Blago Kicks Off Campaign

By Amy Hart in News on Feb 20, 2006 2:28PM

Governor Blagojevich officially kicked off his reelection bid this weekend, even though many would say he has been campaigning for quite a while now.

In speeches across the state, Blago said his administration inherited a government in “complete and utter meltdown” four years ago and worked hard to get the state out of a $5 billion budget deficit. He touted raising the minimum wage, increasing school funding, providing healthcare to children, and not raising taxes as some of his biggest accomplishments. Blago said if reelected, he would continue to fight for the middle class.

Apparently taking a cue from Mayor Daley, Blago’s speeches were absent of any mention of the corruption investigations within his administration, later saying only, “We do everything right, and I'm proud of our record of accomplishment.” Democratic challenger Edwin Eisendrath and Republican frontrunner Judy Baar Topinka were quick to point out that Blago has not changed “business as usual” in Springfield, a campaign promise he made four years ago. In response, Topinka has launched her own ethics plan.

Chicagoist expects Blago will have an easy time securing the Democratic nomination, but we still think the general election will be a toss-up.