McKenna not the Answer

From Dan Proft, Republican candidate for governor:

Andy McKenna: Mayor Daley's Candidate for Governor

(Chicago, IL) – In response to Andy McKenna’s announcement this morning, conservative Republican candidate Dan Proft released the following statement:

"Andy McKenna’s entrance into this race clarifies the choice Republican primary voters have. We can nominate a candidate beholden to a small group of affluent political insiders who give money to both parties. They win when Republicans get elected; they win when Democrats get elected. Either way, you lose.

"Or we can nominate a candidate willing to take the fight to the establishment politicians of both parties, those who are concerned only with peddling influence and dividing up other people’s money. We can nominate a candidate who will fight for the people who play by the rules in Illinois for a change.

"The McKenna family has donated thousands of dollars to Chicago Democrats, including Mike Madigan, Lisa Madigan, Dan Hynes, Rich Daley, and Dick Durbin. They have also donated thousands of dollars to Republicans and the Illinois Republican Party.

"Andy McKenna has taken indicted Springfield powerbroker Bill Cellini’s infamous ethos to heart, ‘When we're in, we're in, and when you're in, we're in. We're always in.’

"As Republicans, we have been down this road so many times as a party. Every time we allow the bipartisan combine to select our candidates, we run into a dead end. We cannot make the same mistake again if we want to not only win elections, but also bring about the system-change reform required to make Illinois economically viable. We cannot hope to un-fix Illinois before we un-fix our own party.

"I am the only candidate willing to make a clean break from our ignominious past; to hold cynical Chicago Democrats and complicit Republicans accountable for what has happened on their watch; and to chart a future focused on expanding opportunity for people who play by the rules in Illinois.

"As State Senator Matt Murphy, who is running on the McKenna ticket, said a few months ago, ‘People are looking for a new face to take us in a new direction, especially on the Republican side…They want to see somebody who can represent a clean break from the past.’

"Sen. Murphy is right. And that is why Andy McKenna is absolutely the wrong candidate to lead our party and lead this state."