Ex-Obama Cabinet member backs GOP candidate in Illinois

One of President Obama’s first-term Cabinet appointments, Ray LaHood, is backing a Republican congressional candidate in Illinois.

{mosads}LaHood, who was an Illinois GOP representative before joining the Obama administration as Transportation secretary, campaigned Wednesday for Bobby Schilling, a former GOP representative looking to oust incumbent Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.).

“I’m very proud to support somebody who wants to get our country moving again, particularly in western Illinois,” LaHood said Wednesday in Kewanee, Ill., according to Schilling’s campaign.

LaHood praised Schilling’s bipartisan work to replace a bridge over the Mississippi River and efforts on the House Armed Services Committee to support the state’s Rock Island Arsenal, which houses military equipment.