CHAMPAIGN — Saying he wants to be a "citizen legislator" in the style championed by James Madison, Champaign County Board member Alan Nudo is entering the race for the Republican nomination in the newly redrawn 52nd Senate District that includes most of Champaign and Vermilion counties.

Nudo will oppose conservative activist John Bambenek of Champaign in the Republican primary election next March 20. The winner will take on state Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, now serving his second term.

"At this time in my life I think this is a good time to try this," said Nudo. "I think the atmosphere is right to take a look at the changes that need to be made in the state."

Whoever the Republican nominee is will face some daunting disadvantages: Frerichs' name recognition, a $270,000 head start in fundraising and a redrawn district map more favorable to the Democrat.

"That makes for a clear distinction between who I'm going to run against and what I did," said Nudo, who led an effort on the Champaign County Board to have a citizens commission draw the new map of county board districts. "That's one of the things I want to bring to the state. We're going to push for a map drawn by the citizens. If I learned anything from the mapping commission we put together, it was tainted by having individuals from the county board swaying or working outside of the parameters."

Frerichs, charged Nudo, was part of a state redistricting process in which the 52nd District boundaries were changed to eliminate St. Joseph, Ogden, Armstrong and Potomac, areas where Frerichs had fared poorly in past elections.

"And that's fine," said Nudo. "I'm going to offer to Republicans and independents the opportunity for people to say that this is a guy who's a citizen legislator. It's something we need to get back to, where we have people from all walks of life go on there and take on what needs to be done in Springfield without looking at the next election cycle. The career people are looking at the next election cycle as soon as this one is over with."

Nudo said he would run for no more than two terms in the Senate.

"By virtue of my age (63) I'm a term limit guy," he joked. "I think I have a minimum of two swings left. I think two swings is a good period to get in there and do what you want to do and get out. That's the key thing. I coached basketball for six years at Parkland (College) and I realized that at that stage of my life that was enough for me."

He said he would maintain his private sector job while serving as a legislator.

"Look, Mike's everywhere. Mike is at every function. But that's because it's his job," Nudo said. "I think a citizen legislator is going to say I'll be at every function and I'll answer constituents and I'll do all those things but I'm not going to be beholden to that salary at the next election."

His "number one issue," Nudo said, will be job creation.

"We have got to change the environment of what the state provides for businesses and jobs," said Nudo, the president of Robesons Inc., a development firm in Champaign started from the Robeson Department Store, where Nudo began work in 1978. "We have to unwind laws that are anti-business. What union member, tradesperson, non-union member, no matter what their political bent is, would say, 'No I don't want you to create a better business environment and create more jobs?'

"I think a union person should be supportive of me because the party that his dues goes to most of the time has created legislation that is onerous to job creation and created an atmosphere where businesses are flying out of here."

Nudo said he would have opposed the 67 percent income tax increase that the Legislature passed and Frerichs voted for last January. He said he would vote now to repeal it — but gradually.

"I don't want to be tied down to this as a final decision but I think a repeal in a staggered way would show good faith that it is not permanent," he said. "It's touted as temporary but I don't believe it and no one believes it for a moment."

He said he would "vote party principles but not the party line." He cited his history of work with Democrats on the county board and his recent vote in favor of a proclamation designating July as "Respect & Celebrate Civil Unions Month" in Champaign County. Nudo was the only Republican to support the proclamation.

"That was a simple vote," he said, "because no governmental body should stand in the way of the ability for two people to conduct legal business — buying a house, an estate, adopting a child. Those are the kinds of things a civil union does. That was a no-brainer for me."

If he runs against Frerichs, Nudo said he expects to be outspent. "But it's not the money, it's the message," he said. "We will be competitive."

A survey conducted on his behalf found that "it's a toss-up in a generic race," he said.

"That being said, I have to prove to Republicans and independents and some Democrats that I provide something different in Springfield from the Chicago parlay that they've got running. That's something I'm going to pound away at, along with job creation.

"Look, Mike's a nice guy and so am I. But that doesn't mean his votes are what this area wants and needs."