The upcoming March 18 primary elections offer many big decisions for many Illinois residents, these decisions concern which candidates from their respective parties will run for governor. The democratic gubernatorial race contains two primary candidates, the incumbent Pat Quinn and former director of Ceasefire Illinois Tio Hardiman. The Republican gubernatorial candidates include businessman Bruce Rauner, 44th district state senator Bill Brady, 24th district state senator Kirk Dillard, and state treasurer Dan Rutherford. To begin to break down the candidates The analysis was focused down to two areas that make a difference to college students, views on education and the economy.
Within the Democratic gubernatorial race we have Pat Quinn who has shown in his time in office that he has made earnest efforts to fund public schools. During his time in office Pat Quinn has aided in the rescue of the MAP Grant for college students and brought in around three billion dollars towards Illinois schools.
He also has doubled the number of charter schools in the state, which he believes in monitoring closely in order to determine their effectiveness. This support for charter schools has been a difference seen between Quinn and rival candidate Tio Hardiman who wishes to impose a cap on the number of newly built charter schools.
The goal of Hardiman’s charter school cap is to help fund and keep public schools competitive throughout the state. In terms of MAP grant funding Hardiman seeks to maintain the status quo, meaning he plans to keep funding at 400 million dollars.
In terms of who has the edge among the two Democratic candidates, current Hickory Hills Alderman and former state representative Tom McAvoy voiced his view of the race.
Through a phone conversation, Alderman McAvoy stated that the incumbent Quinn has a very large advantage and strong likelihood of securing the Democratic nomination.
The Republican gubernatorial race has many more candidates battling for the nomination, but how do they view economic issues. Concerning the economy the Republican candidates lay out plans to bring jobs into the state by cutting through the dreaded red tape.
Kirk Dillard touts a “Destination Illinois” plan that seeks to streamline and cut the regulations many businesses must deal with in the state. Bill Brady wishes to stop the progressive state income tax and to create an infrastructure program that evaluates Illinois’s economic sectors.
Bruce Rauner shares in the belief of reforming the tax code and getting rid of the “Quinn 67 percent income tax hike” and the “Quinn 45 percent corporate tax hike” both taxes he views as hinderances to the Illinois economy.
Finally, Treasurer Rutherford is seeking to adjust and utilize the Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit in order to create a tax system where all businesses and individuals can all be eligible to receive fair tax credits.
When discussing the Republican gubernatorial candidates, Alderman McAvoy had his views on whether Rauner was a lock for the Republican nomination. Alderman McAvoy stated, “locks are not a real thing in politics.”
The point made by Alderman McAvoy is that even today money alone cannot buy you a nomination and Rauner himself may not even be the best candidate to defeat the likely opponent Pat Quinn.
Alderman McAvoy cites Rauner’s lack of political experience and flip-flopping on issues as potential fodder for the Quinn campaign during the general race.
Alderman McAvoy’s belief is either Bill Brady or Kirk Dillard have a better shot at defeating Quinn. Amongst these three candidates Rutherford now finds himself in the outside looking in as he struggles to keep his campaign from derailing after harassment allegations have recently been released against him the past month.
With many students going out to vote like junior communications major Andreas Pfatschbacher, these issues will be weighing heavily on their mind. Andreas stated that he, “Always weighed economic issues above all else because a strong economy can help all sectors.”
And with primary polling on March 18 you can be sure to see students like Andreas going out to vote, and you should as well.
Jake Alleruzzo
News Contributor
About Post Author
