I love Illinois. I love driving around and celebrating all the amazing things about the Land of Lincoln. From suburban streets to farm fields, shop floors to storefronts, we have some of the hardest working and most innovative people. And Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the US, a beautiful city full of promise.

 

But working families are being crushed in Illinois. They just can’t afford to live here anymore.

 

Young people looking to buy their first home and start their families can’t even afford a starter home in Illinois, and seniors are being taxed out of their family homes full of memories of their kids and grandkids. People are having to choose between paying for their medication or paying their electric bill. Working families are racking up tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt just to survive. Businesses can’t afford to hire, forcing them to shrink and survive. Entrepreneurs are giving up on their dreams.

 

It doesn’t have to be this way. The people of Illinois deserve better.

 

I refuse to believe there is nothing we can do about it. I’m a dreamer—I genuinely believe things can be better in Illinois. That’s why I’m running for Illinois Comptroller.

 

It won’t get better if my opponent, Margaret Croke, is elected Comptroller. She has voted for billions of dollars of tax increases and has called for taxes to be raised even more on Illinois working families.

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It’s time we stopped Springfield from wasting our tax dollars so we can lower costs for working families.

 

The only way we’re going to be able to reduce the amount of money we’re taking from working families in Illinois is by forcing government to live within its means.

 

Right now, there are zero checks-and-balances in our state government. One party controls every lever of government in Illinois, with little-to-no oversight or accountability. One party controls the state’s checkbook. Ultimately, just a few powerful politicians decide how much we pay in taxes and where that money all goes.

 

Unfortunately, Margaret Croke will not be the independent check-and-balance taxpayers deserve. She has worked directly for the governor in numerous positions, and he has helped bankroll her campaigns. Croke is a Springfield politician who has voted for the state’s budgets. She will simply be a rubber stamp, and it’s that lack of accountability that has gotten us into this mess.

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Taxpayers deserve a watchdog who will hold politicians accountable for how they spend our tax dollars. They need a leader in the room representing their interests. They need someone standing up for them publicly.

 

As Comptroller, I will be that leader. I’m not a politician. My only obligation is to the taxpayers of Illinois.

 

I will dig into where all the state’s money is going and shine a light on it for the public. You will be able to see exactly where your tax dollars are being spent. Where there’s fraud, we’ll root it out. Where there’s overspending, we’ll shine a spotlight on it. And where money is being spent wisely and effectively, we’ll highlight and celebrate that. Illinoisans deserve this level of transparency.

 

Illinois has so much potential. Imagine if we spent taxpayer money wisely. Working families could thrive, not just survive. Small businesses could grow and innovate. Communities could flourish. We could afford to help more of our people who need it.

 

This future is possible. We just need strong, independent leaders with vision who are focused on doing what’s best for working families instead of answering to powerful politicians and special interests.

 

As your Comptroller, I will always stand for the people of Illinois.