Zachary Oren Smith | Press Citizen

Former Illinois congressman Bobby Schilling says he is "getting close" to announcing a run for Iowa's soon-to-be-open 2nd District seat currently held by Dave Loebsack.

"We are right there just waiting on a few small things to come together," Schilling said Thursday.

Schilling, who represented Illinois' 17th Congressional District from 2011-13, has been testing the waters in Republican circles around Eastern Iowa, getting feedback on his potential candidacy. Just this week he was in Scott and Johnson counties — across the Mississippi River from his former Western Illinois district.

"I'm a business man," Schilling said. "I won't make a decision to run unless I'm absolutely sure I can win it. ... I'm 98 percent there."

Born in Rock Island, Schilling opened Saint Giuseppe's Heavenly Pizza in Moline in 1996. Schilling was part of the GOP surge during the 2010 midterm elections, unseating incumbent Democrat Phil Hare by a nearly 10% margin. In 2012, however, he lost the seat to current Illinois 17th District Rep. Cheri Bustos.

Since then, Schilling has been quiet in the political arena. In 2016, he bought some land in Iowa, and in 2017, moved to LeClaire, just upriver from Davenport. He described the move as a reaction to rising taxes in his birth state.

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"I escaped Illinois," Schilling said. "Things aren't going to get better there. ... Rather than fixing the problems, they prefer to continue driving people out of the state."

If he does run in Iowa in 2020, limiting taxation will be at the center of his message, Schilling said.

"I think I'm going to play well because what I'm running against will be exactly what I escaped," Shilling said. "We need a representative not just to bash things, but to come through with solid ideas for working people in Iowa."

The 2nd District race became much more interesting in April when Loebsack — who has held the seat since 2006 — announced his retirement. In the wake of his announcement, the 2nd District's open seat was added to the list of "Democratic Toss Ups" along with Reps. Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne's seats, according to the Cook Political Report.

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