Qualifications, not wallets, are important

I recently attended a forum of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

I took the opportunity at this forum to ask candidate J.B. Pritzker a question about the large amount of money he is using to self-fund his campaign, which far eclipses the financial means of any of the other candidates.

His response supported an end to Citizen's United and support for campaign finance reform but his lavish spending on his campaign belies his talking points.

As I talk to voters, I am disturbed by the presumption among many that Mr. Pritzker has already won the Democratic nomination, either because they are unaware of the other candidates or the presumption that because he is the only Democrat who can match Bruce Rauner's spending, which he cited as the reason for his spending, that he is the single person who can win in a head-to-head race with the current governor.

It seems to me that the question should be whether Mr. Pritzker is the most qualified, most experienced, and best-suited candidate to lead the state out of its current financial and legislative woes. In fact, with no previous political or government experience, I would suggest that he is the least-qualified candidate for governor.

I find it disturbing that so many Illinoisans have bought into "Big Money Politics," where important political offices can simply be sold to the highest bidder, and I would like to remind Mr. Pritzker that he has not yet won the Democratic nomination and that standing on his credentials and not his wallet would set an outstanding example that Illinois is not a state that is any longer for sale.

Katherine Burton

Mount Prospect