On this journey of the ill-fated financial Titanic that is the state of Illinois, few residents, especially the student body, seem to be aware that we literally hit the iceberg a decade ago and have been arguing with the captain on whether to lower the life rafts ever since.

Our current governor, Bruce Rauner did not create this pension crisis. However, he understands the issue and offers real pension reform, unlike his Democratic opponents for governor. Many students on campus don’t understand the severity of the financial state of Illinois and how our governor is not some evil cat-petting Republican billionaire.

In fact, he’s the Illinois version of Bernie Sanders, crusading for election reform. For the past four years, he has continually lobbied for term limits and independent maps so that voters choose their elected officials, and not the other way around.

These measures have been constantly blocked by the Democratic majority and their evil overlord, Mike Madigan. Governor Rauner has recently signed legislation authorizing Illinois as a sanctuary state and implementing additional measures making abortion access more available. Both of these measures took real political courage against the far-right component of the Republican Party and should draw the applause of the Democrats in this state.

However, to many students our governor is a dirty word, “Republican,” and not worthy of a vote. Instead, many will choose one of the candidates who will continue to collaborate with gerrymandering Mike Madigan and his cronies, while pushing this state to financial ruin.

Kevin is a senior in Business. 

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