Lake County Gazette

Former state House hopeful Thomas McCullagh is rejoicing over the thought of voters having grown tired of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“The governor’s progressive tax was the last thing Illinois taxpayers needed,” McCullagh told the Lake County Gazette. “I’m happy that it failed and moved that Republicans banded together to rise against it.”

Despite the governor’s insistence that the tax he’s pushed since before arriving in Springfield would only mean higher rates for the state’s richest residents and having pumped at least $50 million of his own money into a campaign aimed at further sway voters, residents soundly rejected the measure that needed at least 60% support at the ballot box on Nov. 3.

McCullagh, who lost his race to Democrat Meg Loughran Cappel in the 49th District with 44% of the vote, said he isn’t surprised to now see the governor lashing out at every opportunity, threatening everything from across-the-board tax hikes to “painful” budget cuts in an effort to counterbalance things as he sees fit.   

“He’s a spoiled rich kid throwing a temper tantrum over not getting what he wants,” he said. “I really hope people have had enough of it and when the opportunity comes in a couple years we can show him the door and vote him out.”

McCullagh has long expressed his displeasure with the way the governor has handled the situation, including once co-signing on Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton’s threat that taxpayers could soon be facing a tax hike of as much as 20% if the governor’s progressive tax failed to become law.

“He’s trying to scare people into going along with his way of thinking,” McCullagh added. “The bullying is emblematic of the way he’s done things since arriving in Springfield.”