance Commission
Community involvement: Volunteer at Camp Summit serving youth at Youth Hope as they spend time at Youth Hope. Volunteer at Loving Bottoms with product distribution. Read children's books at local schools. Attend and support countless numbers of Community Ribbon Cuttings, benefit auctions with donations.
Kermit Thomas
Age as of Nov. 3, 2026: 58
Occupation/work history: Retired Army Veteran 27 Years of Service
Community involvement: Preacher; Educator and Youth Advocate, 1st Vice NAACP
Why are you running and why should you be elected?
Swanson: I am running to continue my work in creating a pro-growth environment where families can afford to stay together in Western Illinois. I’m proud to support business development while helping nonprofits and community organizations care for our families and most vulnerable. My priorities align with this district - lowering costs, growing opportunity, and preserving our way of life.
I listen to our residents, work across party lines, and focus on results rather than political theater.
Thomas: My name is Kermit Thomas, and I am a lifelong public servant, veteran, and preacher from Moline, Illinois. I have proudly served our country in the military, served our community as a preacher, and served our neighbors as a public servant. Service is not what I do - it is who I am. Whether in uniform, in the pulpit, or in the community, my life has been about faith, duty, and showing up for people. I'm running to bring that same commitment, integrity, and servant leadership to Springfield for the people of Illinois.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing State House District 71, and how do you plan to address that challenge?
Swanson: One of the most pressing challenges is keeping families, young people, and businesses in Western Illinois. High property taxes and the rising cost of living make it difficult for families to stay and businesses to invest and grow. A priority should be providing meaningful property tax relief while strengthening our local economy. That means controlling state and local government costs, reducing unfunded mandates that drive expenses onto local taxpayers, expanding career and technical education and apprenticeship opportunities, and creating a business climate that encourages employers to invest and create jobs. We have tremendous assets - agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, small businesses, institutions of higher education, and a strong workforce. We need policies that make it more affordable to live, work, farm, and operate a business so our children and grandchildren can build their futures in Western Illinois.
Thomas: The biggest challenge facing the 71st District is affordability and keeping our families here.
From Moline and Rock Island to Galesburg and Macomb, I'm hearing the same thing at the doors. People love Western Illinois, but they're being squeezed. Property taxes are too high, grocery and utility bills keep going up, good-paying jobs are leaving, and our young people are moving away because they don't see a future here. When families can't afford to stay, we lose more than population - we lose our strength.
As a lifelong public servant, veteran, and preacher, I've learned that service means showing up and solving real problems.
How I plan to address it:
1. Make Illinois affordable to live and retire in: Fight for real property tax relief, not gimmicks. Hold the line on wasteful spending in Springfield and demand transparency on how our money is being used. Government should make life easier, not harder.
2. Bring good jobs back to the 71st: We need to support our manufacturing base in the Quad Cities, our small businesses, our farmers, and Western Illinois University in Macomb as an economic engine. That means workforce training that actually matches the jobs we have, cutting red tape for small businesses, and incentivizing businesses to invest here and stay here.
3. Strengthen what keeps a community together - safety and health: Support law enforcement and first responders - I served alongside them - and invest in mental health and addiction services. Protect access to local healthcare so people don't have to drive an hour to see a doctor.
I'm running because this district raised me. I served this country in the military, I serve this community from the pulpit, and I've served my neighbors my whole life. I want to take that servant's heart to Springfield and fight for the working families of the 71st District.
Do you believe the development of large-scale data centers would be beneficial or detrimental to the region? What potential benefits and drawbacks do you see for communities in the region?
Swanson: For me, local control is the most important piece of data center development. Local communities must be in charge of land use and zoning, ensuring local support, and ensuring infrastructure for water, energy, and public safety does not dip into taxpayers’ pockets or compromise good farmland. I support HR 744, a “bring your own energy” measure and the use of water efficiencies such as closed-loop systems and using so-called graywater to preserve resources and shield taxpayers.
Thomas: As a lifelong public servant, veteran, and preacher, I believe in looking at both sides and putting people first. I'm not automatically for or against large-scale data centers in the 71st District, but I do believe any project must benefit our communities more than it burdens them.
Potential Benefits for our region:
In a district that includes Moline, Rock Island, Galesburg and Macomb, we need investment. Done right, a data center can bring significant capital investment - sometimes $500 million or more for one project - and real property tax revenue. That kind of revenue can help lower residential property taxes and fund schools, roads, and city services. It also brings construction jobs and utility tax revenue.
Potential Drawbacks for our communities:
The concerns I hear are legitimate. A large hyperscale data center can use up to 5 million gallons of water per day - the equivalent of 4,000 to 20,000 households - and put city-scale demand on our electric grid. If data centers don't pay their own way, those costs get passed to our families and small businesses. Also, while they create a lot of construction jobs, they create far fewer permanent jobs than a factory of the same size - statewide, 27 new facilities from 2019-2024 added only about 534 permanent operations jobs. We also have to consider noise, land use, and transparency.
My position:
If a data center wants to come to the 71st District, it must have guardrails:
Protect the ratepayer - They should fund their own energy needs and not raise electric bills for families in Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, or Knox counties.
Protect our water - Full transparency on water use and permits from the Illinois EPA, with a preference for closed-loop or air cooling to protect our wells and the Mississippi River watershed.
Real community benefit - A binding community benefits agreement with local input, local hiring, and no secret tax giveaways that leave taxpayers holding the bag. Illinois gave up $303 million in sales tax exemptions for data centers in 2024 alone - we need to make sure our communities get a fair return.
Economic development is vital for Western Illinois, but it has to be responsible development. I will not support any project that makes life more expensive for the people I am called to serve.
What steps would you support to address the shortage of affordable housing in the region?
Swanson: Housing is a workforce issue. Employers cannot attract or retain workers when families lack safe, attainable homes near jobs, schools, child care, and health care.
I support increasing housing supply while respecting local decision-making by streamlining permits and financing, expanding rehabilitation grants and low-interest loans, redeveloping vacant properties, and helping communities improve infrastructure. A home is most families’ biggest investment. I support rolling back overburdensome mandates to make building a new home more affordable.
Rural communities and smaller cities need flexible solutions, including repairing older homes, attracting builders, and supporting nonprofit developers and local contractors. I also support workforce housing near employers, colleges, hospitals, and transit, along with appropriate conversions of vacant commercial space and fair protections for renters and property owners.
Housing policy should fit each community. I will continue working with local governments, employers, developers, lenders, and residents to strengthen neighborhoods and help working families build a future in Illinois.
Thomas: My plan:
Lower the cost of staying in your home: Fight for real property tax relief. For many in Rock Island, Knox, and McDonough counties, property taxes are higher than the mortgage. Protect seniors and veterans on fixed incomes.
Fix what we have: Support state grants and cut red tape to rehab vacant, older homes in places like Galesburg and Moline and get them back on the market as affordable starter homes.
Incentivize homeowners to create rentals: Many seniors in the district live alone in large, 3-4 bedroom homes they can't maintain. I support creating a state incentive - a property tax rebate and low-interest rehab loan - for long-time residents who convert a portion of their larger home into a safe, code-compliant rentable unit or accessory apartment. It helps the homeowner afford to stay, creates a new affordable rental without new construction, and keeps our neighborhoods stable.
Build workforce housing: Support partnerships with our local manufacturers, small businesses, and WIU to build smaller, affordable starter homes for our teachers, nurses, and workers on existing infrastructure.
As a lifelong public servant, veteran, and preacher, I believe if you work hard in Western Illinois, you should be able to afford to live here.
What changes, if any, would you support to Illinois’ property tax system to make taxes more affordable for homeowners while ensuring schools and local governments have adequate funding?
Swanson: With Illinois having the highest property taxes in the nation, we must do more to help residents afford to stay in their homes. I was proud to vote for SB642, a measure that lowered property taxes for low-income seniors. The General Assembly has a key role in property taxes. By resisting adding unfunded mandates on local governments and schools, fund the Local Government Distributive Fund so local governments have the money promised, make it easier for layers of government to merge or share resources if they wish, and prioritize funding Property Tax Relief Grants to lower taxes in qualifying districts.
Thomas: Illinois' property tax system is broken - we have the second-highest rate in the nation, and in the 71st District, homeowners are paying more in taxes than their mortgage. We need relief while still funding our schools.
My plan:
Cap and protect homeowners: Support a cap on levy growth at inflation and require voter approval for more. Expand exemptions and freeze property taxes for seniors and disabled veterans.
Make the state pay its share for schools: 60% of your tax bill is schools because Springfield doesn't fund its share. I will fight to fully fund the evidence-based school formula with existing revenue so we can lower local school levies.
Cut layers of government: Illinois has 7,000 units of government - the most in America. I support consolidating non-essential townships and special districts in our counties and requiring those savings to go directly to reducing your tax bill.
End waste and unfunded mandates: Support a full audit of state spending and end the practice of Springfield passing costs down to local governments. If the state mandates it, the state should pay for it.
We can fund our schools and first responders without taxing families out of their homes.
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