Nov 19, 2010

Illinois pizza man among newbies to Congress

09:30 AM

If the midterm elections were about shaking up the Washington establishment, then count Republican Bobby Schilling among the ultimate outsiders.

Schilling is the pizza guy in Congress. The owner of a pizza parlor in Moline, Ill., Schilling decided to take a stand for smaller government and lower taxes. He defeated Democratic Rep. Phil Hare to become the first GOP lawmaker to serve his western Illinois district since 1980.

There are nearly 100 freshmen entering Congress in January, so it's been hard to figure out who they all are. But Schilling has been profiled a lot this week in stories about the newcomers to Capitol Hill, perhaps because how many other pizzeria owners have been elected to the House?

Schilling told ABC's Rick Klein this week that he's not going to take the government-funded health care or pension that's given to members of Congress. "I've done a contract with my district," he told ABC.

By the way, there are roughly 40 new members of the House and Senate who -- like Schilling -- have never been elected to anything until now.

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