Gubernatorial candidates head to church on final Sunday before primary

ByCraig Wall WLS logo
Monday, March 19, 2018
Gubernatorial candidates go to church
Candidates for Illinois governor took to pulpits for a final primary push Sunday.

The final Sunday before the primary saw several candidates making appeals in pulpits from Chicago to Rockford.

For Democrats in particular, the focus was on African-American churches.

"We need to create, in this state, a clean heart, and a new and righteous spirit within us, that's why I'm running for governor and that's why I'd like your help," Democratic candidate Chris Kennedy said. "God bless you all."

Kennedy and Democrat J.B. Pritzker visited South and West Side Churches, while Democrat Daniel Biss visited a congregation in Rockford.

"We've got an election in a couple of days, but hopefully we don't just try to do good for our communities on election day, we try to do good for our communities every single day," said Biss.

"Now I'm sick and tired of the politicians that talk but don't listen," Pritzker said. "The politicians that make promises and don't deliver. It's time to deliver I'm running for governor because it's time to deliver."

Governor Bruce Rauner had no public schedule, but Republican challenger Jeanne Ives preached a familiar message Sunday.

"They know that this governor has betrayed us, they know that they can't trust him, they know that he's spending millions of dollars to lie about me and my record and that's shameful," Ives said.

Polls show Ives within seven points of Rauner among voters.

New poll numbers out today show Pritzker remains in the lead of a tightening Democratic race for Illinois governor.

32 percent of voters said they plan to support Pritzker, but Kennedy and Biss are supported 26 and 21 percent of those polled, respectively.

16 percent of polled voters remain undecided.