By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ newest candidate for governor is trying to explain who he isn’t.
Jesse Sullivan, the fourth person to declare for the 2022 Republican primary, is a venture capitalist from Petersburg – near Springfield and the home of Lincoln’s New Salem – who says he moved back to his hometown to raise his family.
His opponents, as well as the Democratic Party, have tagged him as a “San Francisco venture capitalist,”
“I am through and through a Midwesterner from central Illinois, a small town of 2,000 people,” Sullivan told WJBC News. “I’m a central Illinois guy who shares central Illinois values, and so anybody who tries to paint me in a different way – it’s all politics.” and – while Sullivan and his campaign are disavowing that, his company’s web site does not. He is the founder of Alter Global, whose site is alter.vc. A check of that site, including Sullivan’s own page, reveals no mention of Lincoln, nor the small-town, Midwestern roots on which Sullivan is campaigning.
As for his campaign, he says it’s about building Illinois into a lower-taxing, corruption-free state in which his children will be able to find jobs.
Incumbent Democrat JB Pritzker is seeking a second term. The other three declared Republicans are State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), Chicago area businessman Gary Rabine, and former State Sen. Paul Schimpf.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
