Who?
Mary Pat.
Didn’t sound like the Mary Pat I know.
Turned out it was a robo-call in support of Andy McKenna for governor.
It talked about Jim Ryan’s having supported a $5.5 billion tax hike. I presume this was when he was on the board of the union-financed not-for-profit tax hike advocacy organization run by Ralph Matire.
Mary Pat told me how Kirk Dillard had raised taxes millions of dollars, presumably by being one of the three DuPage County defectors who supported the tripling of the RTA sales tax rate in the collar counties.
This quote was attributed to Dillard about some tax matter, but I didn’t catch which one:
“What’s the big deal?”
So, what’s the message of this little bit of campaigning.
First, it interrupted a call I was having with a Crystal Lake number on a different exchange.
Second, when talking to an acquaintance in southern Kane County, he had gotten the call, too.
Andy McKenna
Kirk Dillard
So, it’s probably going to Republicans throughout the suburbs.
But there’s something more importantly.
It signals that McKenna’s polling shows the governor’s race in the Republican primary has narrowed down to three people:
- Kirk Dillard
- Andy McKenna
- Jim Ryan
In December, the Chicago Tribune poll said Ryan was leading by over 2-1, but still in the middle 20 percentage range.
So, if you think Jim Ryan can’t win in November and you want a Republican elected, the choice pretty much narrows down to McKenna or Dillard.
I had previously thought that Bill Brady might be one that could catch up with Ryan, but this robo-call does not indicate that is the case.
Bill Brady does not seem to be gaining traction. The race is clearly among the 3 you cite. And among those 3, one – just one – is committed to solving the state’s fiscal mess without raising taxes; in fact, he’s the only one who seems to recognize that raising taxes would only deepen the crisis, as more investment and business and jobs and thus families (taxpayers!) would be driven from IL. That candidate is Andy McKenna. He has my vote, and he should have yours.
I do not understand how Penny Pullen can endorse a man whose campaign theme itself is an outright lie. OUTSIDER???
Andy McKenna is not part of the mess in Springfield, that’s what “outsider” means. It’s not a crime to be a successful businessman, nor is it a crime to have led one of the 2 major political parties. It’s not a crime to be influential. Those are assets. But they don’t make you an “insider” when it comes to the disaster the Springfield team have given us. In fact, he has used his influence and his party position to play a leading role in defeating tax increases and holding wobbly Republicans back from voting for them. The campaign theme relates to the business practice of bringing in someone who has not been a party to the mess in order to rearrange business practices to save the sinking enterprise. That is far from an “outright lie.” It’s a good thing we have Andy available to us as a good choice for governor – someone with experience of the right kind, not of the Springfield insider kind!
McKenna is an insider who abused (some would say stole) GOP party resources for his own gain. He was found guilty of an ethics violation.
Dillard has been endorsed by 10 newspapers around the state and has a solid conservative record. He is supported by the State Rifle Association, Family PAC, Jack Roeser, Sandy Rios and others.