Five Republican candidates for governor each sounded themes of creating economic development and imposing tougher ethics reforms in pitching their candidacies at a forum today.
Several of the contenders at the Union League Club of Chicago event also talked about the need to reform an Illinois Republican Party that has struggled for relevancy following the scandals that sent the state's last GOP governor, George Ryan, to federal prison on corruption charges.
DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom, of Naperville; transparency advocate Adam Andrzejewski, of Hinsdale; and political pundit Dan Proft, of Chicago, each billed themselves as outsiders who would be agents for change in Springfield.
State Sens. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, and Kirk Dillard, of Hinsdale, touted their own reform credentials, but said they would be able to affect greater change against the Democrats who now control state government.
"Now, there's a lot of guys running in this race that boast of being outsiders. And while they were outsiders, I rolled up my sleeves and was working successfully in a dignified way to keep this state moving forward," said Dillard, a 16-year legislator who also worked in the administrations of Republican Govs. Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar.
Taking note of the state's deficit-plagued budget and that the two leading Democratic contenders -- Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes -- both have proposed income-tax hike plans, Brady and Schillerstrom directly pledged not to raise taxes. Proft, who has represented various aspects of Cicero government as a spokesman, proposed halving the current income-tax rate.
A day after ousted former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich's one-time chief of staff, Alonzo "Lon" Monk, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to testify against Blagojevich, each of the GOP contenders sought to portray themselves as the right person to lead an ethical sea change in Illinois government.
Dillard noted his work in the passage of previous ethics-reform legislation and said he would shut down his political campaign fund if elected governor. Schillerstrom said DuPage County instituted ethics reforms and put in place an inspector general a decade ago.
Brady noted he had called for limiting legislative terms to 10 years each in the House and Senate. That later prompted Proft, in the only real exchange among the candidates, to question whether "anybody" thinks that limiting someone to 20 years in the legislature was meaningful reform.
But it was clear that by going after Springfield, Schillerstrom, Andrzejewski and Proft were taking aim at Dillard and Brady, both state senators.
"The level of incompetence that is coming out of Springfield is truly amazing and staggering," said Schillerstrom.
--Rick Pearson
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