McHenry Times

East Dundee‘s Allen Skillicorn, the Republican candidate for the District 66 state House seat, recently scored an endorsement from soon-to-retire state Rep. Michael Tryon (R-Crystal Lake), who said he wants Skillicorn to replace him.

“Allen Skillicorn is a proven tax fighter with a record of success,” Tryon said. “As a village trustee, he lowered taxes and demanded balanced budgets. The General Assembly needs people like Allen who will stand up to the tax-and-spend policies of (House Speaker) Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) and his super-majority.”

Tryon has been in the General Assembly since 2005.

“The Madigan grip on Illinois is only eliminated when we send more Republicans to Springfield,” Tryon said. “Allen Skillicorn is my choice to be our district’s advocate in the House of Representatives.”

Skillicorn’s track record indicates that he favors lowering property taxes, having done so as a town trustee in his own jurisdiction for the last five years and successfully preserving school funding.

“There isn't a week that goes by when I’m not reminded by the voters about the large shoes I must fill at Rep. Mike Tryon’s office,” Skillicorn said about the endorsement. “Diminishing Speaker Madigan and the Chicago Democrats’ grip on the Capitol dome is the only way to help our state move forward and protect our quality of life.”

Skillicorn, who lived in Crystal Lake as a small child and grew up in Algonquin, comes from a solidly middle-class family. When he met and married his wife Heather, they settled in East Dundee, attending church and volunteering for an animal rescue group close to home. They live with their adopted Doberman, McFly.

“Local roots matter,” Skillicorn said.

Skillicorn opposes the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) “bailout” concept and the fiscal gridlock currently challenging the Prairie State.

“As Rep. Mike Tryon is well aware, there’s a parade of bad legislation emanating from the State House: bills to hike our taxes, to diminish our schools, and to peel away our rights as citizens,” Skillicorn said. “Ultimately, it’s a pocketbook issue -- specifically, their hands in our pockets.”

In 2014, Tryon said on his website that “common-sense thinking (is) in short supply in our state’s Capitol these days,” positing that Illinois was at a crossroads. Now preparing to step down from his decade-long post, Tryon said Skillicorn’s candidacy is Illinois’ best shot at a favorable future.

“There’s a lot of talk in the 66th District, (but) the state of Illinois needs more doers, not talkers," Skillicorn told ABC-7 Eyewitness News earlier this year, referring to taxes, fiscal responsibility and party lines.

  

The East Dundee resident referred to his firsthand experience facilitating change in his own village, stressing that talking about change is easy, but that helping a village board “to fully embrace open, transparent government...that's not easy.”

During his tenure as a trustee, Skillicorn initiated transparency reform  with budgets, a concept not all residents were comfortable with at first. Believing strongly in giving residents access to budgets, he worked with colleagues until all financial data — “even the check register" --  became accessible through East Dundee’s website.

Skillicorn is serving his second term as an East Dundee trustee, having successfully passed “Freeze the Levy” in 2012, holding taxation at 2011 levels and lowering the tax burden on East Dundee residents.

Skillicorn, who is running against Democrat Nancy Zettler in November’s election, has at least one inherent advantage in that he is not attempting to unseat an incumbent. In the March primaries, he decisively defeated both Dan Wilbrandt and Carolyn Schofield, scoring more than 37 percent of the Republican vote to their 32 and 30 percent takes, respectively.

Skillicorn considers himself “the only proven conservative reformer” in the race and looks forward to applying his energy to turn the state around from inside Springfield — not just “winning” a new position.

“If elected, I'll charge up mountains to help Gov. (Bruce) Rauner save Illinois... that's why I'm running,” Skillicorn said.

Currently vice chairman of the Kane County Republicans and chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Illinois, Skillicorn previously served as vice chairman of the Kane County Young Republicans. Learn more at www.allenskillicorn.com.