Ed Hershey
Other | Illinois
Candidate Profile
Far Left
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Ed Hershey
Party
Other
Election Year
2024
Election
General
Race
U.S. Rep., Dist. 4
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Chicago, Chicago, AB, 2001
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Chicago Teachers Union, Delegate
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
OTHER INFORMATION
Candidate is a member of the Working Class Party.
Blog category "Illinois 2024" on the Working Class party's website.
Ed Hershey completed Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Disagree
Abortion care is healthcare. Healthcare should be available to all, equally. In a class divided society, this means that abortion, like all healthcare, should be freely available.
Chemical abortion drugs should meet essential safety standards (such as in-person consultation with a medical doctor) and require reporting to gather evidence on reactions and outcomes.
Strongly Disagree
Abortion drugs should meet such safety standards as the medical community deems necessary. So called "safety standards" must not be used as a back-door restriction on abortion rights.
Under what circumstances should an elective abortion be allowed?
Did not answer
Does the federal government have a role to play in limiting abortion, and if so what federal steps and/or federal legislation would you support?
Did not answer
ECONOMY
What actions would you take that would allow Americans to retain more of their income and wealth?
The burden of taxation in this country should be shifted from working people to the wealthy and the corporations, who benefit the most from this society and who can afford the burden.
Student loan forgiveness unfairly shifts the financial burden to those not responsible for student debt.
Disagree
The government made a decision to fund education through student loans -- that is, they made a decision to subsidize the banks. Education benefits our whole society. Instead of requiring people to indenture themselves to the banks for an education, education should be available free to those who desire it -- as is the case in most other developed countries.
Should environmental and social issues, like ESG (environmental, social, and governance) ratings, be used as criteria in deciding where to invest public monies?
Choose not to answer
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
Churches and religion should have no role in public institutions.
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
Hospital systems must provide healthcare, including reproductive healthcare. Many hospital systems funded by religious institutions have been allowed to impose their "beliefs" on people who require basic, necessary healthcare services.
HEALTHCARE
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
Vaccinations for school children help to keep us safe, and have been instrumental in keeping many deadly diseases, such as polio and measles, at bay. I do not believe employers should be able to mandate vaccination as a condition of employment.
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D) Taxpayer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be defunded.
A) Healthcare in this society serves to produce profits for large corporate interests. Those profits come at the expense of healthcare. Our healthcare system spends considerable money seeking to deny healthcare -- those are resources that should instead go to providing care.
NATIONAL SECURITY
With regard to America's foreign policy, which view most closely resembles yours: A) The United States should intervene whenever freedom is threatened. B) The United States should selectively help countries trying to grow democracy and fight tyranny. C) The United States has become too involved in others' policies and should remain focused on issues regarding our own sovereignty unless in imminent danger. D) The United States should stay out of foreign conflicts completely.
The United States spends billions of dollars to safeguard the interests of the large corporations. They foster wars between other countries that kill thousands, and they send soldiers to die in those conflicts. This will continue, so long as the corporations control this government.
The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.
Strongly Disagree
Our government is pulling our country towards a war with China. The working class, which would do the fighting and dying, has no interest in such a war.
Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?
Israel, particularly its military, is an important proxy force for American Imperialism. Our tax dollars have gone towards oppressing and massacring the Palestinian population.
What are the causes of decline in U.S. military recruitment and retention?
I believe many working people see, correctly, that they have no interest in risking their lives for the interests of American capital.
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Strongly Disagree
Capital is allowed to cross that and many other borders -- American corporations invest wherever they wish. Working people need the same freedom to cross borders.
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Working people should not have their freedom to move restricted by the ruling class in this country or any other country.
EDUCATION
I support school choice, including voucher programs, tax credits, charter schools, private schools, and home schools.
Strongly Disagree
I am a strong supporter of public education and public schools. I believe all public schools should have the resources they need to provide a good education to everyone in this society. The push for "school choice" comes from the fact that in our society, the working class schools are underfunded and under-resourced.
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Strongly Disagree
The U.S. Department of education is weak and often does little that directly affects instruction in the schools. However, I believe eliminating the Department is a reactionary demand.
VALUES
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Strongly Disagree
I do not support the interference of the state in our personal relations (that is, marriage). However, if a man and a woman are allowed to marry, then I believe others who want to marry should not be restricted from doing so.
Children are the most vulnerable members of society and must be protected from abuse, including gender ideology, grooming, and bodily mutilation.
Disagree
Children are vulnerable and must be protected from abuse. However, I do not know what is specifically referred to as "gender ideology." Gender in this society has become a wedge issue to pit people against one another.
Taxpayer funds should be used to provide gender transition services.
Choose not to answer
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am not a member of a church.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Choose not to answer
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Strongly Agree
The Electoral College was meant as an institution to insulate the government from the direct will of the voters. It gives disproportionate representation to less populated states.
EQUALITY
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Choose not to answer
Racism has been present in our society from its beginning. This country had race-based slavery for 250 years, we have only been without slavery for 150. Our country cannot help but be marked by that racist history. It is important to learn that history in order to understand how are society came to be the way that we see it today. I believe we much fight to end racism and build a more just and equal society.
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Choose not to answer
To my mind, this issue is of much less importance than many other burning questions.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Man-made climate change is a global threat and requires urgent political action.
Strongly Agree
The ruling class, and the oil companies in particular, have understood the science of climate change for decades. They have done nothing. It must fall to the working class to meaningfully address the issue.
What do you believe is the most reliable energy source that will supply the growing demand for electricity?
There are many reliable, proven energy sources besides fossil fuels. I do not pretend to have the expertise to have an opinion about the best direction to go among those technologies.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Choose not to answer
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
Did not answer
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
Did not answer
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
Did not answer
JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY
The Supreme Court should be reformed to include more seats.
Choose not to answer
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
I support redirecting funds from police departments to community programs.
Choose not to answer
In the violently unequal society that we live in, police are presented as the only answer. Human societies have existed that did not need police -- I would like to see such a society built.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Did not answer
