Businessman Bruce Rauner announced his pick for lieutenant governor Tuesday, October 9, 2013, telling supporters they are the best choice to lead Illinois out of its fiscal "death spiral."
Rauner chose attorney Evelyn Sanguinetti of Wheaton as his Republican running mate. Sanguinetti is a former assistant attorney general, the daughter of Cuban and Ecuadoran immigrants.
Rauner told a small crowd of supporters outside Country Style Ice Cream in Moline that his priority as governor is job creation and making the state more attractive to business.
"We are hostile, we have red tape, destructive costs of doing business in Illinois. As a result, businesses are expanding elsewhere and not in the state," he said.
"We're the worst-run state in America and we're going down the drain. We're in a death spiral and I don't think the career politicians in Springfield can fix it," he said.
Rauner is a venture capitalist from Winnetka. He has never held public office and says being a political outsider makes him the perfect candidate to shake things up in Springfield.
"I show respect to very socially conservative voters, I show the respect to socially liberal voters and moderate centrist voters. I want to bring them all together and unite the party and I want to appeal to many Democrats who are frustrated with the lack of jobs and high taxes and the deteriorating schools and corruption in Springfield. Pat Quinn is failing because he's not a leader," Rauner said.
"Mike Madigan will be a challenge but Mike Madigan has never negotiated with someone like me," he said.
Three other Republicans are in the race, State Senators Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard, and State Treasurer Dan Rutherford.