Jim Dodge is a Republican running for state Treasurer.
Jim Dodge is a Republican running for state Treasurer.
Jim Dodge argues all you need to do is look around to understand why so many people now appear to be giving up on Illinois.
“No one feels the government of Illinois is working for them,” Dodge told Prairie State Wire. “From the crumbling roads to the budget crisis to all the burning social issues that need addressing, people are fed up. What makes it worse is there’s no reason to believe the political class in Springfield is honest enough or smart enough to really fix any of it.”
A new Illinois Issues Survey found that 53 percent of Illinoisans have considered leaving the state, citing dysfunctional government and rising high taxes as their biggest gripes.
Mike Frerichs, a Democratic incumbent, is seeking re-election as state Treasurer.
Overall, nearly three-fourths, or 74 percent, of those surveyed believe the state is on the wrong track, compared to 14 percent that thinks it is heading in the right direction, Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) states.
The new results are similar to the sobering findings of 2016, when a Paul Simon Public Institute survey that found 47 percent of residents would rather live elsewhere because of the state's tax rates.
“The numbers are consistent with what I’ve heard every day on the campaign trial for the last year,” said Dodge, running as a Republican for state treasurer against Democratic incumbent Mike Frerichs. “The discontent and disbelief that people feel is real, and all Democrats seem to want to do is make it worse by expanding government even more.”
With Illinoisans already paying some of the country’s highest property tax rates in the country, IPI reports the state is one of only three where owning a home has become a worse investment since the Great Recession.
“I think many people here in Illinois understand that if on Nov. 6 Democrats win out taxes will go up even more and the financial health of this state will get worse,” Dodge said. “Putting Republicans in power means the chance for meaningful reform and moving the state in the right direction.”
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