Proft
Longtime conservative Republican activist Dan Proft of Chicago announced Tuesday his candidacy for Illinois governor.
Proft, a frequent guest columnist for the Record, pledged to "un-fix a government system designed to benefit the politically powerful."
"Politicians from both parties attempt to explain away the ongoing corruption and incompetence rife in state government by telling us that the real problem is that the system is broken; that Illinois is broken," he said during his announcement.
"But Illinois isn't broken. It's fixed," he said.
Proft is principal owner of the communications firm Urquhart Media and a political commentator on WLS Radio in Chicago.
He cited Chicago Public Schools, Illinois Medicaid and the state Toll Highway Authority as examples of "fixed systems."
These systems are designed to "create dependent and dependable voting blocs that sustain and advance the political careers of those in charge," Proft said in a statement. "They provide secure jobs and guaranteed pensions for the patronage armies of the political establishment."
Proft said he would take a fight to the "Chicago Nine," who he says are the chief architects and beneficiaries of Illinois' fixed systems.
"Those would be the nine Chicago Democrats who live within a few square miles of each other and who currently control more than $70 billion worth of government and more than 125,000 public sector jobs in Illinois," he said.
Proft said in the coming days he would begin touring the state making stops in Springfield, Collinsville, Peoria, Quincy, the Quad Cities and Rockford.