McHenry County Auditor Teresi Latest on Griffin Statewide Slate, will Challenge for Comptroller
McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi announced her campaign for State Comptroller Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Teresi campaign)
McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi is the latest recruit on billionaire Ken Griffin’s statewide slate. She announced Wednesday she’ll challenge Democrat Susana Mendoza for State Comptroller.
From a news release:
McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi today launched her campaign for Illinois Comptroller. Teresi’s extensive experience in forensic auditing, creating transparency for taxpayers, and fighting corruption give her a sterling background to draw from to help right the ship of Illinois’ disastrous finances.
“Throughout my career, I have seen firsthand how important transparency is in the process of managing taxpayer dollars,” Teresi said. “That’s what I promise to bring to the office of Comptroller: open communication with the taxpayers and an eagle eye to root out the waste, fraud, and abuse our state is plagued by thanks to decades of Madigan Machine politics. Illinois needs a Comptroller with real financial experience, not a career politician controlled by the special interests. As an experienced CPA, auditor, and Certified Fraud Examiner, I have the experience to manage the state’s finances and crush corruption where and when it starts.”
Teresi has served McHenry County as Auditor since 2018 when she was appointed and subsequently elected twice, most recently in 2020 receiving nearly 75% of the vote.
As Auditor, Teresi led the charge to make good government reforms on behalf of the taxpayers. In addition to modernizing the audit process, making it accessible online to taxpayers and creating a system of accountability, she also implemented paperless systems for greater efficiency and cost savings. Teresi also instituted processes ensuring taxpayer dollars are being spent for the good of the county, not the personal benefit of its political leaders.
Prior to becoming McHenry County Auditor, Teresi worked in the Auditor’s office, tackling challenges to save time for county employees and ensuring taxpayer dollars were being spent wisely. She oversaw the County’s financial statements and government accounting. Teresi saw firsthand the amount of waste and inefficiency in county government and set out to correct that on becoming the county’s Auditor.
Democrats, of course, tied Teresi to former Governor Bruce Rauner.
“We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? In 2016, Bruce Rauner‘s handpicked comptroller candidate was roundly rejected by voters after helping the ‘worst Republican governor in America’ drive the state’s finances into a ditch. Now, Ken Griffin is running the Rauner Reboot, revealing his slate of puppets in a desperate bid to pull Illinois back to the Rauner days of budget impasses and months-long bill backlogs, said Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Abby Witt. “Thankfully, Illinois voters elected Susana Mendoza to fight the Rauner agenda during his disastrous term in office and re-elected her to help clean up the financial mess Rauner left behind. Now, we’re balancing our budget, actually paying our bills on time, and upgrading our credit for the first time in decades. No matter who Ken Griffin picks for his latest political game, Illinois voters won’t be fooled — the Rauner Reboot is destined to be a flop.”
Mendoza also released a statement:
“I welcome all candidates and look forward to talking about my lengthy and historic record of accomplishments as Comptroller on behalf of taxpayers with voters in all 102 counties of our great state of Illinois. Through smart financial management and fiscal discipline coupled with tenacious perseverance, I’ve successfully navigated our state through unprecedented fiscal challenges.
As Illinois’ fiscal watchdog, I’ve implemented historic transparency reforms, led our state to its first credit upgrades in decades, delivered the fastest vendor payment cycle in over 20 years, and paid down our bill backlog by over 75% without using federal stimulus funds - in the middle of a global pandemic.
When Illinois voters chose me in 2016 and 2018, they elected a strong, battle tested, proven leader who knows how to get things done. There is no challenge that I will not rise up to for Illinois. I will continue working hard to earn the votes and confidence of every voter across the state, regardless of their political party, and I look forward to the work that has yet to be done.”
