Schaumburg business CEO Gary Rabine pondering Republican bid for governor

Bull Valley resident Gary Rabine, CEO and founder of Schaumburg-based paving, roofing and snow removal company Rabine Group, said Sunday he intends to run for governor in 2022 as a Republican.

The Richmond-Burton High School graduate has yet to formalize his candidacy by filing the appropriate paperwork with state elections officials, but said he would do so within the coming weeks and make an official campaign announcement.

"Gary Rabine would be a great governor for Illinois," McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett said. "I believe he can win the primary and ultimately be the next governor."

McHenry Township Trustee Steve Verr suggested Rabine would be a better governor than fellow Republican Bruce Rauner.

"He's a great fellow and a patriot," said Verr, a Republican.

"He's hardly a career politician. Just a brave fellow who can see several steps ahead and the downward spiral of the state under terrible hacks like Rauner and (Gov. J.B.) Pritzker," he added.

Rabine, who would be a first-time candidate for public office, was involved in setting up Donald Trump Jr.'s October campaign stop in Bull Valley. He is also an advisory council member to Turning Point USA, a conservative political advocacy group.

Rabine, whose wife Cheryl died in October, admitted he "has a lot to learn" about state policymaking and how lawmakers operate.

"But what I don't have to learn is common-sense economics, what creates jobs, what pushes jobs out, and what kills the value of our assets, of Illinois citizens' properties and jobs and small businesses," Rabine said in an interview with the Northwest Herald Sunday. "I'm not the most eloquent speaker in the world, for sure. I don't have an Ivy League education like some of these people that run in government. But I'm very confident common sense works."