By CHANGE Illinois!
Ninety candidates running for the General Assembly have taken positions on government and election reform issues, but too many legislative candidates are ducking the questions.
The CHANGE Illinois! coalition asked all legislative candidates to answer 20 straightforward questions about reform issues, and the responses from those willing to answer are now available to voters at www.ChangeIL.org. The questionnaire covers a wide range of reform issues, including limits on campaign contributions by legislative leaders, judicial selection, lobbying, redistricting, open government, term limits, and public campaign financing.
“Too many candidates want to go to Springfield without telling the voters what they will do to clean up state politics and restore faith in our government,” said George Ranney, a co-chair of CHANGE Illinois! and President and CEO of Chicago Metropolis 2020. “If they’re not willing even to talk about reform in a campaign, it’s difficult to believe they would be willing to work and vote for it in Springfield.”
In 15 Senate districts, there are two candidates going head-to-head. Of these 30 candidates in competitive elections, 27 have completed the CHANGE Illinois! questionnaire. In six other Senate districts, only one candidate is on the ballot.
There are 71 House districts with two or more candidates on the ballot, and 55 of those 146 candidates have returned completed questionnaires. Voters in the other 47 House districts will see only one candidate on the ballot.
CHANGE Illinois! will continue to press all candidates to answer the 20 questions prior to the Nov. 2nd election and will post new responses on the website as they become available.
All candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor have completed the questionnaire, and their answers also are posted at www.ChangeIL.org along with responses of candidates for other statewide offices.
“Voters are fed up with politics as usual in Illinois,” said Deborah Harrington, former president of the Woods Fund of Chicago and a CHANGE Illinois! co-chair. “When government leaders make decisions based on their own personal or political gain, our tax dollars are wasted, and real needs go unanswered. We’ve seen too much of that in Illinois, and voters want to know what candidates propose to do to deliver honest government.”
“Every candidate for the Illinois General Assembly should be willing to answer these 20 questions,” said Peter Bensinger, a CHANGE Illinois! co-chair and a former Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “Take a stand. Tell the people what you will do to reshape government and make the General Assembly a legislative body that responds to the interests and needs of all of Illinois.” He added, “CHANGE members will continue to press every candidate to fill out the questionnaire, right up until we walk into the voting booth November 2.”
*
About the CHANGE Illinois! questionnaire
CHANGE Illinois! is a growing coalition of civic, business, labor, professional, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations and individuals. The coalition as a whole supports expanding the new campaign contribution limits law to include contributions by legislative leaders and political parties to candidates in the general election, and it supports increased transparency and public involvement in the redistricting process. There is not an official coalition position on all other questions in the survey. The questionnaire was developed with the help of the following reform organizations: Better Government Association, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Illinois Public Interest Research Group, and Protestants for the Common Good.
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on September 23, 2010