Illinois State Senator Kirk Dillard is toured the state Monday to kick off his campaign for governor. IPR’s Tony Arnold reports:
This is Dillard’s second attempt to win the Republican nomination for governor. In 2010 - the Hinsdale Republican lost the primary by 193 votes. He kicked off his tour of Illinois today at a sparsely-attended campaign stop on Chicago’s North Side.
Without detailing his campaign strategy - Dillard emphasized he could turn things around for a party that’s been struggling in recent years in Illinois.
DILLARD: As I found out four years ago, every vote counts. And I need your vote. So it boils down to this for Republicans: I’m actually a Republican that can win a general election.
Dillard says if elected - he would create a new office tasked with reducing the size of other government offices. He also says if he had won four years ago - he’d have reformed the state’s pension systems by now. Dillard’s Republican primary opponents include State Senator Bill Brady, Treasurer Dan Rutherford, and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner.