Meet U.S Representative Candidate Greg Aguilar (D- IL 17th Dist.)

Rockford was split into two congressional Districts after the latest re-map this year.

In the seventeenth district, three Democrats are vying for the chance to knock off incumbent Republican Bobby Schilling.

Schilling doesn't have a primary opponent.

We're profiling the three Democratic candidates this week.

Starting with Greg Aguilar.

"Do you want him to come from the poor, working class, middle class?"

Democratic candidate Greg Aguilar understands hard work. Both his parents have worked for John Deere. Both worked through the hardship of layoffs.

"If you want to succeed in life, you have to work hard, and rolling up your sleeves is not something to be ashamed of."

Aguilar took that value with him to the University of Iowa. Spent his summers off as a tradesman.

"I would weld, that was a trade I picked up in high school, because, having labor parents, my parents said college may not be an option so make sure you pick up a trade and I did."

Now, he's running for Congress to help people. Feeding a passion he developed while working in the Social Security Administration and a credit union.

"I really like making things better, making communities better, and that's what I've always done"

"I didn't think it would be Congress this early, but I think the time was right, I thought that it was a good time for me, I have the energy, I have the drive, and I have the grassroots support, so I said its a good time to do it."

He says Congress needs more diversity. Both in ethnicity and social class.

"It's funny how a lot of our congressmen are very wealthy individuals and I think that's great that they're successful, but then they take that wealthy mentality with them into office."

And above all, Aguilar says he's running because it's the right thing to do.

"If we don't speak out for how we want our country to be, and if we don't take part in how it's going, we're going to inherit stuff that we may not like or we might not be able to fix."