Bill Brady “All Fired Up” on Campaign Trail

Click here to watch WSIL-TV’s report on the tour.

WSIL — He calls himself the only candidate from downstate. Senator Bill Brady, from Bloomington, spent the last 48 hours touring the state’s “southern most counties.” He started in Mt. Vernon on Tuesday and ended Wednesday evening in Marion. News 3 caught up with him in Murphysboro.

The Jackson county GOP headquarters, one of many stops that gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady made along his whirlwind tour of Southern Illinois. According to his agenda he planned to hit 11 sites in 10 hours- everywhere from Metropolis to Marion. And on that limited schedule- we wanted to find out just how much time he’d actually be spending learning about Southern Illinoisans. So, we grabbed a stopwatch and did just that.

We started the stopwatch when Brady rolled into Murphysboro around 1pm. A handful of republican supporters were already on site. After a couple quick handshakes and a brief address, 20 minutes quickly went by and we were off to DuQuoin.

Running a little behind, we started the stopwatch again at Ten Pin Alley. A few handshakes, a little bowling, 20-minutes up, and we were off again…

“Ahh, well, we have before the tour. But being in the tour, he’s been very busy, you know. He’s meeting constituents from other counties,” explained Marion County Republican Committee Chair, Dorris Purcell, on her limited time with Brady while still in DuQuoin.

Brady arrived to the largest crowd in Benton. All in all, the average time at each location: 20-minutes. How did his supporters feel about that?

“A few minutes before he started his speech. Very friendly, his wife’s very friendly,” said Neal Hargis from Christopher. And when asked if those few minutes were enough, “yeah.”

18-year-old Zach Tate from Whittington agreed, “A lot of politicians don’t really care about Southern Illinois or they don’t have enough time because our input doesn’t really equal what Chicago is.”

And, as for his claims of being the only candidate from Southern Illinois…

“Well, downstate,” Brady explained. When we asked him what he considers downstate he replied, “Anything south of the Cook County area.”

Many commend Brady on campaigning in Southern Illinois at all. The other six republican candidates have only been in the Southern Illinois a handful of times and did not visit as many sites.

By: Rachel Gartner
rgartner@wsiltv.com

Brady Launches “All Fired Up” Tour of Southern Illinois

State Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, will visit 19 counties over two days on an “All Fired Up in Southern Illinois” tour to launch the final month of campaigning throughout Illinois before the February 2 Republican primary election.

 ”From Carmi to Cairo, from Metropolis and Mound City to Marion, we’re taking our campaign directly to the people of Southern Illinois,” said Brady, the only Downstate candidate for Governor in the primary. 

 ”The tour will give us another opportunity to communicate directly with Southern Illinois Republican voters about our campaign to provide a clean break from the politics and anti-business policies of the past and to bring new leadership and a statewide balance to Springfield.”

 Brady will be joined by his wife Nancy and son Duncan on the December 29-30 tour which will include stops in 24 communities.  Local supporters and Republican legislators who have endorsed Brady’s bid for Governor will join the tour at various stops.

 Tuesday, December 29

 6:30 a.m. — Coffee Meet/Greet, The Hitchin’ Post, 1418 Salem Road, Mt. Vernon

7 a.m. – Caravan departs

7:30 a.m. – JT’s Restaurant, 302 Orchard Street, Wayne City

8:30 a.m. – 2 Sisters Diner, 410 S. 1^st Street (Route 45), Fairfield

9:30 a.m. – Edwards County Senior Citizens Center, 323 N. 5^th Street, Albion

10:30 a.m. – Hog Heaven Restaurant, 411 W. 9^th Street, Mt. Carmel

11:30 a.m. – Lunch, White County Republican Headquarters, 108 Main Street, Carmi

12:30 p.m. – Farris Family Restaurant, 608 E. Randolph Street, McLeansboro

1:30 p.m. – Eldorado Holiday Tournament, 2200 Illinois Avenue, Eldorado

2:30 p.m. – Downen Enterprises, 1 W. Fulton, New Shawneetown

3:30 p.m. – Granny’s Kitchen, 1011 W. Poplar Street, Harrisburg

4:45 p.m. – Historic Rose Hotel, 92 Main Street, Elizabethtown

5:45 p.m. – Dari Barr, 209 W. Main Street, Golconda

7 p.m. – Vienna Public Library, 401 Poplar Street, Vienna

8:30 p.m. – Overnight in Metropolis

 

Wednesday, December 30

 

7 a.m. – Metropolis Community Center, 900 W. 10^th Street, Metropolis

8:10 a.m. – Pulaski County Courthouse, 500 Illinois Avenue, Mound City

9 a.m. – Magnolia Manor, 2700 Washington Avenue, Cairo

10 a.m. – Tamms Community Center, Second Street, Tamms

11 a.m. – Dongola Tri-County Record, 130 Front Street, Dongola

11:45 a.m. – Denny Deer Camp, 1500 Kaolin Road, Cobden

1 p.m. – Lunch, Jackson County GOP Headquarters, 1334 Walnut Street, Murphysboro

2 p.m. – Ten Pin Alley, 1608 S. Washington, DuQuoin

3 p.m. – Benton Civic Center, 414 Hudelson Street, Benton

3:45 p.m. – West Frankfort City Hall, 110 N. Jefferson Street, West Frankfort

5 – 6 p.m. – “All Fired Up” Campaign Celebration, 20’s Hideout, 2602 Wanda, Marion, sponsored by Jeff and Margaret Diederich

The only candidate for Governor with both business and legislative experience, Brady is a lifelong resident of Bloomington.  He and his brothers own and operate real estate marketing, construction and development companies in Central Illinois. 

 Brady has served in the Illinois Senate since 2002 and previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001.  He currently is the ranking Republican on the Senate Insurance Committee and serves on the Senate Revenue, Energy, and Environment committees.  He also is a member of the General Assembly’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

 A graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, he and his wife, Nancy, have three children.

Bill Brady’s gov message clear, but does it add up?

Bill Brady’s gov message clear, but does it add up?

By Greg Hinz, Crains Chicago Business, December 7, 2009

     In a year when Illinois Republicans may be looking to make a big turn to the right in selecting their candidate for governor, lots of contenders are making conservative noises.

     But Bill Brady appears to believe what he says. The question for voters is whether his conservative stands add up, both fiscally and politically.

    The Bloomington state senator and homebuilder says he’d balance a wildly out-of-balance state budget by cutting 10% across the board, then save additional billions by moving Medicaid patients to managed care and trimming state retirement benefits.

    He’d change Springfield’s political culture by implementing term limits and banning companies and unions from donating to candidates. He’d end immediately the state’s death penalty moratorium and legalize the carrying of concealed handguns. He is firmly anti-abortion rights and anti-gay marriage.

    “People are looking for a clean break,” he summarizes. That he would be.

    Like any politician, Mr. Brady, who’s been in the Legislature for almost two decades, has a bit of a weakness for the home folks.

    For instance, amid his calls for big budget cuts, he proposes hiring more guards for state prisons, five of which are located just outside his Central Illinois district. Mr. Brady insists adding to the payroll “would pay for itself” because the state would be able to cut down on mandatory overtime.

    “That’s the common-sense approach I will bring to a new administration,” he says, noting that he opposed former GOP Gov. George Ryan’s big capital-spending programs.

    But the same approach of cutting by adding appears frequently in Mr. Brady’s economic policies.

    For instance, he’d allow any school district – by board vote or public referendum – to implement a voucher system, and he would increase the private-school tax credit (now $500 a kid per year) 50% a year until it reaches the state-aid foundation level of about $6,000 a year.

    He says each move would pay for itself because the changes will reduce the need for state cash contributions to local districts. But others ask whether districts really can ratchet down their overhead as quickly and completely as Mr. Brady wants.

    Similarly, despite all the red ink in Springfield, he’d repeal the sales tax on gasoline, eliminate much of the estate tax and repeal business-tax hikes pushed through by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich – a total of about $1 billion a year in revenues.

    Mr. Brady says such steps would pay for themselves by reviving the state’s moribund economy, thereby generating more taxes.

    Watchdogs like the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club say the state needs not only big cuts – particularly in Medicaid and pensions – but some kind of tax hike, without which it cannot close its budget hole.

    Mr. Brady’s having none of that. “Illinois needs leaders who are not going to raise taxes,” he declares. “Every time some silly politician does, another business moves.”

    Mr. Brady’s status as the only Downstater in the race could give him a vital edge. On the other hand, money is just as tight for him as it is for most of the six other GOP candidates; he still owes himself $653,000 from his campaign for governor four years ago.

    Still, there isn’t much ambiguity about where this true believer stands. If voters are looking for an official with experience but an outsider’s perspective, Bill Brady says he’s their man.

Campaign Update

Look beyond the headlines about a couple polls that have come out in the last week.

The Rasmussen poll of Democrat and Republican voters showed three leading Republican contenders for Governor getting the same core vote against Governor Quinn.  Taken in an area where Andy McKenna has spent upwards of $2 million or more in non-stop advertising and in an area dominated by liberal Democrats, Bill Brady, Andy McKenna and Kirk Dillard all were within the margin of error in their support.  Unknown is why Rasmussen did not include Jim Ryan in his latest polling.

 

Every poll has shown the Republican vote trending more conservative.  As conservative Republican voters reacquaint themselves with the candidates’ stands on issues important to them, they’ll find that Brady is right on the issues.  Right on no tax increases.  Right on the Second Amendment.   Right about putting the interests of the people ahead of the interests of career politicians.  And right on battling corruption and insider politics.

 

 This week Brady also called on Andy McKenna, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party to come clean about a poll paid for by the state party under his chairmanship which included a ballot test of himself in both the U.S. Senate and Governor races.

 

Pat Brady, the new party chairman (and no relation to Bill) has moved swiftly to launch an ethics review of McKenna’s use of the party-paid poll.  And Brady has reaffirmed  his call on McKenna to personally make the facts of this episode public and clear.

 

Next week, he’ll be in northwestern Illinois for a hearing on the proposal by President Obama and Governor Quinn to turn the Thomson Correctional Center into a federal facility and house up to 100 terrorist detainees now confined at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, on which he sits, will ultimately make a non-binding recommendation on the proposed sale.

 

Despite Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan’s opinion Thursday that Quinn can sell the Thomson facility without legislative approval, he urged the Governor to seek a full and open debate in the legislature before acting because of the seriousness and magnitude of this issue.

 

In other campaign news, Bill Brady received the endorsement of Senator Gary Dahl, who represents a North Central area of the state including LaSalle-Peru and parts of Will County, and the Ford County Republican Party.

 

Our team is confident with the response to our commercial, an uptick in fundraising in Chicago and the continued addition of endorsements and volunteers that we are well-positioned for the 30-day sprint in January and victory on February 2.

 

Best wishes for a happy holiday season.  Merry Christmas!

Brady Opposed to Housing Terrorist Detainees at Thomson

 Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, today released this statement on the plans by President Obama to move terrorist detainees from Cuba to Illinois:

 ”President Obama and Governor Quinn are collaborating to bring terrorist detainees to Illinois.  As I have said since this issue arose a month ago, I believe those detainees should continue to be held at our secure and taxpayer-funded facility at Guantanamo Bay.  We have an investment in Guantanamo Bay, and that’s where international terrorists ought to be held, tried and kept.

 The Thomson Correctional Center in northwestern Illinois should be opened and used to confine state inmates.    We have a shortage of inmate bed space, and Thomson will alleviate that problem and provide new jobs to the residents of northwestern Illinois.

 At a time when the Quinn Administration is seeking to build new correctional facilities in the state, it makes no sense to sell off a facility that stands ready to house a growing number of state inmates.

 Despite state laws that control the sale of state property, the White House and the Quinn Administration are moving full-steam ahead.  I have asked Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan whether the state can sell the Thomson property without legislative approval but received no response.  The state legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has a public hearing scheduled for December 22 in northwestern Illinois on the proposal.  Why the need to move forward before the hearing and the commission’s recommendation?

 In my opinion, Thomson is a facility we cannot afford to give up right now, particularly in light of the fact the governor is releasing inmates early.”

Brady Calls on McKenna to Answer Alleged Party Ethics Questions

It’s become abundantly clear in recent days that during his time as Illinois Republican Party Chairman, my opponent Andy McKenna, may have violated the conflict-of-interest ethics rules he himself put in place.

McKenna apparently authorized a $25,000 internal poll while he was the Illinois GOP Chairman that he subsequently used to to determine his chances of success as a statewide republican candidate in this election.

News reports indicate McKenna sanctioned the poll and use of Illinois Republican Party money without the permission of fellow party leaders.  His actions reek of impropriety, which is why I am calling on McKenna to come forward and set the record straight. 

If Andy McKenna did indeed use $25,000 of his own party’s money for personal use, what’s to say he wouldn’t do it to the taxpayers of Illinois?

Sadly, McKenna is not the only candidate in this race involved in corrupt politics of the past.

Jim Ryan, another of my opponents, took $800,000 in campaign contributions from close friend Stuart Levine, all along claiming he didn’t know Levine was corrupt.

These are perfect examples of Chicago-style politics Illinois so desperately needs a clean break from.  Next to jobs and taxes, ethics is of most importance to Illinois and its voters.  We need a clean break from the corrupt, unethical politics of the past.  Illinois needs a candidate who will fight corruption, not take part in it.  I am that candidate.

Brady Endorsed by Both Statewide Pro-Life Groups

Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, earned the endorsements of the political action committees of both the Illinois Citizens for Life and the Illinois Federation for Right to Life.

 ”Your personal commitment to protecting unborn life as well as those at the end of life is commendable,” wrote Ralph Rivera, chair of the Illinois Citizens for Life PAC, noting Brady’s 100 percent pro-life voting record.   ”Additionally, we believe that your pro-life position and your legislative and business experience make you the best candidate to win in November 2010.”

 ”Not only has Mr. Brady expressed a desire to protect unborn children, but he has also indicated his support for the disabled as well as those endangered at the end of life,” Dawn Behnke, chair of IFRL-PAC wrote in the group’s announcement of the endorsement.

 Brady, of Bloomington, is the only candidate for Governor to have earned the endorsement of both statewide pro-life groups.

Statement on Anniversary of Blagojevich Arrest

Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, released the following statement today on the anniversary of Rod Blagojevich’s arrest:

This year Illinois witnessed an historic new low, the impeachment of a Governor who faces trial next year on federal charges of using his office for his own personal gains. We in Illinois are both embarrassed and angered that Illinois has become a national laughingstock in terms of public service. Our citizens are demanding more of their public officials, and we certainly owe them every effort we can make to regain their trust and restore integrity in Illinois government.

We must curb the incentive for pay-to-play politics, and we must alter the current system to put more power in the hands of the people rather than in the hands of a select few. Our state needs a clean break from the politics of the past, which is why I have proposed a comprehensive reform package that opens government to greater public scrutiny and would diminish the power of career politicians and campaign contributors who seek to influence government for their own personal gain.?

We need to ensure that it is the public’s interests that are being served in Springfield, not the politicians’ interests.

Brady Earns Endorsement of 15 Legislators

Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, today received the support and endorsement of 14 Republican legislators for Governor in 2010.

 

In addition to the 14, Rep. Jim Sacia (R., Pecatonica) added his endorsement of Brady for Governor during the campaign’s visit to Rockford.

 

“Bill Brady has a proven track record of platform Republican principles and possesses the common sense and business experience we so desperately need in Springfield,” said Rep. David Reis (R., Willow Hill).  “It’s critical we return geographical and political balance to our state government, and I feel Senator Brady is best suited to lead this charge.”

 

“I have had the honor of serving with Bill in the Senate. I have found him to be a man of character, honesty and integrity,” said Senator Brad Burzysnki (R., Clare).  “Bill has earned my trust and would serve this state well as its governor.”

 

Sen. John O. Jones (R., Mt. Vernon) said, “The state of Illinois needs to be run like a business, and Bill Brady is the candidate who can do that.  His plan to restore fiscal discipline in Springfield and bring jobs back to Illinois will help Illinois businesses and working families throughout the state.”

 

“As a businessman, he knows how to meet a payroll and how to put Illinois back on its feet,” said Rep. Rich Myers (R., Colchester).  “His experience, integrity and leadership are what we need in the governor’s office in Springfield.”

 

Legislators who have endorsed Brady are:

 

• Senator Tim Bivins, Dixon
• Assistant Senate Republican Leader Brad Burzynski, Clare
• Assistant Senate Republican Leader John O. Jones, Mt. Vernon
• Assistant Senate Republican Leader David Luechtefeld, Okawville
• Senator Dale Risinger, Peoria
• Representative Mike Bost, Murphysboro
• Representative John Cavaletto, Salem
• Representative Shane Cultra, Onarga
• Representative Bill Mitchell, Forsyth
• Representative Donald Moffitt, Gilson
• Representative Rich Myers, Colchester
• Representative David Reis, Willow Hill
• Representative Keith Sommer, Morton
• Assistant House Republican Leader Ron Stephens, Greenville

                                                      

 

Brady was joined by several of his colleagues during press conferences in Marion, Champaign, Peoria, Moline and Rockford.

 

“I am grateful to my colleagues in the General Assembly for their support for my campaign, because together we are working to make Illinois a great state once again,” said Brady.  “As Governor, I will need them working by my side to build a New Illinois that ensures greater opportunity for all Illinoisans and a future of promise and prosperity for our children and grandchildren.”