Jonathan Reich has made it through the first step, but the next one will be harder.

Reich, a Democratic NIU graduate student, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. He received 3,536 votes in the Democratic primary for the 14th district House seat. He was unopposed.

Reich will be running against three-term incumbent Republican J. Dennis Hastert. Hastert received 5,592 votes in the Republican primary.

Reich said people need “to make America great again.”

He said he will take an active role in education. “The country’s future depends on education,” he said.

Reich also said he is concerned with the unity of students who are of different races and ethnic backgrounds.

“Our priorities are wrong in America,” Reich said.

Reich suggested money could be moved from weaponry to education. “We don’t need to use half our gross national product to prepare for a war against the world,” he said.

Reich said if he is elected, he will propose to allocate money to anyone who wants to get a college education in a public institution.

He said it costs the government about $700 million to build one B-2 bomber. “Think about how much education you can buy.”

He suggested that the government should use that money for education. “Money can be found in the bloated defense budget,” he said.

“We need to provide funds so that everyone who wants a college education can (get one),” Reich said.

Reich said the government needs to be fiscally responsible and bring spending under control.

Locally, Reich said he thought it would be “disgraceful if the Board of Regents raises tuition one penny.”

Reich said his campaign will be run differently now that the primary is over.”People are going to take (the campaign) more seriously,” he said.

Reich said when students don’t get involved in elections, it is “partly the fault of candidates who have forgotten students.” He also said he hopes he can get the students to participate in his campaign and election.