Governor Candidate

Questions & Answers

What is the importance of the Illinois Governor to your constituents in Champaign County?

As governor, I will work to restore confidence in Illinois.

It’s time to completely rethink, re-engineer and reintroduce a state government that keeps its promises, balances its books, and focuses on its core responsibilities. It’s the only way to overcome the state’s many challenges.

It’s become too expensive to live here. Many Illinoisans are now paying property tax bills that are bigger than their mortgage payments. Others are being squeezed out of their homes.

In Champaign County, property taxes have grown to consume 4.9 percent of household incomes. Add to that the state’s recent 32 percent income tax hike and it’s easy to understand why so many Illinoisans are voting with their feet.

People also can’t find enough good paying jobs. The state has lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000. Disappearing working- and middle-class jobs means too many people can’t afford a down payment on a home, provide for a college education or save for retirement. Families in Champaign County are struggling with incomes that have barely kept up with inflation since 1990.

And Illinoisans have lost faith in their leaders – they are too self-serving and too wedded to special interests to care about the residents they are supposed to serve. The General Assembly hasn’t championed the needs of ordinary Illinoisans and their communities for decades.

It’s vital to this state’s survival that we turn all that around.

Why are you qualified to be Governor?

Illinoisans have lost confidence in their political leaders. And why wouldn’t they, when the “Reformer” they elected in 2014 tells them, “I’m not in charge.”

I can lead the charge. Illinoisans are hungry for a leader who has the political will and policy insight to lead on difficult issues, as well as the courage to tackle the state’s numerous crises.

Anyone who has seen me defend ordinary Illinoisans’ interests on the House floor or tracked my votes knows I don’t back down and can’t be backed into a corner.

I will speak honestly about the severity of the crises the state faces. Illinoisans don’t need platitudes or vague promises. They need someone actually willing to pursue solutions. And they need a governor who won’t betray them for political gain.

I have stood up against special interests and sham bills that don’t solve our problems. I’ve been ridicule by the political class for asking impolite, but necessary, questions to reveal the shortsightedness of legislation. I have a five-year record of advancing important reform legislation and standing up for taxpayers.

Illinoisans also need a governor who truly and deeply understands the issues. Some call me a policy wonk - as if that’s something negative - but that’s what this state desperately requires.

Illinoisans need a governor who is in charge - one who offers a plan and a vision for Illinois.

I am running for Governor because, as a mother of five, I believe all families deserve leaders who are willing to fight for them to own a home in a safe community, to have access to quality schools, to be able to count on basic human services when they are in need, and to have the opportunity to build their lives and pursue happiness in Illinois.

What is a key policy difference between you and your Primary Opponent[s]?

My holistic approach to improving the economy and the state’s budget will differ markedly from my opponent.

Jobs, tax burdens and corruption all have to be tackled at once if Illinois is to grow again.

During the two-year budget impasse, Governor Rauner considered his own economic agenda paramount, and he was willing to accept punishing tax hikes on Illinoisans to get it.

However, speaker Madigan refused to negotiate “economic reforms” and blamed the governor for holding the budget hostage to an economic agenda – as if they weren’t related.

In the end, Rauner lost the budget fight. Illinois politicians passed a $5 billion permanent income tax increase and not a single one of the governor’s reforms.

Rauner’s and Madigan’s approaches to the fixing the economy are fundamentally flawed. The budget and the economy both matter. Lawmakers shouldn’t sacrifice one for the other. Illinois needs a holistic set of policies that will transform both the economy and the budget.

Every good economic and government policy change that would salvage businesses and attract more have been filed in bills over and over again. As governor, I will lead the revolt and work tirelessly to convince the majority of Illinoisans that it is in everyone’s best interest to enact major reforms.

I will set out the vision and goals of a new Illinois economy and connect the dots for voters to the choices before us as a state. Illinois can no longer afford to be a fiscal outlier and among the top 5 worst places to locate a business year after year.

Championing reform around the state is essential to creating the legislative pressure to get it done. Unlike my “not in change” opponent, I am not afraid to have the difficult conversations we must have to move this state forward. From pension reform to debt restructuring, I have already set myself apart as a leader on the important issues in Illinois.

Is there anything else you would like to say to an undecided voter in Champaign County?

There is no bigger indictment of the failures and betrayals of the political ruling class in Illinois than the fact that half the people here say they want to leave and 85% -plus say Illinois is headed in the wrong direction.

We either get serious about structural reform of state government – actually enact systemic change – or we will feed the fatalism that quickens Illinois' economic death spiral as businesses and families continue to depart.

Those advocating ever bigger government at ever greater expense – in both parties – have had the run of Chicago for 100 years and the run of state government for at least the past 50. How's that going?

Illinoisans have a choice. They can stick with the same politics that’s failed them again and again. Or they can make a change. I represent that change. I’ll be a champion for Illinoisans and their communities.

The Chicago Tribune held a debate with both Republican candidates for Governor

You can watch the full debate video: here.