The two frontrunners hoping to replace former Congressman Dennis Hastert in Illinois’ 14th District GOP primary faced off last night. State Senator Chris Lauzen and dairy magnate Jim Oberweis debated in Aurora.

Lauzen and Oberweis have been at each other’s throats since their campaigns began. And last night Oberweis went into attack mode in his opening statement, criticizing Lauzen for accepting money from a controversial contributor.

OBERWEIS: It’s not about your character or even your integrity. It’s about your judgment.

Lauzen says he’s returned the money—almost $100 thousand in all.

When it comes to some of the issues—the two have similar ideas on things like ending No Child Left Behind, reducing government regulation on businesses, and enforcing parental notifications for abortions.

They disagree on the construction of the a new west suburban highway. Oberweis supports it. Lauzen doesn’t. A third Republican candidate—Evanston resident Michael Dilger—did not take part in the debate.