Brady: Giannoulias Ethical Issues "Disqualifying"

Secretary of State nominees Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) and former State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias debate before the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

Underdog candidate for Secretary of State, Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), says losses of a college savings program and the failure of his family’s bank make former State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias “unfit” for the job.

Speaking on our The Illinoize Livestream and Podcast, Brady said Giannoulias should be held accountable for $85 million in losses to the Bright Start college savings program in 2008, while he was State Treasurer.

“Under his watch was the mismanagement of the Bright Start program,” Brady said. “Then those families got less in a settlement package than they were supposed to get initially.”

Brady also criticized Giannoulias for loaning $20 million to felons while a senior loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank in Chicago, which was seized by the federal government in 2010, while Giannoulias was a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Brady says the issues make Giannoulias the wrong choice to lead the office, which regulates securities & investments brokers.

The Giannoulias campaign did not respond to a message seeking a response.

NewsPatrick Pfingsten