Letter: My kind of town

State Sen. Darren Bailey, Republican candidate for Illinois governor, called Chicago a “hellhole” twice while speaking at the Illinois State Fair on Aug. 18. Perhaps not the smartest move, because Chicago proper is home to more than 20% of the population of Illinois. If you include the surrounding suburbs, the percentage of the total population jumps to about 77%. If I were running for state office, I would not be making statements that could be potentially offensive to more than three quarters of my potential voters and constituents. I’ll let you decide as to the critical thinking involved in that decision.

Another major concern is Darren Bailey is a far-right extremist that believes a woman should not be able to access abortion even in the case of rape or incest. He also has unapologetically compared abortion to the atrocities of the Holocaust. Gov. JB Pritzker supports a woman’s right to choose. Under Gov. Pritzker, the Rebuild Illinois capital plan will continue to put much-needed money into roads and bridges that have been ignored for too long. Over the last three years, 320 bridges and 3,300 miles of roads have been repaired, employing engineers and laborers in well-paying jobs (source: Crain’s Chicago Business, Feb 24, 2022). This same article states that Illinois was recently named the No. 1 state for infrastructure and the 15th best for business.

I plan to vote for a progressive, effective, proven candidate: Gov. JB Pritzker.

Mary W. Hood

Richmond