Former Rep. Reboletti Attempting Springfield Comeback
Former Rep. Dennis Reboletti, now the Addison Township Supervisor in DuPage County, does a television interview in 2020. Reboletti is running for Senate.
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Dennis Reboletti served eight years in the House, leaving in early 2015 after a failed run for State Senate.
Reboletti is back, seemingly out of nowhere, filing Monday to challenge Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs) in the new 23rd Senate district.
Reboletti spoke with The Illinoize about his priorities and why he’s getting back involved in state level politics.
He said he began considering a race when, as the pandemic dragged on, the legislature refused to act on any clarity or limitation to the governor’s emergency powers.
“It’s been the extreme frustration of myself, and many in the state of what I consider the state being run by one person over the last two years,” he said, referring to Governor JB Pritzker’s ongoing executive orders. “I think that one person should never rule anything in government and the Governor has been able to do things unilaterally. The supermajority Democrats stood by and watched and did not hold the Governor accountable and were happy to let him take control. The legislature is a co-equal branch with the executive, and they didn’t step up to do their duties.”
Reboletti says he isn’t and wasn’t opposed to all mitigations during the pandemic, especially in the early days and weeks, but says the legislature needed to step in to clarify the Governor’s powers at some point.
He was hesitant to attack Glowiak Hilton’s job performance in the Senate.
“What we’ve seen over the years, even pre pandemic, is a mass exodus from the state, college students who leave and go out of state because college is cheaper there, and you have a brain drain,” he said. “We’ve had instability planning for the future and, to me, it’s more about ideas and [planning] for the future.”
Reboletti says he expects Senate Democrats to use Donald Trump, QAnon, COVID deniers, and other fringe elements of the GOP against him, but says he’s not associated with that wing of the party.
“I’m a pragmatic conservative. I take a thoughtful approach to each issue. Issue by issue, how does it impact my constituents, my district, and then, what’s best for the state of Illinois,” he said. “I am a conservative, but that doesn’t mean I’m unable to balance things or only be tied to Trump or QAnon or whatever. You can paint me as whatever you like, but I’ll let my record speak for itself.”
Reboletti says he has the support of Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) and the GOP campaign arm.
Reboletti had around $1,000 in his campaign account at the beginning of the year, but Senate Republicans have already dropped $50,000 into the race. Glowiak had around $220,000 in her campaign to start the year.
Joe Biden won the new 23rd by around 19 percentage points in 2020, but Governor Pritzker won the district by around 4 points in 2018.
