The Bradysaurus is back!
State Sen. Bill Brady, the prairie dinosaur whose ideas were a half-century out of date in 2010, plans to announce another run for governor on Wednesday -- in, of all places, Chicago, the city he tried to dis all the way to the governor’s mansion.
Brady will make his announcement at 10 a.m. in the Wit Hotel, 201 N. State St. He’ll then fly to Springfield and Marion, ending his first day as a candidate in his hometown of Bloomington.
Here’s a statement Brady released in advance of his press conference:
Chicago Politics
Illinois is facing serious challenges. We see them everyday ... on the front page, at boarded-up businesses and around the kitchen table as families struggle with their household budgets. With the right leadership, Illinois can grow and prosper again. Nancy and I believe in Illinois, and we’re not giving up on Illinois. And I’m going to be right there, sleeves rolled up, working for sounder communities, vibrant job growth and a stronger Illinois.
Not many Republicans could have lost to Pat Quinn in 2010. But with his opposition to abortion rights, gay rights, animal rights, labor union, combined with his disdain for Illinois’s largest city, Brady pulled it off. Leading in most opinion polls, but losing on Election Day, his come-from-ahead defeat was reminiscent of Thomas E. Dewey’s loss to Harry Truman in 1948. (Although this time, the Tribune didn’t declare a winner the next morning.)
Brady’s only hope is that the Democrats are 30,000 votes less popular next year than they were last time he ran. The last losing gubernatorial candidate to get a second chance was Adlai Stevenson III, who was narrowly defeated by Gov. Jim Thompson in 1982. Stevenson lost again.
