CORRECTION: In a story we ran last night on the 92nd district state representative race, we reported that democratic candidate Allen Mayer nominated and endorsed Jehan Gordon before he decided to run.

Although Mayer was consulted about Gordon's candidacy, he never officially nominated or endorsed Gordon for the seat.

We apologize for the error.

It's 29 days and counting for voters in Illinois as we look forward to nominating presidential candidates and candidates for another big race here in Central Illinois...the 18th Congressional Seat.

And Aaron Schock's interest in that seat has influenced the 92nd District State Representative race amongst area Democrats.

The race for the 92nd District state representative seat is heating up, and the tension heated up too during a forum Monday when one resident asked about Allen Mayer's motives to run. It's a race candidate Jehan Gordon says Mayer nominated her for.and after four months of convincing from local Democrats, she took it.

"The reason I decided to get into politics wasn't because I wanted to be a career politician. I was just a young woman working in my community who wanted to leave my community a little better than I found it," said Gordon.

After Congressman Ray LaHood decided to retire and Representative Aaron Schock set his eyes on the 18th Congressional district seat, county board member Allen Mayer went from endorsing Gordon to becoming her political opponent.

"My experience on the county board first running and beating a Republican incumbent in a fairly Republican district shows I'm a strong candidate especially in the general election," said Mayer.

Controversy aside, both candidates are in the race to win back the 92nd district for the Democrats and they fielded questions from residents and area organizations Monday on how they want to do that.
With her job at ICC and work on the Pleasant Valley school board, Gordon says all issues come back to education.

"If we ensure all the children of the 92nd district have the opportunity to receive an equal quality education funded by the state of Illinois, a lot of opportunities will be available to folks to provide for their family," said Gordon.

Although Mayer says he wants to work on education funding, he is touting his background in voting down a hazardous waste landfill in Peoria County.

"Working on making sure environmental hazards we can get something done quickly. Working on making sure environmental hazards from waste to lead paint get addressed from the state Environmental Protection Agency," said Mayer.

Regardless of why they got into the race to begin with, both Democrats say they're in it to win it, and voters have less than a month to decide who will be victorious.

Retiring Heartland Clinic CEO Joan Krupa has told the Peoria Journal Star she intends to replace Cindy Ardis–Jenkins as the Republican candidate for the 92nd District race.
Krupa was not at Monday's forum.

Back to the 18th Congressional race: A week from Monday the Republican candidates will face–off in a live debate at our East Peoria studio.
WEEK will air the debate from seven to eight that evening without commercial interruption.
Each of the three candidates will answer questions in front of a studio audience.
WEEK's 18th District Congressional Primary Debate is co–sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Peoria Journal Star.

If you have a question for the candidates...Just capture them on camera and post them on YouNews at WEEK.com.