While making their latest pitches to voters to select them as governor, the six Democratic candidates on Friday also made their pitch to attract Amazon’s coveted second headquarters to Illinois.
ABC7’s Alan Krashesky asked the candidates to imagine that the e-commerce giant’s CEO Jeff Bezos was in the studio, watching the televised debate.
“We have the talent that you need for your business,” fellow billionaire entrepreneur J.B. Pritzker said. “That’s why you should come here.”
Businessman Chris Kennedy agreed he’d prioritize the HQ2 pitch, but he said he’d first ask Bezos why the company hadn’t announced changes to its gun sales policy as other companies had in the wake of the Parkland, Florida shooting.
“I’d have that hard conversation with him, absolutely,” Kennedy said.
In fact, Amazon does prohibit “the listing or sale of all firearms,” according to its seller guidelines, though BB and pellet guns are offered.
State Sen. Daniel Biss — wrangling with Kennedy for second behind Pritzker in recent polls — was more tepid in his Amazon pitch, cautioning against multi-billion-dollar tax incentive packages.
“We cannot get involved in chasing them in a way that would increase the concentration of wealth, and make it harder and harder for small businesses and entrepreneurs to compete and create the thriving economy Illinois really needs.”
Downstate regional schools superintendent Bob Daiber invited Bezos to “go to Madison County, where you have the largest Midwest distribution warehouse.”
Anti-violence activist Tio Hardiman joined Daiber in suggesting Amazon sites outside the Chicago area. The only African-American candidate in the field, Hardiman said he’d draw in a diverse talent pool.
“You have a governor talking to you right now that does not have to drink chocolate milk to show my support for diversity,” Hardiman said, again hammering Gov. Bruce Rauner for the stunt he agreed to perform during a Black History Month event last week. “We have to think outside the box.”
Burr Ridge physician and self-described “anti-establishment” candidate Robert Marshall said he’d tell Bezos that he wouldn’t “screw your employees with a progressive income tax,” referring to the state tax code overhaul that the five other candidates support.
During his closing statement, Biss bounced back from his stumble during a candidates’ forum the previous night. The state senator from Evanston, who has billed himself as the “Middle Class Governor,” had estimated the price of a monthly CTA pass at $35 — about a third of the actual cost.
“I’ve been thinking a lot over the last 24 hours about the price of a monthly CTA pass,” Biss said. “I learned that when J.B. Pritzker’s campaign spends $171,000 a day to try to buy this nomination, they’re buying slightly over 1,600 monthly CTA passes.
“Are we going to be a billionaire party or are we going to be a people’s party?” Biss said.
Kennedy raised eyebrows earlier in the debate when asked about addressing the culture of sexual harassment in Springfield.
“I have three daughters. One of them interned in Washington, D.C. I don’t think I’d encourage any of the three of them to intern in Springfield,” Kennedy said. “They might do that on their own, they’re very independent. But that’s not a place I’d want a family member.”
