Prairie State Wire

Will Illinois RNC Committeeman Richard Porter throw his hat in the ring for the governor's office?

While Porter's name was dropped alongside others such as state Sen. Jason Barickman, former Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady and Congressman Adam Kinzinger as potential hopefuls in the governor race next year by Politico, Porter hasn't solidly committed one way or the other. 

"I think it would be a great adventure," Porter said in an interview, "but it's something I got to sell internally in my household."

Porter said he doesn't expect to make an official call until summer, and called the decision's likelihood right now "a jump ball, 50/50."

Porter is a senior partner at Kirkland and Ellis LLP with experience in private corporate mergers. Outside of his legal career, he's served on various finance committees for past Republican presidential, Illinois governor, Senate and House candidates. 

 Many things will decide whether or not Porter takes a swipe at the statehouse, including the lineup of his contenders, how Pritzker does the next several months, what bailout Illinois is given and some personal factors. 

"I'll make a decision in the summertime whether to go for it and whether I think it makes sense to try to sell some of my ideas," Porter said. 

Porter hails from New York and chose the Windy City for law school. After working with the George H.W. Bush administration, Porter returned to Chicago. 

"[...] What needs to happen in Illinois is we have a state that needs restructuring," Porter said. "There are three cycles of restructuring."

After working on corporate bankruptcy in law, Porter is familiar with righting the ship when it's threatening to capsize. 

"We're in a situation where a state is almost functionally insolvent and as a result of that needs to be restructured," Porter said. "When I think about entering the political arena as a candidate, I'm thinking about the skill sets I bring to this unique problem in time, which is: how do you take a state that's functionally broke and try to make it whole again? I think it's a task that no one else has ever taken on. It's going to be a really unique challenge, but it's something we got to do."