Every election season, I'm
frustrated by the lack of information on the smaller political offices:
comptroller, state representatives, county coroner.... Nobody likes to
talk about these guys. Their theatrics usually pale in comparison to the
presidential race, especially this year; but these are the races where your
vote really counts. Only the people in your district, county, or state
can vote for them, and a dozen votes here or there could really make a
difference. Yet when I read up on local campaigns, newspapers like the
Chicago Tribune, the Sun-Times, or NBC are mostly full of "He said,"
"She accused," "He shot back"--it's an echo chamber of
useless information. All I want is a straightforward comparison of
what the candidates have actually done so far in their careers.
I have searched far and wide, and
such a thing is nowhere to be found, so I decided to do it myself. One of
the biggest local races this November is the race for state comptroller:
probably the most important government job you've never heard of. In this
post, I will present every useful thing that I have found about the two main
candidates, such as their voting record, career accomplishments, and public
statements. From there, hopefully you and I will be able to decide who we
really want to hold this office.
What is a state comptroller anyways?
Basically, they're a big-wig
accountant, which doesn't sound too impressive, until you realize that it's up
to them to prioritize how state money is spent. They decide who
receives government money and in what order. They are also meant to
be a fiscal watchdog, weeding out fraud and overseeing the state budget and
state contracts. Incidentally, Illinois hasn't passed a proper budget in
two years, and has the worst credit rating in the Union, so the job of
state comptroller is pretty important right now.
And the candidates are...
