GOP hopefuls dig into taxes, school choice at gubernatorial debate

Republican candidates for governor were united in opposing Illinois’ sanctuary state status and the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail, during a debate Sunday in McHenry.

But differences surfaced on affordability and education at the forum attended by former Wirepoints chief Ted Dabrowski, video gambling magnate Rick Heidner and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick.

Former state Sen. Darren Bailey, who ran against Gov. JB Pritzker in 2022, had a family obligation and could not attend the McHenry County GOP Voter Information Project event.

Asked about taxes and reducing the cost of living in Illinois, Heidner said “the entire state of Illinois has become the state of taking. Take, take, take.”

“My idea is to bring business here, grow business here, create jobs here,” the Barrington Hills resident added, promising “no more tax increases. We’re going to look into where every dollar’s being spent.”

Dabrowski, of Wilmette, said “freeze taxes immediately. We can’t allow them to keep going up.”

He supports Indiana’s 1% tax cap on homes, saying “that would be cutting (Illinois’) in half almost.”

His next step would be reducing “massive administrative bloat” schools and universities.

“How to stop a supermajority from spending all your money is charge them with crimes,” Mendrick of Woodridge said.

He touted his experience as a financial crimes investigator. “The way we stop them is we start going into fraud — sweeping motor vehicle funds, taking your local distributive funds from your mayors.”

Bailey’s running mate Aaron Del Mar of Palatine was asked a similar question at a lieutenant government debate earlier Sunday.

“The first thing you have to do is go after the way that we calculate property taxes; 65% of your property bill goes to your education,” Del Mar said. The ticket also wants to scrutinize ComEd rates.

Education outcomes

Candidates also tackled Illinois student test scores and school choice.

“I totally believe in school choice,” Mendrick said. “We also need a grading system at our schools so we know who is teaching, who is successful and who is not.” Also, “get sexuality out of schools and all your grades will come up,” he urged.

“I really want to hold schools accountable,” said Heidner, who contends some teacher organizations act as a political party and only focus on “what they can get.” His solution is vouchers of $15,000 “if you decide to move your child to a private school or somewhere else.”

Dabrowski said, “I will be the literacy governor in Illinois and we will have the best school choice program in the country. We will not let kids go to the fourth grade if they can’t read in the third grade.”

He also supports grading schools, and “phonics, phonics phonics.”

Bailey’s campaign has stated that “he will fight to ensure that our schools are fully funded, empower parents to make the best choices for their children, and support teachers with the resources they need to succeed.”