The 115th district in the Illinois House of Representatives will have a new face for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Longtime state Representative Mike Bost announced he is challenging incumbent Bill Enyart for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the 12th District, which would leave the 115th district seat open. Bost has served as the district’s representative since 1995.

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Three candidates — two Republicans and one Democrat — are vying for the seat.

Robert White is an insurance agent and entrepreneur on the Republican ballot. He was born in Chicago and graduated high school in Ann Arbor, Mich. White joined the Army in 1988 and served in the Gulf War. His roommate in the Army suggested that he continue his education in Carbondale, prompting him to enroll at John A. Logan College in 1992. He continued to SIU, where he graduated in 1996 with a marketing degree.

White married his wife, Christina, in 1993, and they moved to Nashville in 1996. The two eventually relocated to Mount Vernon, where he opened his own insurance agency in 2003.

White made his first political foray in 2008, when he ran for the Jefferson County Board.

“I wanted to serve people in my county board district,” he said. “Just looking at the issues going on reading the paper, I thought, rather than complain, I’d just go out and do my best and throw in to see what I could do to help.”

White was successfully elected and eventually became chairman in 2010 under a Democrat-controlled board. He retained his seat in 2012, receiving another four-year term.

White’s decision to run for the state legislature mirrored his decision to run for the county board. He wanted to be a proactive force tackling the issues at hand instead of standing by while the legislature takes no action.

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“While they’re fighting the issues out in Springfield, we’re still not seeing any headway,” he said. “We need effective representation up there to fight these issues.”

Terri Bryant is the second Republican who hopes to fill the district’s open seat. Bryant is the Head of the Dietary Department for the Pinckneyville Correctional Center and the Du Quoin Impact Incarceration Program. She was born in Gary, Ind., and moved to the Trico Community Unit School District in Campbell Hill.

She finished high school in south Florida while spending her summers in Jackson County. She then attended John A. Logan College before she opened Murphysboro’s Blue Bell Restaurant in 1988. Bryant joined the Illinois Department of Corrections after she left the restaurant to take care of her child.

As an active member of the grassroots community, Bryant was accepted as a academia Fellow and eventually graduated from the Illinois Lincoln Excellence in Public Service Series, a program designed to increase the number of Illinois Republican women in office. Bryant is also a member of the Illinois State Employees Association, Laborers Local 2002, where she serves on the executive board.

Bryant said she decided to run for the district seat because of a lack of action or direction in the Capitol.

“In the last 10 years, I’ve become more frustrated with how state government has been run,” she said. “When I got involved with the Illinois Lincoln Excellence in Public Service Series, it allowed me to be in Springfield and make contact with a lot of legislators there. The more I saw the things they do, the more I understood I am as qualified as the people who are serving.”

Tony Mayville, from Dubois, is running unopposed as the Democratic candidate for the district seat. Mayville is the director of mine safety for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He is a graduate of Cahokia High School and attended Southwestern Illinois College.

After a short time, Mayville joined the coal mining industry. He said he initially thought he would make some quick money and go back to school, but he eventually found himself enjoying his profession.