Darin LaHood

Democrat Paul Nolley is challenging incumbent Republican Darin LaHood for Illinois' 16th Congressional District seat.

Nolley, a political newcomer, faces a significant fundraising and name-recognition disadvantage against the long-serving LaHood.

Key policy stances for Nolley include supporting universal health care and term limits for Supreme Court justices.

Nolley believes President Biden should not have run for reelection and criticizes Israel's actions in Gaza.

PEORIA — Democrat Paul Nolley recognizes the odds are stacked against him ahead of November's midterm elections.

Nolley, a self-described "working-class Democrat" from Rockford, is making a bid to unseat longtime U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Republican from Peoria. It is a tall task for a political unknown like Nolley to challenge a politician with the name recognition and resume of LaHood, but it is a challenge Nolley feels he is up to.

The Journal Star sat down with Nolley on Oct. 6 to discuss the race.

LaHood has represented Illinois in Congress since 2015 and has been the 16th Congressional District representative since 2023. He is the son of former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who also served in the U.S. House for nearly 15 years, and garners a name recognition in the Peoria area and across the district that is unrivaled.

Nolley, on the other hand, is a political freshman at 37 years old. He's not held a significant political office at the state or local level. He works as the executive director of Project First Rate, an organization that works hand-in-hand with labor unions in northwest Illinois.

The contrast between the two candidates' backgrounds is something Nolley leans into, often characterizing LaHood as a member of the political elite class of Washington, D.C.

"I really believe that we are heading in the wrong direction, I really believe that we are currently a nation in decline and I have little faith that this elite class of people that run our government, that fund our politicians, that control our political economy are going to turn things around," Nolley said. "It's going to be what's good for them and not what's good for the masses."

Nolley's uphill election battle against LaHood is reflected in the coffers of each campaign, where LaHood has a strong advantage in fundraising over his upstart opponent. The LaHood campaign has raised $3.6 million and had $6.7 million of cash on hand at the end of June, according to Federal Election Commission data. Nolley, meanwhile, has raised $415,000 and had just $230,000 in cash on hand at the end of June.

LaHood won the 16th Congressional District by a wide margin in 2022, defeating Democratic challenger Elizabeth Haderlein by more than 97,000 votes, grabbing 66% of the vote share. In 2016, 2018 and 2020, he won reelection in his old 18th District by even wider margins, facing little real resistance from Democrats.

Nolley knows the odds are against him, calling the election a "David and Goliath" situation. But he does feel he has put up a stronger campaign than his Democrat predecessors and also thinks he can win big with independent voters in November.

"It's a little bit liberating in a sense because you are up against this juggernaut but it's exciting because people like that have been taken down many, many times before in recent memory and history. It's a worthy fight, a worthy cause," Nolley said.

Who is Paul Nolley and what are his views?

In midterm elections nationwide Republicans have tried to cast their opponents as socialists, echoing talking points frequently repeated by President Donald Trump. Democrats, meanwhile, have tried to make midterm elections about Trump, often tying Republicans to the president whose approval ratings continue to dip.

The election between Nolley and LaHood has been no different. LaHood has tried to cast Nolley as an ally of the Democratic Socialists of America, a claim Nolley calls an outright lie. Nolley, too, has framed LaHood as being an ardent Trump ally and a MAGA soldier.

Trump's reelection to the Oval Office in 2024 was the main catalyst for Nolley deciding to run for Congress. On that same token, he says LaHood has done a "terrible job" in his seat.

"His worldview is very counter to mine, he believes in the trickle-down economic model that has not worked, studies show," Nolley said of LaHood. "And he is totally loyal to Donald Trump, which is part of the reason we are in this national decline right now."

As far as LaHood's attempt to tie Nolley to the Democratic Socialists of America, Nolley said that shows LaHood's desperation and his willingness to echo talking points he says come from House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Where Nolley truly falls on the Democratic spectrum is a bit murky. He does not necessarily fit in completely with the far-left wing of his party or the more moderate, centrist Democrats that have long had staying power in Washington, D.C.

Nolley believes in universal health care, a single-payer system, but he is also a gun-owning Democrat who doesn't believe in firearm measures like assault weapon bans. Nolley, too, is not shy about calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide while also decrying the country's influence over American politics.

He doesn't have the political experience of LaHood, far from, in fact, but Nolley says he has long been student of politics. Political science was one of his majors at Illinois State University, and he said he has been studying politics with interest since he was a teenager.

"I've just been a student, I focus, I read the news and everything, I'm a junkie and so I understand how everything works. I understand policy and I've been around campaigns, I've volunteered, I've been a staff member on campaigns, I know people in elected office," Nolley said. "My experience in the workplace, running organizations, managing volunteer staff, budgeting, all of that, getting things done, I think I am well equipped to do the job."

What went wrong for Democrats in the Biden era? What's gone wrong under Trump?

Nolley's primary reason in running for office was Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election in which he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris. To get to a place where Trump could win reelection, the country showed somewhat of a repudiation of the Joe Biden presidency.

Nolley does see some failures of the Biden administration that led to the Trump's reelection. Primary among them, is Biden's handling of the Mexico border and his decision to run for reelection despite his age.

"He should have never run again, he was too old, he wasn't up to the task," Nolley said. "You know the story. That should never have happened, it should've been a full on primary and that really was just a big part of it as well."

The 2026 midterms, depending on which polling and prognosticators you listen to, could very well go the Democrats' way. Democrats, by most measures, are being given a good chance to take back the House of Representatives and a roughly 50/50 shot at gaining control of the Senate as well.

Nolley believes three things have contributed to what could be a blue wave in November: The war in Iran; Trump's tariffs; and what he says is a general sentiment that the U.S. is a nation in decline.

"The vast majority of people in this district and across America do not believe that their kids or grandkids are going to have more opportunities than they did or that things are going to be better than way they grew up, that is just not a reality for most people," Nolley said. "That sense is greater than ever and I think it's just foreboding."

Trump has worried out loud that if Democrats take back the House and Senate they will move to again impeach him from office. Nolley said impeachment would not be a priority of his if elected, but if impeachment papers were filed in the House, he would weigh the merits of the particular case.

"Is this a reasonable explanation of high crime and misdemeanors? I think he has committed some of those," Nolley said. "And so, if that comes across and I think it's valid and I think it's the right thing to do, I will vote that way. But it's going to be based on what the case is, it's not going to be my priority, and I do not think he would be removed from office by the Senate. I think it's a wiser decision for Democrats to pursue policy and more realistically, hold this administration responsible."

LaHood says Nolley is in favor of expanding the Supreme Court, a measure some Democrats have pushed for. However, Nolley told the Journal Star he does not favor expanding the court.

"I do want to be frank about it though, the Republicans stole two Supreme Court seats so, is there a part of me that wants to expand because they stole them, yeah, but I don't think that's the right thing to do," Nolley said. "Here's what's going to happen, we're going to expand it then the Republicans are going to expand it, it's a race to the bottom. I want to avoid the crumbling of our institutions which is already happening."

Nolley does, however, support term limits for Supreme Court justices.

Nolley wants Israel to be a 'good actor'

The topic of Israel and its ongoing conflicts in the Middle East has become an issue that has divided the Democratic party. Some on the left remain staunch supporters of Israel, while others accuse the nation of committing a genocide against the people of Gaza.

Nolley said he wants Israel to be an ally of the United States but said it needs to also be a good political actor, something he says it has not been under Benjamin Netanyahu.

"He has been a terrible influence on our domestic politics, has been disrespectful to our presidents, lied to President Trump about what would happen if they did Iran," Nolley said. "Yes, I do believe they committed a genocide in Gaza, and it's not me saying that. It's human rights organizations, the U.N. committees, when they are the ones that have went and done fact-finding missions and studies and it qualifies that. It's not something I am excited to talk about, but it's a fact and I think we have to tell the reality of the situation."

An overhaul of how the U.S. delivers foreign aid to Israel is another change Nolley wants to see in the relationship between the two countries. He said he does not believe the billions of dollars the U.S. has given to Israel have been spent well.