ST. CHARLES (AP) – Five candidates who want former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s old job made a slew of pledges on Tuesday, from fixing Washington and paying down the national debt to bringing troops home from Iraq and making sure children get health insurance.

They assailed a budget recently passed by Congress that cuts $52 million in funding at the district’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia.

They disagreed about how deal with illegal immigration, including national identification cards. But they talked about securing the nation’s borders and not giving government benefits to people who are here illegally.

The three Democrats and two Republicans squared off in a debate with less than a month to go before voters will nominate candidates in the Feb. 5 primary to fill the seat Hastert vacated in November.

Millionaire Republican Jim Oberweis leaned on his business credentials to chastise government spending and lawmakers for viewing taxpayer dollars as “other people’s money.”

Fellow Republican state Sen. Chris Lauzen touted himself as “unambiguously pro-life” and “pro traditional family.” Lauzen also invoked the name of popular Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying he served with the Illinois senator in the state Legislature and “count him as a friend.”

Among the Democrats, scientist Bill Foster said one of his first priorities would be to “begin paying down the mountain of debt” that he blamed on President Bush.

Fellow Democrat attorney Jotham Stein said leaving troops in Iraq is making our country and our military weaker. He favors quicker training of Iraqi troops so that for every one trained, an American troop can come home.

Democrat John Laesch took on the monied circles, saying he’d roll back the Bush tax cuts for people who make more than $250,000 a year.

The candidates couldn’t delve into lots of detail because of tight time deadlines and repeatedly referred people to their Web sites for more information.

The candidates are out to impress voters who will decide which one of them will fill out the remainder of Hastert’s term and who eventually will replace him in Congress.

During the upcoming Feb. 5 primary, voters will get to vote twice that day. Once, in a special primary for candidates to run to fill the rest of Hastert’s term. Then, again in the general primary for people to run to replace him. Two other candidates — another Democrat and another Republican — have filed to be on the general primary election ballot.

The special election to choose someone to fill out Hastert’s term will be held March 8. The general election to replace him is in November.

County election officials are hoping for more time between the Feb. 5 primary and March 8 special election set by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

A former wrestling coach and history teacher, Hastert’s retirement capped a 21-year career in Congress that included holding the speaker’s post longer than any other Republican. He has endorsed Oberweis.

The 14th congressional district stretches west from Chicago to the Mississippi River and includes DeKalb.