James D. Oberweis
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James D. Oberweis, popularly known as Jim Oberweis, is an Illinois politician, businessman and investment manager. He is most notable as a Chicago-area dairy magnate, owner of Oberweis Dairy in North Aurora, Illinois. On April 14, 2005, Oberweis announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois in the Illinois Republican Party primary election, hoping to unseat incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich. Oberweis ran twice unsuccessfully for the United States Senate.
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Education
Oberweis attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he obtained a bachelor of arts degree. He then went on to obtain a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. In 1968, he became a junior high school teacher until he switched careers in 1970 to become an investment stockbroker.
Profession
Having served on for a major New York Stock Exchange firm, Oberweis founded and published the Oberweis Report newsletter which focused on emerging growth companies. Hulbert Financial Digest ranked the Oberweis Report as one of the top five investment advice newsletters. In 1978, Oberweis and his wife established an investment management company of their own. In 1986, they used their profits to purchase the family business, Oberweis Dairy. A year later, Oberweis founded the Oberweis Emerging Growth Fund which then spawned the Oberweis Micro-Cap Portfolio and the Oberweis Mid-Cap Portfolio.
Television
Oberweis became a financial news anchor and host of his own national cable show on the Financial News Network. In Chicago, Oberweis became a regular guest on the Ask an Expert show. Oberweis was also a popular guest on CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg TV.
U.S. Senate campaign
Oberweis ran twice for his state party's nomination for the United States Senate in 2002 and 2004. Despite endorsements from the sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, Oberweis was unsuccessful in both races.
Due to his surprisingly strong second-place finish in the 2004 primary, many of the party faithful lobbied heavily for Oberweis to get the nomination when primary winner Jack Ryan dropped out due to scandalous material found in his divorce records. The path would have been clear if not for Oberweis' strong stance against illegal immigration — a stand he claimed was supported by a clear majority of the American public.
While his anti-immigration values and ads had won him support among his state party's base, others were outraged and even picketed his business. The state party later claimed that the national party became concerned that they would cultivate an image of xenophobia at a time when President George W. Bush was heavily courting Latino voters. However, nearly half of Latino voters favored more restrictive immigration policies and the GOP was dependent upon major donors that profited from liberal immigration policies so it is plausible there was a fundamentally different poltical calculation involved.
There were unsubstantiated rumors that President Bush himself called the Illinois Republican Party, asking them not to choose Oberweis as the replacement candidate. The state party chose instead former Ambassador Dr. Alan Keyes to carry the party through the general election. Dr. Keyes lost the election by the largest margin in Illinois state history for any candidate.
Resources
- Oberweis Dairy (http://www.oberweisdairy.com/)