Schimpf Running for Governor, Bailey to Announce Next Week
Former State Senator Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) announced Monday he’s running for Governor next year.
A recently departed state lawmaker announced his run for Governor Monday while another relative newcomer to the General Assembly will announce a campaign for the job next week, sources tell The Illinoize.
Former State Senator Paul Schimpf of Waterloo in the Metro East area of the state announced his campaign Monday. Schimpf served four years in the Senate and did not seek re-election in November.
Schimpf is an attorney and former Marine, who lost a race for Illinois Attorney General in 2014. Schimpf, who closed the year with around $62,000 in his campaign account, says he’s starting his race with more money than he had in his race for Attorney General.
“That is one of the lessons that I learned when I ran statewide in 2014 for Illinois Attorney General is that it doesn’t matter how good your message is, if you don’t have the resources to get it out, you will not be successful,” he said in a virtual news conference Monday. “One of the things that [billionaire former presidential candidate] Mike Bloomberg has taught us is that you can’t buy elections with money. I know that Governor Pritzker has a lot of resources. I don’t expect to be able to match him dollar-for-dollar, but I do expect to be able to get my message out and with a lot of hard work, I do expect to be able to win this race.”
Schimpf says he believes a southern Illinois conservative like him can reach more moderate suburban voters.
“A lot of people think that there is more division in our state than there really is. Regardless of where they live in the state, they are looking for [three] things: they want to know that their kids are going to be able to get a good education, they want to know that their families are going to be safe, and they want to know that they’re going to have the security to know that they’re going to be able to rely on their retirement plans. That’s common to all the people in Illinois,” he said. “I think that we have much more in common than what divides us. So, I’m not worried about being able to both work for, and appeal to, the people throughout Illinois.”
Schimpf has been a frequent critic of Governor JB Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic but said Monday he would have ceded some authority to the General Assembly.
“I would not have tried to go it alone,” he said. “I would have welcomed oversight and feedback from the Illinois General Assembly. The Pritzker administration has not given the Illinois General Assembly the opportunity to provide meaningful oversight of his pandemic response. Because of that, people have, frankly, lost confidence in Governor Pritzker’s ability to handle the pandemic.”
Courts have ruled multiple times that Pritzker’s executive orders fall within his constitutional authority.
Sources also tell The Illinozie Monday that State Senator Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), one of the highest profile critics of the Governor, will announce his campaign for Governor next Monday in Effingham.
An online ticketing link began circling Republican circles Monday teasing a “major announcement.”
Bailey, who has filed multiple failed lawsuits against the Governor’s actions and lost each case when it moved outside of his home county, has been one of the most outspoken critics, especially downstate.
Bailey has not responded to multiple calls and e-mails from The Illinoize.
Neither Bailey or Schimpf are considered prolific fundraisers and will be competing for many of the same southern Illinois voters.
State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), considered one of the more mainstream potential candidates for Governor told The Illinoize Monday that he’s planning to spend the spring legislative session “getting things done” and would then “go from there.”
UPDATE (10:35 P.M.):
Chicago-area businessman Gary Rabine tells us tonight: “I am very confident I am the best candidate to beat Pritzker. I am on course to an announcement in the next few weeks.”
