By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) − Republicans took their turn at the Illinois State Fair to call out Illinois Democrats for what the GOP says is making Illinois a challenging place to raise a family and do business.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, criticized Illinois Democrats on Thursday, the day after Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair.

“Importing crazy policies from California and New York, Democrats have driven out jobs. They have raised your taxes year after year, and Democrats have turned Illinois into the abortion and illegal immigration capital of the Midwest and close to being in the nation,” McCombie told rally goers. “But there is good news. Illinois is waking up. Oh, we are awake.”

McCombie said President Donald Trump gained ground in Illinois, getting more votes than any Republican in 20 years.

“Why did that happen? Because working families want safety. They want affordability. And they want leaders who work for them and not for a woke agenda,” she said.

A big question is who will surface to be the Republican candidate to take on incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is seeking a third term amid questions he’s vying to run for the White House. Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said whoever surfaces to be the party’s candidate needs to be sharp in criticizing Pritzker.

“To talk about, you know, the lack of opportunity in Illinois, the disinvestment in Illinois, the wayward economic policies of J.B. Pritzker,” Curran told The Center Square. “And as he’s looking to run nationally and leaning further and further left and more progressive, he is not putting Illinois first. And we need a candidate with a strong voice that is going to hold him accountable on that.”

A couple of names that have surfaced to possibly get the Republican Party’s nomination for governor stopped by the fairgrounds.

One candidate that’s announced he’s running is DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick. He said he has the political chops to navigate the Democrat controlled state as a Republican candidate.

“I’ve been dealing with these people. I know how it works. I know how politics work out here,” Mendrick told reporters. “I think I can do a lot better than most other candidates because … I think everyone’s done with dealing with just politicians.”

Someone else exploring a bid for the party’s nomination for governor is Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski. He said he’ll make an announcement on his intentions soon. As someone who analyzes Illinois’ economic condition, Dabrowski said he knows the solutions to what ails the state.

“We should be a top five state in the country for growth, for opportunity, for education. We’re a bottom five state. We should be a top five state. We need to flip all the policies around,” Dabrowski told The Center Square. “People are hurting and people are forced to leave. That’s why we’re losing people. We should be winning people.”

Other names are expected to surface. The filing period for the March 17 primary begins Oct. 27.