While three of the five Republican Party candidates sparred on a variety of leadership points at a Bradley political forum, all promised unity once the March 17 primary concludes.

At a Saturday-morning candidates forum at Bradley’s Quality Inn before about 125 Republican Party voters, candidates Darren Bailey, Ted Dabrowski and Rick Heidner publicly stated they will support the victorious GOP primary candidate.

On a bone-chilling morning where the thermometer dipped below zero, the trio of candidates sought to turn up the heat as to why they are the best option to oust two-term Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“It’s time in our state where a strong, conservative Republican is needed,” said Lori Owen, president of the Kankakee County Republican Women group, which hosted the event.

She cited issues such as taxation, crime and education as being chief among the issues where the state has failed its citizens.

While the three men agreed, they certainly had different ways of addressing those issues.

The forum was to include candidate Joseph Severino. Severino’s candidacy, however, has been halted as the Illinois State Board of Elections removed his name because of a lack of necessary candidacy signatures. He is appealing the ruling.

However, the three candidates all stated the time for Springfield leadership change is now.

Dabrowski, of Wilmette, and president of Wirepoints Inc., a not-for-profit policy research organization focused on the Illinois economy and financial condition, said Illinois should be in the top five of U.S. states in terms of economic growth.

Instead, he said, Illinois can most often be found in the basement of national rankings concerning job growth and wage growth.

He said Illinois was one of only three states to shrink in population, according to the 2020 U.S. census.

“Amazing companies are leaving Illinois,” he said. “How is that possible?”

Illinois last elected a Republican governor in November 2014 when Bruce Rauner, who served from 2015-19, defeated Democrat Pat Quinn. Rauner was defeated in his bid for a second term by Pritzker.

Voter turnout is key

Bailey, a former southern Illinois state representative and senator who was defeated in the 2022 election by Pritzker, believes Illinoisans want better and deserve better from state leadership.

However, he said, less than 45% of registered voters showed up to cast a ballot in 2022.

A repeat performance such as that, he said, will allow Pritzker to claim a third, four-year term.

Republicans, Bailey stressed, must have a united front. He said that is the only way Pritzker will be removed from the state’s top elected office.

“If he has four more years, Illinois’ story is over with,” he said. “... It’s time to get our act together.”

Simply put, Bailey said, Illinoisans deserve better than what they have been getting out of the state’s leadership.

Heidner, from Barrington Hills, just northwest of Chicago, claimed to be the state’s only gubernatorial candidate from outside the political realm to seek to oust Pritzker.

The developer of the Ricky Rockets Fuel Center, of which there is one at the Interstate 57 East Court Street interchange in Kankakee, said entering an election was not something he intended. Rather, he said, it is something he felt compelled to do.

“I just couldn’t take it anymore with all these people being hurt,” he said, referring to Illinois’ protection of m, legislation [SAFE-T Act] keeping arrested people out of jail and spiraling taxation.

“None of this makes sense. It’s insanity,” he charged. He noted the recently concluded Springfield autumn veto session was nothing more than the Democratic-controlled General Assembly dipping their governmental hands into the pockets of overburdened taxpayers.

“It’s take, take, take,” he said. “They are driving people out [of Illinois].”

And, he said, with population leaving, the financial burden will be placed on those who remain.

Heidner highlighted the ongoing situation with the Chicago Bears as an example of the dysfunction in Springfield.

He said Pritzker did not become concerned about the Bears’ plight for a new stadium until northwest Indiana made its desires known about welcoming the professional football team to the state.

“We gain hundreds of millions [in tax revenue] if they stay [in Illinois],” he said. “We lose hundreds of millions if they leave.”

Other topics

The candidates fielded questions from the audience on issues such as property tax relief, protecting agriculture, pension reform and working with the Democratic Party-controlled legislature.

Simply put, Dabrowski said, Illinois has too much government, and that is a significant factor for swelling taxation.

“We have the most units of government. We must consolidate,” he said. He noted the state has some 850 school districts. He said that number alone provides an opportunity for consolidation.

On the subject of farmland, Bailey said the movement toward green energy, which consumes farms, needs to have the brakes applied.

“I’m on record against green energy. We do not shut down our reliable energy,” he said regarding natural gas and electricity.

In dealing with pension reform, Heidner said those promised a pension must receive it. However, the system must change.

Heidner said there must be a transition to employee-funded retirement plans, such as a 401(k), which many private sector workers use for retirement finances.

“If this would have been done, we wouldn’t be talking about this over and over.”