By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – As so often happens, the newsmakers show up at an event, and the reporters’ questions are about something different. Monday was no exception.
Indiana’s solidifying abortion restrictions, causing major employers Eli Lilly and Cummins to wonder how much more business they want to do there. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot would love to welcome their workers – and is distressed about what red states are doing – noting she is Black and a lesbian.
“When we see that (Republicans are) going after trans children, there’s no depth to which these folks will not sink,” she said at an event promoting renewable energy. “What we’re hearing, and certainly what we’re seeing, is employees at these companies saying, count me out! I do not want to work, I do not want to live, in a state that doesn’t value me and my rights.”
That event was shortly after police unions’ endorsement of Gov. JB Pritzker’s election opponent, State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia). Pritzker said the Fraternal Order of Police is embracing a hypocrite who is the true anti-police candidate – who talks about supporting cops but who votes against programs which would help them.
“He is not somebody who has public safety in mind. He is a hypocrite on so many things,” said the governor, at the same event as Lightfoot. “He’s somebody who thinks that abortion is a greater tragedy than the Holocaust,” the governor continued.
“He doesn’t deserve to be in the leadership of our state. We have had a very, very challenging 2 ½ years fighting through a deadly global pandemic, which, by the way, he told people mostly to ignore, and as a result of that, thousands more people died than should have.”
The Illinois and Chicago FOP lodges also endorsed Republican attorney general candidate Tom DeVore, a southern Illinoisan who made his name fighting against mask mandates, a subject which did not come up at his endorsement announcement Monday.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
