Prairie State Wire

Illinois News Channel correspondents Terry Martin and Jeff Berkowitz recently assessed the issues facing the four announced candidates who figure to raise the most between now and Election Day in 2022.

"When we have the campaign for governor in 2022, education spending will be a very key issue that is going to be coming up," Martin said.

"You've got to ask the people who are running the show," Berkowitz said. "Gov. Pritzker, he's the guy who appoints the people to the Illinois State Board of Education, they're sort of in charge, are we getting our money's worth?"

Berkowitz estimates that there may be at least 20 issues GOP candidates can run on against Pritzker, critical race theory, jobs and economic growth among them.

To date, Bull Valley businessman Gary Rabine, state Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) and former colleague Paul Schimpf – all Republicans – have launched campaigns challenging Pritzker.

Illinois is home to the second highest property tax rate in the country, which is largely attributable to education spending.

Data shows other states, such as Florida, spend a fraction of what Illinois does on education per pupil yet are far outperforming Illinois on standardized test scores.

In business here in Illinois for roughly four decades, Rabine said there are still times he almost doesn’t recognize the state.

“I’m running because I can see my family, my friends’ families and so many others that just want to get out of here,” Rabine recently told IllinoisChannelTV. “It bothers me so bad. I’ve been in business for 40 years, the last 20 building businesses as a leader, understanding what great leadership looks like and it’s not what we see in our governor and our mayor of Chicago.”

Rabine said his platform is built around a plan dedicated to rebuilding the state's economy.

“I’m friends with a bunch of governors doing a great job bringing jobs to their states and I look at our state and we’re doing everything we can to push job creators out, to push opportunity out, to push our kids out,” he said. “I can’t tell my kids this is the place you must stay to build your family to build a business, but I’m going to be able to tell them that. My slogan is 'paving the way to stay.'”

A retired U.S. Marine, Schimpf voices many of the same concerns in basing his campaign on a platform of responsible government.

"Illinois needs a governor who understands the day-to-day challenges that we all face, a governor who will live by the same rules that the rest of us follow and most importantly, a governor who will stand up to the entrenched special interest groups who have severely damaged our state," he said during a video news conference formally announcing his candidacy.