Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) senses one of the keys to taking down Gov. Bruce Rauner in the 2018 Republican primary lies in reminding voters just how little they really seem to know about him.
“You look at his record and what he said on the campaign trail when we all helped to elect him,” Ives said during a recent appearance on “Chicago's Morning Answer” radio show on WIND. “He said he was going to do something to put in reforms, protect people, and he has failed in every single way. From sanctuary states, taxpayer funding of abortions and bailing out utility companies, he has failed on the promises he made to the people of Illinois. He betrayed our party and our values and Republicans kick people out of office who don’t do what they said they were going to do because we can’t trust them anymore.”
"Chicago's Morning Answer" is co-hosted by Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson. Proft is a principal in Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.
Illinois State House Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), running for Governor
Ives said Rauner has also been masterful in the way he sought to string voters along.
“He wants people to believe he has been fighting (House Speaker) Mike Madigan (D-Chicago), but he actually instituted a very social, liberal agenda supported by Democrats,” she said. “If you look down the list Chicago Dems and Mike Madigan never implemented a sanctuary-styled bill; they never put in crisis pregnancy centers; they never did public facility bailouts. The things he actually signed into law were not even put into law by Democrats when they had complete control.”
Ives said a recent survey found that 85 percent of Illinoisans now believe the state is on the wrong track.
“Gov. Rauner has already beat himself,” she said. “He has no base; he cannot buy back trust after betrayal. He talks about his field organization, a good field organization looks like 16,000 signatures in four weeks.”
Ives hinted over time she expects more and more people to become receptive to her reform message because they now have little choice.
“Look at the bills I’ve filed, it’s all about getting relief for taxpayers, about giving businesses the freedom to do business as they see fit,” she said. “It’s about standing up for values. Rauner has not done that. They’re fleeing the state over it.”
Ives said she is also proud of the stances she has taken for more transparency and against corruption.
She said no one from the Rauner campaign has contacted her about her candidacy, but she would relish the chance to debate the governor.
“They think this is all just going to blow by the wayside and everything will be fine,” she said.
Ives has tabbed Rock Island County Board member Rick Morthland as her running mate, insisting that the two are cut from the same cloth.
"He represents a forgotten part of Illinois,” she said. “He lives in Rock Island, just across the border from Iowa and he can testify to the outmigration.”
In a YouTube video where she first officially announced her candidacy, Ives stressed the difference between her and Rauner is “I choose taxpaying Illinois families.”
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