PETERSBURG – While no one is yet officially on the 2022 GOP Gubernatorial Primary ballot, another person joined the effort to challenge JB Pritzker's re-election next year: Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jesse Sullivan, who now lives with his wife and four children in Petersburg, Illinois.
Jesse Sullivan – a relative unknown in Illinois Republican politics – announced his entry with a stunning $11 Million warchest – all funds from outside Illinois:
Sullivan's website describes him as thus:
I am a fifth generation Illinoisan, who was born, raised, and now lives in Petersburg, a mile from where President Abraham Lincoln first entered politics. Lincoln has always filled my imagination as our nation’s greatest political example of moral leadership, and I am running for Governor because our state should be exceptional, but our politics are terrible – I want to make Illinois a “shining city on a hill” that Lincoln would be proud of.
He continues …
Growing up on our family farm as one of 8 Sullivan kids (and many more cousins), I learned the values of hard work, faith, family, and service – the priorities of my life.
Faith is at the core of who I am, and it is what is calling our family to take on this newest challenge. My primary mission in this life is to know, love, and serve God. True success in this life is to have the discipline to discern the will of God, and to have the freedom to follow it.
The greatest treasure God has given me are my wife and children, my parents, my siblings, and my extended family. It is my responsibility and my joy as husband, father, son, brother to love, protect, and help them grow in faith, love, and character. My wife Monique and I live in my hometown of Petersburg where our four young children (with a fifth on the way!), who are being raised with the same deep-rooted Illinois values that I was raised with. We are foster parents to two teen girls and help other families who are involved in the foster care system, which has taught me just how broken our system is, and how much work we have to do to make it easier for young mothers to bring children into the world.
All that is professionally written, and seems to aim for the IL GOP's conservative base.
However, his campaign priorities don't touch on faith, family – and just a little bit on service. From our perspective, they resemble Bruce Rauner's priorities:
- High Taxes
- Corrupt Politicians
- High Crime
- Poor Return on Investment
Who is Jesse Sullivan? Why does he think he can win in Illinois? We haven't had a chance to ask yet. (Our email address is [email protected])
Set aside the supposed billionaire status – Illinois has had plenty of that in recent governors. What would Sullivan stand for, not just against?
Here's information from Alter Global – the business the Stanford University graduate co-founded and made him a wealthy man:
and
Sullivan says he wants to end Illinois' era of high taxes, corruption and crime in Illinois.
Let's hear more – and a full explanation of this photo recently dug up on the internet: