'This is our election,' Rauner tells downstate audience

GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner spent a second straight day Downstate Sunday, mining for votes near state Sen. Bill Brady’s political home turf and predicting victory in the four-way race Tuesday.

“This is our year. This is our election,” Rauner, with running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti at his side, told about 50 supporters at McGorrey’s Golf and Grill in Decatur.

The appearance there was part of a three-stop tour Sunday that also included events in Quincy and Champaign, swathes of downstate that Rauner promised not to neglect as governor.

“Every community matters. We’re going to lead for the entire state, not just northeast Illinois, the entire state of Illinois,” Rauner said. “We want a booming economy in Illinois.”

Rauner told attendees Sunday it is “absolutely critical” that they – and their friends – make it to the polls on Tuesday.

He also made another pitch for his legislative term-limit initiative and said it is part of a larger push to “shake up” Springfield. As he has in other locations, Rauner drove home the point by invoking the words of one of Illinois’ best-known Democrats from the last century.

“We’ve got to get corruption out of Springfield. The corruption is rampant there. You guys remember Adlai Stevenson? He had a great line about Springfield. He said, ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness, except in the Illinois Legislature, where it’s next to impossible,” Rauner said.

On Monday, Rauner returns to the Chicago area, with scheduled appearances at a downtown Loop diner in the morning and at a banquet hall in southwest suburban Hickory Hills during the evening.