Name: Schaumburg businessman Gary Rabine, supporter of Trump and conservative causes, launches bid for GOP nomination for governor
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Schaumburg businessman Gary Rabine, supporter of Trump and conservative causes, launches bid for GOP nomination for governor

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMar 30, 2021 at 5:28 pmNorthwest suburban businessman Gary Rabine, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump who turned his family’s driveway paving business into a multimillion-dollar business services group, on Tuesday announced his bid for the Republican nomination for governor.Rabine, of Bull Valley, pledged a pro-business administration that would seek to relax many regulations in an effort to spur business and job growth, while seeking cuts in taxes he contends have led to an exodus of Illinois jobs and residents.Advertisement“I’m really worried about Illinois,” Rabine said before making his formal entry into the 2022 race at the Schaumburg headquarters of his Rabine Group.“Many of our businesses, my accountants would say, ‘Get them out of Illinois,’ because of the risk we take, the litigation risk, as well as just the cost of doing business,” he said. “So, for me, I want to change that. Our state won’t survive if we continue to chase jobs out of the state like we have in the last 10 years.”AdvertisementThe governor’s job is the first public office sought by Rabine, 57. But he has been politically active, among other things hosting a campaign event for Donald Trump in October that featured the former president’s son Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, at the Bull Valley Golf Club. Rabine is an investor in the club.“While I didn’t like the tone of (Trump), he really was the best job-creating president of my lifetime,” Rabine said. “If we have somebody with a tone that’s not perfect, it’s better than somebody on the other side who actually has a mindset maybe different, that’s pushing a socialist agenda, not something America should be about.”Asked by a reporter if he believed, as Trump has falsely stated, that the election was stolen due to fraud, Rabine said, “I’m not smart enough to understand what was the end result, whether it was stolen or not, and I would never say that.”Rabine started growing the family’s paving business after graduating from high school, and the Rabine Group now has divisions in paving, roofing, piping and other services across the country.Rabine is an advisory board member of Turning Point USA, the controversial conservative youth group founded by Illinoisan Charlie Kirk. Rabine has called Kirk one of his heroes. Kirk, who has come under fire for spreading disinformation about the pandemic, was one of the first users of the term “China virus.” The Washington Post reported that during last year’s election season his organization funded a deceptive social media campaign aimed at influencing young people.Rabine said, “I know nothing about that stuff” and noted he is “not an adviser to Charlie Kirk personally.”But, he said, Kirk is “giving his life to a great cause and that cause is educating kids and why free enterprise is so important to America and why socialism and communism is a disaster to our kids in our country in the future.”Rabine was an early financial supporter of one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. But in 2018 he shifted his backing to former state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, a controversial conservative who narrowly lost the GOP primary to Rauner. Rabine also donated to Ives’ failed bid for Congress in the west and northern suburbs last year.AdvertisementRabine said he still considers Rauner a friend, but he acknowledged he would not have supported the former governor’s election if he had known Rauner would sign legislation expanding abortion and immigration rights.Rabine has supported groups opposed to abortion rights. He said he “believes in the laws of the land” and is “not going to be able to change Roe v. Wade” as governor.He said he supports increased efforts for adoption as an alternative to abortion and encourages pregnant women undergo an ultrasound before considering an abortion — though he stopped short of saying such a law should be enacted.Rabine, a millionaire, said he will not be able to compete financially with Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, and is counting on smaller dollar donations. Rabine has so far put $250,000 into his campaign fund. Pritkzer has sidestepped questions about running for a second term, but recently contributed $35 million to his campaign fund.“I’m not going to self-fund a campaign that’s going to cost more than I could ever afford. So I am going to fund my campaign with what’s affordable in my eyes,” he said, declining to specify a figure.AdvertisementRabine gave a speech before more than 100 supporters, most of them not wearing masks or social distancing. The candidate did wear a mask for portions of his appearance.But he pledged he would “never shut down our economy and ruin thousands of businesses as J.B. Pritzker has.”Pritzker has cited public health and safety concerns for business restrictions in dealing with the pandemic.Rabine pledged a 50% cut in property taxes by 2024. Asked earlier how he would substantially cut property taxes, which primarily fund schools, without hurting education, Rabine offered no details but said he had an “economic team” working on a plan.Rabine, whose campaign slogan is “Paving the way to stay” in Illinois, also promised an annual increase of 50,000 jobs by 2024 but again offered no specifics.Rabine becomes the third candidate to officially announce for the Republican nomination for governor in the March 2022 GOP primary. Former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo and current state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia previously announced bids for governor.Advertisementrap30@aol.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMar 30, 2021 at 5:28 pmNorthwest suburban businessman Gary Rabine, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump who turned his family’s driveway paving business into a multimillion-dollar business services group, on Tuesday announced his bid for the Republican nomination for governor.Rabine, of Bull Valley, pledged a pro-business administration that would seek to relax many regulations in an effort to spur business and job growth, while seeking cuts in taxes he contends have led to an exodus of Illinois jobs and residents.Advertisement“I’m really worried about...

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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

Schaumburg businessman Gary Rabine, supporter of Trump and conservative causes, launches bid for GOP nomination for governor

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