A Republican state lawmaker known for bucking his party and siding with Democrats and unions is running as another option to Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrat J.B. Pritzker.
Sam McCann, R-Plainview, announced Thursday morning his resignation from the GOP and campaign for Illinois Governor under the Conservative Party label.
The Plainview state senator’s campaign video released Thursday morning implicates Rauner and Chicago Democrats for higher taxes and corruption in the state.
“As conservatives, we believe that you can’t spend money that you don’t have,” McCann said. “As your governor, I will work with the General Assembly to appeal Rauner’s tax increase.”
The video doesn’t mention Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker, who welcomed McCann to the race, calling him “another voice to the race for governor at this critical time for our state.”
Republicans, including Rauner’s campaign, are bashing McCann for using union donations to spoil the matchup between Pritzker and the incumbent Republican. The governor’s campaign called McCann “the worst kind of political opportunist who is only running for governor to line his own pockets.”
Rauner is in Western Germany on a business-courting trip.
Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said McCann “left the Republican Party with his lockstep votes to support Mike Madigan’s agenda of unbalanced budgets and putting the interests of public sector unions ahead of Illinois taxpayers.”
The self-styled McCann has sided with Democrats and public unions in attempts to grow the size of government several times, most notably, in a 2016 attempt to override Rauner’s veto of a union-supported arbitration bill that would have placed labor negotiations between the state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, it’s largest public union, into the hands of an arbitrator. The veto was narrowly upheld in the House.
Rauner had fought the bill, saying it would have removed his ability to negotiate a better deal for taxpayers.
On Monday, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 donated $50,000 to McCann’s campaign fund. Rauner touts that he has never accepted union donations.
Local 150 has given money to Republicans in the past, but more commonly supports Democrats.
The Democratic Governors Association said Thursday in a release that voters who supported Rauner’s conservative primary challenger, Rep. Jeanne Ives, now have another conservative choice.
Ives declined to respond to the comment.
