Ted Dabrowski: 2026 candidate for Illinois Governor

Bio

Office sought: Illinois Governor

City: Wilmette

Age: 63

Occupation: Former President of Wirepoints

Previous offices held: None

Q&A

Are you comfortable with the way the state budget is developed? If not, what should be done differently?

We need an entire culture change in how we budget. The state budget is often dumped on legislators in the middle of the night and only a few hours before a vote, preventing both taxpayers and lawmakers from knowing what’s being spent. Most of the time the budget just grows automatically, never mind the actual merits of each line item.

Change starts with determining what the state government should be doing and not be doing. What it shouldn’t be doing must be cut altogether. What it should be doing must be supported wholeheartedly. And waste, fraud and abuse should be rooted out relentlessly.

But fixing the process is only part of what’s needed. The state requires a complete overhaul of how it does business. Among the measures I would pursue: end all welfare programs to illegal immigrants; aggressively consolidate our vast list of units of government; zero out appropriations to NGOs that are engaged in political activity or fraud; end pensions for new government workers; end subsidies for most renewable energy projects; stop picking winners and losers via corporate welfare; and benchmark our school spending against other states that achieve better results with far lower spending.

Are you comfortable with the way the state budget is developed? If not, what should be done differently?

Another key change must focus on restoring fairness between Illinois’ public servants and the taxpayers who pay for them. Illinois government workers have constitutional protections for their pensions, their contracts, their raises and their benefits. Yet everyday Illinoisans, who are forced to sacrifice their own standard of living to pay those government workers, have no such protections or guarantees of their own.

Do you favor any tax increases or revenue enhancements to address fiscal problems?

None whatsoever. Illinois taxpayers have suffered for decades. They pay the nation’s highest property taxes. They pay the nation’s 2nd-highest gas taxes after Pritzker doubled the motor fuel tax. They pay the nation’s highest cell phone taxes. And Chicagoans now pay the nation’s highest sales tax rates as a result of the recent CTA bailout.

Illinoisans need tax cuts, not tax hikes.

Do you favor any changes in the pension structure for state employees?

Warren Buffett once remarked he wouldn’t invest in high-debt states like Illinois because the growing taxes to cover those pension debts would target his companies for 30 to 40 years.

The first step to solving the pension crisis, then, is to stop digging the hole deeper. All new government hires must be enrolled into a defined contribution 401K-style plan, one modeled after the retirement option currently offered to Illinois public university employees. Government workers should control their own retirements — get irresponsible politicians out of the process.

Moving to 401ks won’t reduce the nation’s-worst debt load that Illinoisans are burdened with, but it will stop new debts from accruing and demonstrate to the rest of the country that Illinois is finally taking steps to address its pension crisis.

Double-dipping, pension spiking, unlimited unused sick leave accumulation — practices that no private sector Illinoisan has access to, but has to pay for — must also be ended

Under no circumstances will I expand pension benefits like Gov. Pritzker recently did for Chicago pensions.

What should Illinois policy be toward immigration and federal efforts to enforce immigration laws?

Gov. Pritzker’s embrace of sanctuary laws, his welcoming programs and the billions he’s spent on illegal immigrants — including $2 billion spent on healthcare alone — has contributed to the chaos Chicagoans struggle with today.

The governor should be cooperating with President Trump’s attempts to reduce crime and deport criminal illegals from the state.

Gov. Pritzker's refusal to directly hand over criminals has resulted in the release of 1,768 criminal illegal aliens in the last year. Worse, the governor continues to engage in unacceptable, incendiary rhetoric that foments violence against federal law enforcement officers.

I am appalled by demands for the abolishment of ICE and open disregard of immigration laws. Deportations are the necessary consequence of the open border policy that prevailed for years. They must proceed while being conducted in a humane manner.

Under my governorship, intervention by federal authorities will be unnecessary as I would work cooperatively with federal law enforcement to remove criminal illegal immigrants from our streets and our jails, restoring the law and order Illinoisans deserve.

President Trump has targeted Illinois with funding freezes and other actions. What would you do to insure that the state gets its fair share of federal money?

Cooperate with federal authorities. Under my governorship, intervention and funding freezes by federal authorities won't occur as I will work with the federal government on removing criminal illegal immigrants, preventing boys from participating in girls sports, and other responsible federal policies.

What financial incentives, or tax benefits, should the state be willing to extend to the Chicago Bears to assist with the redevelopment of Arlington Park centered around a new stadium?

None. The state should stay away from any funding for the stadium and not impose any mandate on local authorities related to it.