Chicago City Wire

Recall Gov. J.B. Pritzker?

That’s not enough, says longtime Illinois political operative and observer Christopher Robling.

“I really know zilch about the recall, except that we have had the worst five governors in history: [George] Ryan, Blago [Rob Blagojevich], [Patrick] Quinn, [Bruce] Rauner and now J.B.,” Robling told Chicago City Wire. “All should [be] expunged.”

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary states that to “expunge” is “to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion” or “to eliminate from one’s consciousness.”

Robling, 64, has a long and diverse track record, working as a developer and in commercial banking, serving on Republican congressional campaigns and as a congressional aide. He served as a Chicago commissioner of elections from 1990-94, doing reporting and analysis for multiple media outlets and founding Clearspan Strategic LLC in 2014.

He said while Pritzker has been a disappointment as governor, he is simply following in the footsteps of his predecessors. It is a dismal list by any definition.

George Ryan, a Republican, was governor from 1999-2003, and then served five years in prison and seven months in home confinement after being convicted of federal corruption charges.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, was governor from 2003-09. He was impeached in 2009, found guilty of 17 federal charges and sent to prison, where he served nearly eight years until President Trump commuted his sentence in February.

Quinn, a Democrat, served the balance of Blagojevich’s second term and was elected to a full term in 2010. He was besieged by the state’s massive pension debt and struggled to make headway in Springfield.

In 2014, Quinn lost to Bruce Rauner, a moderate Republican who barely defeated state Rep. Jeanne Ives in the GOP primary. He spent a huge amount of own money to unseat Quinn in the general election.

Rauner’s term was unremarkable but, like Quinn, he avoided prison, a positive step for Illinois governors. Untouched by any major scandals, he also had few noteworthy accomplishments.

In 2018 voters made him a one-term governor, choosing Democrat Pritzker. While he introduced a “Fair Tax” proposal that will go before voters this fall, his term has been dominated by the COVID-19 crisis and critics say he has not handled it well.

That is one reason why state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake) launched the recall May 22, with a recall affidavit on his website as he seeks support from 19 other representatives and 10 senators before signatures can be collected.

Skillicorn decided to work to recall Pritzker for several reasons but the poor performance of the Illinois Department of Employment Security website and call center was a primary one.

“The governor has had ample time to fix this website,” Skillicorn said in a statement when he started the recall movement. “I called him out on it, and nothing has been addressed nor has there been a plan presented to fix the problems. Enough is enough. The incompetence cannot continue.”

A no-bid contract with Deloitte Consulting LLC to attempt to fix the IDES mess, with a pair of contracts valued at more than $22 million, is more evidence, he said.

“The U.S. Department of Labor offered to help Illinois, but our governor refused the help,” Skillicorn said. “In typical Chicago Democrat fashion the governor decided the best way to fix the website was to hand out a lavish no-bid contract. Now secure data has been unleashed into the public domain. It is an epic failure.”

The state’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program is “another mess” that Pritzker must bear responsibility for as well, he said.

“Hybrid workers who may have had some W2 wages with the bulk of their earnings from contract work are denied PUA because they have had some regular earnings,” Skillicorn said. “The self-employed find themselves caught in appeals processes for weeks on end because of confusing guidelines poorly understood and implemented.”

The alleged overreach of Pritzker’s statewide stay at home order is another indication of Pritzker’s unfitness for office, Skillicorn said.

He said Pritzker was out of line to threaten criminal charges against businesses who did not comply with his closure orders, adding that is “authority he does not have constitutionally.”

Additionally, the governor ordered 4,000 inmates released from prison, including 64 with murder convictions. Pritzker said concerns about COVID-19 spreading through the prisons was why the inmates were turned loose.

“The rights of honest business owners are being taken away while our governor releases murders from prison,” Skillicorn said. “The constitutional rights of the people have been usurped long enough. It is time to recall Gov. J.B. Pritzker.”

If the lawmakers sign onto the recall, it must be approved by the State Board of Elections.

Then, petitioners have 150 days to collect signatures. They need at least 15 percent of the votes cast for governor in the preceding general election, or about 637,000 signatures, and a minimum of 100 names must be gathered in at least 25 counties.

If the recall is approved, the governor must step down and the lieutenant governor is named interim governor until a special election is held.

While four Illinois governors have served prison time — Democrats Otto Kerner Jr. and Dan Walker landed behind bars after they were governor — none have been recalled. Only two governors have: North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California’s Gray Davis in 2003.