Lake County Gazette

Illinois House candidate and Antioch Trustee Dan Yost (R-Antioch) sees his vision for Illinois' future almost every time he leaves his home.

“I live just a couple miles from the Wisconsin-Illinois border and the difference on the other side is stark,” Yost told the Lake County Gazette. “Businesses large and small are popping up all along the Wisconsin side of the border while here in Illinois we see very little expansion and almost no new business creation. Friends and neighbors are working in Wisconsin because that’s where the jobs are. There’s nothing different about the people, the technology or the land. The difference is the policies.”

Now running against incumbent state Rep. Joyce Mason (D-Gurnee) in the 61st District, Yost did not need a recent report by the Illinois Department of Employment Security in conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to tell him that Illinois' job creation lagged far behind the national average in 2019. The Illinois Policy Institute notes that last year marked the state's slowest job growth in the first year of any governor's elected term since the start of Rod Blagojevich's second term in 2007.

“Plain and simple, taxes, regulations and corruption,” Yost said of the policies he would most seek to change if he were already in Springfield. “We have to elect people who are committed to serving our families instead of special interests. If we don’t, Illinois' economy will continue to deteriorate, families will continue to leave, taxes will continue to rise, home values will continue to stagnate or decline and employees and employers will continue to look for better opportunities in other states.”