Former University of Michigan political science professor and current healthcare management consultant Neill Mohammad is running in the democratic primary to unseat Republican Adam Kinzinger who has held the seat since 2012.
Kinzinger previously represented the 11th Congressional District for one term before re-districting changed district boundaries in Illinois. His primary challengers are Amy Briel, Sara Dady and Beth Vercolio-Osmund.
Windy City Times: Why did you decide to run?
Neill Mohammad: My father is an immigrant from Pakistan who survived a couple of civil wars, came here with $30 in his pocket, put himself through school, got a degree and became a citizen. My mom is of Irish descent and grew up in a small town in South Dakota and has suffered from Crohn's disease her entire life. Due to their hard work I have been able to get a doctorate and work with hospitals all across the country. I am here because of the progress so many progressive liberals built and I want to continue that as a member of Congress.
That is not the vision the Republican party has for America including Paul Ryan and Adam Kinzinger. I cannot imagine a new generation of Illinoisans not having the opportunities that I have benefitted from. One thing that is a problem is the Democratic party has not invested in this district by running competitive races despite the fact that the voters here chose former President Obama. The Democrats have to run competitive races across the country, not just districts they know they can definitely win.
WCT: How would you approach the job differently than what the incumbent has done in the past? If elected, will you hold regular town halls in the district?
NM:I am a fan of holding as many town halls as we can manage. That is the fun part of the job.
The reason to run against people like Kinzinger is how they vote, not the fact that they do not hold town halls. His record is a disaster for the country and especially this district. We are the poster child for the kind of places in America that would be devastated if the ACA is repealed and will get plowed under by the tax bill. I will be working for my constituents interests not the lobbyists on day one of my tenure.
WCT: Where do you fall on the spectrum politically? Would you say you are more of a centrist or to the far left or somewhere in-between?
NM: I call myself a progressive and am a Warren/Sanders Democrat.
WCT: Tell me how your background in healthcare will inform your decisions as a member of Congress. Do you support strengthening the ACA or moving to a publicly funded system ( Medicare for All ) that eliminates private insurance companies? What about women's reproductive issues?
NM: My years working with big and small hospitals as a management consultant has helped them stay in business as well as improve people's health, especially the most vulnerable populations. I will bring that experience to Congress.
There is a reason why I talk about healthcare a lot because it touches everything else we do.
I was talking to someone in Rockford that is a lifelong Republican and we did not agree on a whole lot but when we got to healthcare I told him my position which is we need a universal single-payer system that includes dental and vision care ( Medicare for All ) and he agreed with me. I was shocked and asked him why. He told me his daughter is just out of college and while in college she developed an eating disorder that was very hard to treat. The specialist happened to be out of state but they had the means to pay for it. She was doing well but the insurance company would only authorize three days of in-patient psychiatric care at a time so they spent every day on the phone with their insurance company begging them to save their daughter's life.
We pay 50 percent more on average than any other developed western democracy, cover fewer people and have worse outcomes for new mothers in terms of mortality and chronic diseases are more common. We cannot accept that.
Universal healthcare is the position of many candidates and the population in general but the Democratic party still is not onboard because the resources have not been put in place for how we get there. Nursing home care is not a part of Medicare and this has to change. We have to win the argument within the Democratic party and then pull people in so we can add these missing links quickly. We have to eliminated private, for-profit insurance companies and break the link between your employer and access to healthcare.
Thanks to the Hobby Lobby decision women are being singled out for restrictions on reproductive healthcare and as well as those who identify as LGBTQ and that is not acceptable. I am pro-choice and that means whether a woman wants to have children at all so access to birth control is vital. This gives women more agency and it is both an economic and social issue.
WCT: What are the other issues facing the country and how would you address them, if elected?
NM: There is a recognition that too much corporate power and consolidation is hurting average Americans by removing jobs from, especially rural areas, and has resulted in soaring healthcare costs. CVS and Aenta merging is very troubling to me. This is an issue that the Democratic party does not engage with. Putting our money where our mouth is by breaking up monopolies and standing up to the big banks is something I believe in. We are sitting on another financial crisis time bomb due to what is happening on Wall Street. Financial regulation is so important. Trump's Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin made millions of dollars by illegally foreclosing on American families and not only was he not held accountable, no one else was during the financial crisis and we are still suffering from the aftershocks. We need to take meaningful action so this does not happen again.
Job and wage growth is another issue. People's paychecks every two weeks have never been as small a share of the overall economy as it is now. Corporate profits have never been larger and that reflects how much negotiating power has been taken away from the average worker. We need a bigger anti-trust division at the Department of Justice and this was not stressed enough during the Obama administration.
We need to raise the minimum wage and crack down on wage theft, especially in the service industry and home health workers which affects women more than men. Ryan and Kinzinger look down on and lecture people on their work ethic but need the social safety net. People are working harder than ever but they have not been rewarded for their labor because of the consolidation of corporate power.
Infrastructure investment is also important and this is one of the few things Trump talked about during the election but his plan was a big tax evasion scheme for his billionaire friends and himself. We need to invest in roads and bridges and the government to hire people to do these jobs.
WCT: What grade level should civics be introduced and built upon in subsequent years?
NM: Having taught political science at the college level that is a different age bracket but I would say around fifth grade. It is one thing to know the basics of the Constitution but it is quite another thing to actually know the historical context around why those decisions were made and how our system of government has evolved over time. We need to tell the entirety of American history not just the stories of people in power. Unfortunately Texas is driving what curricula looks like and that is troubling because of the political leanings of those officials.
WCT: Have you had any interactions with the LGBTQ community? If so, what were they?
NM: I think of myself as very progressive on this issue. Every semester I had some students who came out to me and the issue would come up in my classroom. In 2004, when George W. Bush won reelection on the back of gay bashing anti-same sex marriage laws, including one that passed in Michigan, that was a time when I had a lot of interaction with the LGBTQ community as an ally directing young people to use appropriate terminology on campus.
WCT: What do you see are the most important issues or obstacles facing the LGBTQ community and how would you address them?
NM: My job is to listen and get out of the way when folks in the LGBTQ community come to me with their issues. It is not just a question of getting medical coverage within the transgender community relating to their gender identity, they also face obstacles in getting other medical care because of discrimination. This goes back to the Hobby Lobby decision and it's harmful effects on the LGBTQ community.
LGBTQ youth self-harm and suicide rates are also a big issue, especially among transgender teenagers so I think that anti-bullying initiatives are important.
Enforcing the essential health benefits of the ACA so that mental healthcare is covered on a one for one equity basis.
WCT: If elected, will you co-sponsor the Equality Act?
NM: Yes, absolutely.
WCT: What is your opinion on the SCOTUS Masterpiece Cakeshop case?
NM: I do not think anyone has the right to discriminate against others whether it is a member of the LGBTQ community or anyone else. We are getting in dangerous waters when people make the argument that one's individual religious beliefs supersedes another person's right to not be discriminated against. I side with the gay couple in this case.
WCT: Where do you stand on transgender people in the military including providing full medical services for those troops?
NM: I am fully supportive of transgender people serving in the military and if they so choose, receiving the whatever medical services they request.
WCT: Will you join the LGBT Equality Caucus? What other caucuses are you looking to join?
NM: Yes because you have to stand up as an ally and it is not a heavy lift for people to do. The other one is the Progressive Caucus.
WCT: What is your position on immigration writ large and DACA and the DREAMers more specifically?
NM: I support a pathway for citizenship for DACA recipients. They are a deserving group but we need to extend a welcoming hand to immigrants in general. We know that most people come here to work and they pay taxes yet do not receive any of the benefits in the form of social security and the like.
There are some other troubling developments including ICE ignoring court injunctions when they were told to ignore the Muslim Ban by the courts. ICE's record has not changed since then and they are now writing their own warrants which is not one of their powers. They are using this a justification for deportation. ICE needs to be reformed.
We need to come up with a better immigration system overall.
WCT: Where do you stand on the ERA? What about the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements?
NM: I am pro-ERA and would work toward its passage, including talking with members of the Illinois state legislature since they have not passed it yet.
It is one thing to know the statistics of how many women will experience sexual violence or sexual harassment over the course of their lives but it is something else to hear people's stories even though it is hard to hear. We just saw some very heroic testimony by Larry Nassar's survivors. Putting the onus on the survivors in order to move the conversation forward is unfortunately what it is going to take to move this forward. As men our role is to listen, believe survivor stories, be an ally without grandstanding and get out of the way. Men also need to confront the issues around masculinity in society and teach young boys how to be better men because we are not doing them any favors by pretending this is not happening.
WCT: Are there any elected officials that speak to you due to the way they do their jobs?
NM: Sen. Ron Wyden ( D-Oregon ) and Rep. Justin Amash ( R-Michigan ) because they have been out on their own about the domestic surveillance state trying to roll back the Patriot Act and highlight the abuses at the NSA/DIA and the entire intelligence community. Not many elected officials want to take that on and I think it is an important issue.
I like Sen. Warren and the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for their work to regulate Wall Street and going after financial wrongdoing. I look up to Randy Bryce who is running as a Democrat against Paul Ryan. I like Rep. Bill Foster and it meant a lot to me to get his endorsement.
WCT: If elected, how will your previous work and volunteer efforts inform how you do your job?
NM: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor said something during her confirmation hearing about Republicans liking to pile on identity politics and that in itself is a qualification. I did not grow up in the same circumstances as her but having the perspective of a working person who did not grow up in privilege and being on the outside looking in gives me an appreciation for some of these issues that you cannot pick up if you are born into privilege.
Too much Democratic leadership is pulling from people who went to private high schools and Ivy League universities and that is not representative of where most American's are at and what their lives are like. That explains a lot of what is wrong with our government. I want to change that.
For more information, visit neillforillinois.com/ .
