Customer dissatisfaction spurred Joshua Loyd into action. He decided to run as a Republican against Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield), saying her office was no help when he tried to work with the Veterans’ Administration to solve a problem.

“I was really disappointed with how my representation processed all this information and all this work and, seeing the lack of product or effective representation, I decided to hop in.”

Regardless of where you side, the fact is Budzinski is well-funded and well-known. Loyd’s not.

“If you look at the last election,” Loyd responded, “she won by about a fourteen-point margin. That’s a good amount. But, if you look at the district and the voting base, people are not happy with Republicans and Democrats. She is part of the establishment. When people talk about the Swamp, she is the type of people they talk about.”

Loyd, the winner of last month’s primary, is from Virden and is an Army veteran with a West Point education.