Governor-elect Bruce Rauner stopped in Rockford Friday during his statewide "thank you" tour.
Several hundred people cheered on Illinois’ next governor when he, his wife Diana, and his running-mate, Lt. Governor-elect Evelyn Sanguinetti finally showed up at the last stop on their day-long tour. Rauner thrilled the crowd by telling them Rockford is one of his favorite communities. He said he and Sanguinetti will judge their leadership of the state by how well Rockford is doing. He said Rockford has every reason to thrive, except that leadership in Springfield has failed the city with its policies and mandates.
Rauner was introduced by two members of his transition team: Rockford business leaders Gloria CardenasCudia and Rob Funderburg. He urged audience members with expertise in areas such as education, finance, and technology to get involved as he begins to piece together his administration.
The Republican governor-to-be wants Illinoisans to know the contentious campaign is over and he’s ready to set politics aside to get things done. He says he'll be a bi-partisan leader, and joked about his wife being a Democrat.
As for one of the issues that picked up traction from voters during this week's election, Rauner says he supports a ten dollar minimum wage, but only if it is part of a larger reform package. He wants that to include tax breaks and workers compensation and tort reforms.
