McCaleb: 
GOP offers plenty of choices for governor

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If you plan to vote Republican in the Feb. 2 primary, you probably have some homework to do.

With the filing deadline Monday, as many as seven candidates could be on the GOP ballot for Illinois governor.

Last week in this space, I offered a little information about the Democrats running for governor.

Here’s a very basic primer on Republican candidates, not all of whom have filed yet, as culled from their Web sites and news media reports:

• Adam Andrzejewski: With his brother, Andrzejewski, of Hinsdale, started his own publishing company. In 2007, he founded For The Good Of Illinois, an organization whose goal is to bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to Illinois government.

Andrzejewski proposes balancing the budget by making spending and contracting more transparent. He would institute a moratorium on all new programs. He wants to expand the number of charter schools and triple the private school tax credit.

• Bill Brady: A state senator from Bloomington since 2002, Brady owns a construction and real estate development company. He advocates building a new state budget from scratch, and proposes creating thousands of jobs through tax credits and incentives.

He recently filed legislation requiring the state to disclose all the bills it receives online, and to pay its bills in the order they’re received.

• Kirk Dillard: A state senator since 1994, Dillard, of Hinsdale, previously served as a judge for the Illinois Court of Claims, chief of staff for former Gov. Jim Edgar, and director of legislative affairs for former Gov. James Thompson.

Dillard said he would end the state’s spending problem by slashing the budget. He would bring more jobs to Illinois by offering employer incentive programs and reducing costs to businesses. Dillard also wants to reform education be reducing the number of mandated, nonessential classroom activities and implement pilot programs to test different methods to see what works.

• Bob Schillerstrom: The DuPage County Board chairman from Naperville has proposed a 72-hour “timeout period” that would prevent legislators from voting on budget-related bills to give the public time to review them. He called for a similar timeout period, of 24 hours, before legislators can vote on any bill that has been changed by an amendment.

Schillerstrom also called for a cap on spending, with the cap tied to the state’s population growth. He wants the state’s comptroller to certify that the budget is balanced.

• Andy McKenna: The Chicago businessman is a former chairman of the state Republican Party. He unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2004.

McKenna proposed dramatic spending cuts to balance the state budget. He said he would tackle the state’s corruption problem, in part by making the lieutenant governor the state’s chief compliance officer. He supports more charter school options for parents and said he would stand up to unions that have been a roadblock to education reform.

• Dan Proft: A conservative commentator and small business owner from Wheaton, Proft has helped run several political campaigns, including the 2004 Senate campaigns of Jack Ryan and Alan Keyes. Proft proposes significant spending cuts, a 50 percent reduction in personal and corporate income tax rates, and an elimination of the estate tax.

Proft said he would reform the state’s education system by standing up to teachers’ unions and reforming the state’s pension system.

• Jim Ryan: Former Illinois Attorney General Ryan teaches at Benedictine University in Lisle. Ryan retired from politics after losing to ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the 2002 gubernatorial race.

Ryan is the most recent candidate to enter the race and he has not released much information about his platform.

• Dan McCaleb is Editor of the Northwest Herald. E-mail him at dmccaleb@nwherald.com.

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