Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, announced Tuesday night in Murphysboro he will run for a second term in the Illinois House of Representatives .

Bost defeated Democratic incumbent Gerry Hawkins last November in an election year when Republicans rolled over Democrats nationwide.

Bost, flanked by his wife and three children, said he had a great first year in the general assembly, and touted several things he has done so far in his first term.

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He listed bringing a prison to Perry County, bringing a boot camp to Murphysboro, pushing tort reform to end frivolous lawsuits and streamlining the process of executing criminals on death row as some of his biggest achievements.

We designed welfare reform not to hurt anyone who’s poor, but to stop generation after generation of dependency, Bost said.

Bost mentioned a bill he sponsored banning the recreational use of nitrous oxide in Illinois as another achievement. Bost said Carbondale officials helped him shape the legislation from a ban the city already had on the substance.

Bost said he played a role in lengthening the statute of limitations in rape cases from three to five years.

Bost said if he is re-elected, economic development and education would be among the biggest items on his agenda.

Although no other Republicans have announced they will run against Bost, two people have announced they are seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat.

Karl Maple, a political science professor at John A. Logan College from Elkville, and Elsie Speck, a community activist from Carbondale are running for Bost’s seat.

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Bost said he considers all the candidates running against him to be serious competition.

Maple said his top priorities, like Bost’s, would be education and economic development.

I’m concerned with the fact that in Southern Illinois we spend about $3,000 to $4,000 per year per student for education, when they spend $10,000 to $12,000 per year in some of the Chicago suburbs, he said.

Maple said the area must continue to diversify its industry, because two of the industries the area has relied on historically agriculture and mining are not as stable as they have been in the past.

Speck said her main priority would be to push the state legislature to question the federal government’s spending policies, especially defense spending.

The federal government likes to keep people in the dark, she said. All the social programs are being cut and they expect the states to cover the loss.

Speck said she believes the federal government has misplaced priorities.

We have a strong military presence in so many countries and we don’t even have adequate schools for our children, she said.

Speck has done work at several charitable organizations in the area including the Good Samaritan House, a food pantry for poor people.