2014 Illinois 13th District Congressional Voter Guide

2014 Illinois 13th District
Congressional Voter Guide
The Candidates
Representative Rodney Davis (R), incumbent
Judge Ann Callis (D), challenger
2014 Illinois 13th District Congressional
Voter Guide
Davis
Callis
What role would religion play in the candidate’s decision
making in his or her role as U.S. Representative?
N/A
N/A
Does the candidate support a science based curriculum in
public schools and reject the use of public funding of
religious schools or religiously-based curriculums?
F
N/A
Does the candidate support the use of public funding for
religiously-affiliated organizations such as faith-based
initiatives, to provide services?
F
N/A
Does the candidate support social policies that do not
discriminate based on religion, such as marriage equality,
and non-discrimination in adoption policies, the military
and hiring practices at faith based organizations
receiving public funds?
F
A
Does the candidate believe government sanctioned
religious symbolism is appropriate? (Examples including
prayer in legislative sessions and public schools,
religious symbols on government property.)
N/A
N/A
Does the candidate support scientifically based
regulations including science surrounding reproduction,
climate change, embryonic stem cell research, and
cloning, and reject abstinence-only sex education?
F
A
FINAL SCORE
F
N/A
Key:
Candidate’s remarks and/or actions toward the Secular Coalition’s stances have been:
A:
Generally or consistently positive.
B:
Neutral or occasionally positive.
C:
Mixed, with positive and negative responses.
F:
Generally or consistently hostile or negative.
N/A: At the time of publication, the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
If the SCA was unable to find a candidate’s stance on at least four of the six questions, the candidate
was given a final score of N/A.
The above chart is based on the topics and individual public candidate responses in the following sections
Individual Candidate Responses
What role would religion play in the candidate’s
decision making in his or her role as U.S.
Representative? N/A
•
•
Callis
N/A
N/A
At the time of publication the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
At the time of publication the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
Does the candidate support a science based curriculum
in public schools and reject the use of public funding of
religious schools or religiously-based curriculums?
•
Davis
Davis
Callis
F
N/A
On the 1996 Illinois State National Political Awareness Test, Rep. Davis responded that
he supports providing parents with state-funded vouchers for public, private, religious, or
1
•
technical schools.
At the time of publication the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
Does the candidate support the use of public funding for
religiously-affiliated organizations such as faith-based
initiatives, to provide services?
•
•
Davis
Callis
F
N/A
Rep. Davis voted in favor of HR 592, which made houses of worship eligible for
emergency assistance and disaster relief, funds which were not made available to many
other secular non-profits.2
At the time of publication the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
1
Illinois State 1996 National Political Awareness Test, Nov 1, 1996. On the issues website accessed on Aug 23,
2014.
2
Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2013; Bill H.592; vote 13-HV039 on Feb 13, 2013.
Does the candidate support social policies that do not
discriminate based on religion, such as marriage
equality, and non-discrimination in adoption policies,
the military and hiring practices at faith based
organizations receiving public funds?
•
•
Davis
Callis
F
A
Rep. Davis opposes same-sex marriage.3 He also voted twice against allowing nontheist
chaplains to join the military’s chaplain corps.4
On her campaign website, Judge Callis writes that she supports “banning discrimination
in employment and housing laws, honoring spousal and marital benefits for our military
members, and advocating for anti-bullying policies for our schools” and believes “all
Americans have the right to marry the person they love, regardless of their sexual
5
orientation.”
Does the candidate believe government sanctioned
religious symbolism is appropriate? (Examples
including prayer in legislative sessions and public
schools, religious symbols on government property.)
•
•
Davis
Callis
N/A
N/A
At the time of publication the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
At the time of publication the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the
candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.
3
2012 Project Vote Smart Survey on Aug 30, 2012. Project Vote Smart website accessed on Aug 23, 2014.
Amendment prohibits the use of funds to appoint chaplains without an endorsing agency; H.Amdt.375 (Fleming)
to H.R.2397; vote number 13-HV392 on Jul 23, 2013. and H.Amdt.169 (Polis) to H.R.1960; vote number 13-HV238
on Jun 14, 2013.
4
5
“Issues,” Ann Callis for Congress. Ann Callis campaign website accessed on Aug 23, 2014.
Does the candidate support scientifically based
regulations including science surrounding reproduction,
climate change, embryonic stem cell research, and
cloning, and reject abstinence-only sex education?
•
Davis
Callis
F
A
Rep. Davis cosponsored Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which prohibits
6
•
7
family planning assistance that includes abortion. He also considers himself “pro-life.”
On her campaign website, Judge Callis writes that she “is pro-choice and believes women
deserve to be in full control of personal health care decisions. She will protect women's
access to lifesaving preventative care like mammograms and ovarian cancer screenings.
She believes that insurance companies should provide coverage for contraception and
8
that women should have access to emergency contraception.”
Methodology
Candidates were graded only on questions for which the Secular Coalition was able to identify the
candidates' position—either through statements or previous actions. For each response, the
candidates were given a grade of A, B, C or F. An "A" grade earned the candidate 3 points, "B"
earned 2 points, "C" earned 1 point and an F earned 0 points. An average of the candidates' grades
for each question were averaged for each section. Grades of "N/A" indicate that the Secular
Coalition was unable to identify the candidate's position on the given topic. The section averages
were then averaged for the total score.
N/A grades were not factored into the candidate's score.
Averages were compiled on the following scale:
A = 2.25 – 3.0
B = 1.50 – 2.24
C = 0.75 – 1.49
F = 0.0 – 0.74
6
Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act; H.R.217/S.135; 13-HR0217 on Jan 4, 2013.
7
2012 Project Vote Smart Survey on Aug 30, 2012. Project Vote Smart website accessed on Aug 23, 2014.
8
“Issues,” Ann Callis for Congress. Ann Callis campaign website accessed on Aug 23, 2014.
The Secular Coalition for America is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization whose purpose is to amplify
the diverse and growing voice of the nontheistic community in the United States. We are located in
Washington, D.C. for ready access to government, activist partners and the media. Our staff lobbies
U.S. Congress on issues of special concern to our constituency.
Our member organizations are established 501(c)(3) nonprofits who serve atheists, agnostics,
humanists, freethinkers and other nontheistic Americans. Their purpose in founding the coalition
was to formalize a cooperative structure for visible, unified activism to improve the civic situation of
citizens with a naturalistic worldview. A number of additional organizations have endorsed our
mission statement.
Member Organizations
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American Atheists – www.atheists.org
American Ethical Union – www.aeu.org
American Humanist Association – www.americanhumanist.org
Atheist Alliance of America – www.atheistallianceamerica.org
Black Nonbelievers – http://blacknonbelievers.wordpress.com/
Camp Quest – www.campquest.org
Council for Secular Humanism – www.secularhumanism.org
Freethought Society – http://www.ftsociety.org/
Freedom from Religion Foundation – http://www.ffrf.org/
Hispanic American Freethinkers – http://www.hafree.org/
Humanist Community at Harvard – http://www.harvardhumanist.org/about-hcp/what-ishumanism/
Institute for Humanist Studies – www.humaniststudies.org
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers – www.militaryatheists.org
Recovering from Religion – http://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (US) –
http://www.richarddawkins.net/
Secular Student Alliance— www.secularstudents.org
Society for Humanistic Judaism – www.shj.org
The UU Humanists – http://www.huumanists.org/