Comptroller candidates vow fiscal responsibility

SPRINGFIELD - Primaries are just a few days away, and the pool of candidates for Illinois comptroller's office is about to go from seven candidates deep to three.

On the primary ballots on Tuesday, Feb. 2, voters across the state will determine their party candidate, setting the platform for the players in November's general election. When the race's winner emerges this fall, he or she will assume the duties of "pre-auditing"claims for state payments.

The roughly $135,000-a-year job puts the comptroller in charge of dispersing state money to pay bills, while also holding the comptroller responsible for signing off on payments made with borrowed money. The comptroller's office holds about 300 employees and operates with a budget of about $118 million.

Republican candidates are Jim Dodge, a marketing executive who also sits on the board of directors for Metra and serves as a village trustee for Orland Park; William Kelly, a television producer from Chicago who used to direct National Taxpayers United of Illinois; and Judy Baar Topinka, former state treasurer and candidate for governor who resides in Riverside.

The Democratic candidates are former deputy treasurer and assistant attorney general Raja Krishnamoorthi of Hoffman Estates, tax attorney Clinton "Clint" Krislov of Wilmette and dentist and current state Rep. David Miller of Lynwood.

Erika Schafer of Chicago, the Green Party candidate, is not being challenged in the primary.