One Monroe County resident is throwing his hat in the ring as a Democratic candidate for election to the 12th congressional district seat up for grabs in November 2018.

David Bequette of Columbia told the Republic-Times his passion and commitment to serve led to his desire to run for the 12th District.

“I want the 12th District to be a place where our children can thrive and where they know there are abundant opportunities for education and careers in every field,” the 37-year-old said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) is currently serving the 12th District and was elected to the position in 2014 and re-elected last November. Illinois’ 12th District serves 12 southern Illinois counties, including Monroe, Madison, Randolph and St. Clair.

Bequette, a Columbia High School graduate, joined the U.S. Marine Corps shortly after graduating from college, serving for five years in Indonesia, China and Malta. He and his wife, Irina, have three kids — David, 8, Nané, 1, and Anthony, 1.

“As a candidate with a multicultural family, I would bring that diversity, that experienced youth, and most importantly that real connection with hard working, middle class families,” he said.

Bequette has not run for nor held any political office.

Another local Democratic 12th District candidate will also try his hand at politics for the first time. He is hoping to run a clean campaign against Bequette as the two share a common goal of defeating Bost.

“My thoughts are for the two of us to have a non-aggression pact and we can run against Bost,” Dean Pruitt of Millstadt said.

Bequette said in response to Pruitt’s comment, “There is no plan from my side at all to take an ‘aggressive’ stance toward any candidate during the campaign.”

Still, only one Democratic candidate will emerge out of next spring’s primary elections, and for Pruitt, that would mean a step closer to paying back what has been given to him, including a “good education” and “stable upbringing.”

“The current generation is the first one that may not have everything they need to do better than we did,” he said.

Pruitt, 64, is a co-founder and builder of City Museum in St. Louis. Additionally, he served as commercial liaison to the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“If I have the tenacity to work this hard, I can do the Washington thing as well,” he said of the effort required for building City Museum.

Another Democratic hopeful, Anthony Alexander, is listed on crowdpac.com. No other information is available for Alexander.

“There are three other hopefuls,” Scot Luchtefeld, new chair of the Monroe County Democratic Central Committee, said of Democratic candidates for the 12th District besides Bequette.

While Pruitt and Alexander are two of the other candidates, the fourth is not known at this time.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” Luchtefeld indicated.

The 2018 General Primary Election will take place March 20. For more information on the Democratic candidates, go to crowdpac.com.