McHenry Times

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake) is increasingly rumored to be among a list of candidates vying for the seat soon to be vacated by the planned retirement of Sen. Karen McConnaughay (R-St. Charles) in the 33rd District.

The Kane County Reporter previously reported that Skillicorn, with the backing of Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), is considered a leading candidate among a field that also includes McConnaughay’s longtime chief of staff Lesli Melendy, St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte; former McHenry County board member Carolyn Schofield and state Rep. Steven Andersson (R-Geneva), who elected not to run for re-election in the 65th District after incurring the wrath of many by joining a group of other GOP lawmakers to vote in favor of last year's 32 percent income tax hike.

Skillicorn, who sits on the House's Economic, Justice & Equity and Government Transparency committees, also has the support of several grassroots conservative leaders.

Sen. Karen McConnaughay

Meanwhile, Melendy has been endorsed by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) , the GOP super-minority leader.  

Melendy, who has been blasted by some critics as a “RINO”, or Republican in name only, has also been endorsed by the Operating Engineers Local 150 labor union, which boasts ties to longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).

Skillicorn, who has vowed to no longer take a state pension, recently announced that he will “not support or endorse candidates unwilling to pledge to do the same.”

Skillicorn said he is greatly dismayed with how far Springfield has gotten away from what he believes the creators of the constitution meant for government to be.

“When I consider the vision our Nation’s Founders had of the ‘citizen legislator,’ I doubt that pensions would have ever come to mind,” he added in a press release. “Considering that they pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the cause of forming our country, the morphing of the citizen legislator into the modern day professional politician with the power, pay, perks and a pension to boot, seems inconceivable.”