State Rep. Shane Cultra probably wouldn't mind seeing every campaign conducted like the one he just completed with Champaign firefighter and Unit 4 school board President Dave Tomlinson as an opponent.

And not just because the Onarga businessman won handily in Tuesday's Republican primary for the 105th Illinois House District seat.

Cultra in an interview took time to compliment Tomlinson for sticking to issues in a campaign with nary any mud slung. Tomlinson, for his part, said he never considered doing it any other way.

"I just don't think it solves anything," he said.

Cultra said he thinks Illinois could solve some of its election problems by limiting the amount spent on campaigns to $25,000 for Illinois House elections and $50,000 for the state Senate.

He said he will advance that proposal if he's re-elected this fall – likely, since he has no Democratic opponent at this point.

But he admitted the idea is unlikely to go anywhere in a state where the top legislative leaders dominate, in part, by bankrolling key campaigns.

"I realize something like that probably won't even see a committee," Cultra said.

"It'll just get killed. But it's something that needs to be done sometime because Springfield is broken."

Cultra said he sees more possibility in another proposal he has in mind, which would reduce property taxes for elementary and secondary schools and replace the amount dollar for dollar with income tax revenue.

Often talked about in the past, such a shift has been getting renewed attention lately, he said. Cultra said he thinks an odd coalition of downstate and Chicago legislators, Republicans and Democrats, might even be possible to drive it this time.

"We'll just have to wait and see," he said. "There's been a lot of talk about it."

Cultra, in his third term, had run unopposed since he won the seat when the district was formed in 2002. The 105th includes the northwest part of Champaign County, the top of Vermilion County, Ford County in its entirety and parts of Iroquois, Livingston and McLean counties.

There were no Democrats in the primary Tuesday, and Cultra is likely to be unopposed in the heavily Republican district this fall. Democrats have until this spring to appoint a candidate, but haven't bothered in the past.

While their primary campaign was comparatively low key and conducted mostly by personal appearances as opposed to media ads, Tomlinson did criticize Cultra for what he contended has been a lack of interaction with constituents and some missed votes in the Legislature, although the incumbent rejected both claims.

Still, Cultra said he plans to spend more time personally in Champaign County. He does have an office in Savoy open five days a week.

"I'm going to make myself more visible," he said.