Biz to GOP: Borrring!

Still looking for right Gov. candidate

Here's a new one: business leaders in Illinois are downright bored with the Republican candidates for governor.

None of the half-dozen folks who have declared for the race are tingling the legs of corporate honchos looking for a conservative to get behind.

And that has party leaders looking for new recruits.

"With business support split among the half-dozen Republicans in the race, the keepers of the party's purse strings are sitting tight," Crain's reports.

"In fact, party leaders continue to look for candidates who would be widely acceptable to the business community, and two high-level Illinois executives are still pondering a jump into the race, says Chicago attorney Ty Fahner, who, as chairman of the GOP's finance committee, has been leading efforts to vet potential candidates."

It's a little hard to see where these folks are coming from - the current pool of candidates is anything but boring.

Take Dan Proft, for example. He's a quick-witted, fast-talking former campaign manager for Alan Keyes and a frequent local political commentator. Hardly boring.

Or Adam Andrzejewski, a Hinsdale entrepeneur who got rich in the phone book business.

I mean, the Dems are running Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes; I think they win in the snoozefest competition.

Three Republican state senators are in the running, and at least they are among the more interesting of their legislative cohort: Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard and Matt Murphy. DuPage County board chairman Bob Schillerstrom is also in the mix.

Not boring, but not exactly inspiring either.

"Many party leaders are waiting for a front-runner or perhaps a more clearly viable candidate to emerge even as petitions to get on the ballot start circulating this week," Crain's says.

They might be waiting a long time.

Steve Rhodes is the proprietor of The Beachwood Reporter, a Chicago-centric news and culture review.

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