Will County Gazette

Yvonne Bolton supports a recall of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, since politicians like him drove her out of the state.

“I am no longer a citizen of Illinois and I actually left because of the policies of people like Pritzker and his friends,” Bolton said. “For the past decade I tried to effect change in different ways, working for candidates that I believed would make a difference, running for office myself, running a statewide organization and ultimately working in an official capacity to help elect our sitting president, which I'm very proud of.

“As far as Illinois, I didn't see a change in my local government and unfortunately could not wait for it so I decided to exit before it got worse and I know now it was the right decision,” she said.

Yvonne Bolton | Submitted

A recall campaign was launched on May 22 by state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake).

Skillicorn said the governor has poorly handled problems with unemployment claims, overreached his constitutional authority to threaten criminal penalties against business owners who defied statewide closure orders and endangered people by releasing prison inmates because of COVID-19 concerns.

Bolton knows all about those issues, but something else convinced her and her husband to move to Indiana this year.

“The number-one issue why we left was taxes! My husband always dreamed of retiring on a lake but to have the home of our dreams would have been out of our budget with the tax bill, completely out of our reach! Indiana offered both an affordable home and one-fourth of what we were paying before in taxes,” she said.

Bolton worked for change in Illinois state government.

“Yes, I was very active for the last decade. I started working for countless candidates until I myself was asked to run which I did, three times,” she said. “I did win the township race and served four years. I also served as a board member almost four years at a Spanish community center in my hometown of Joliet.

“During all of this time I was very active in my group, the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Illinois, and eventually served in several capacities, one I took over after our former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti as national committeewoman. I became the state chairwoman as well.”

She ran for a state House seat in 2014.

“I worked really hard to unseat Natalie Manley when I ran against her for state representative,” Bolton said. “In my district, I did get a little over one-third of the vote in a blue district. Sadly many people I spoke with talked about issues that we shared but in the end they felt safe voting the same way! Not sure what it’s going to take for people to wake up.”

She said Illinois’ economic worries may require drastic action.

“I think maybe the state might have to declare bankruptcy and restructure maybe. I don't know,” Bolton said. “All I know it was too late for me to wait around for it! Sad, because my father brought us to Illinois when I was only 7 years old and now I am grandmother of 61 and have sadly had to split up my family.”

In addition to displeasure with the direction Illinois was headed, personal reasons drove her to Indiana. Her mother and stepfather had crossed the state line, also primarily due to high taxes.

“My husband moved in March, I followed in May. One of the reasons why we moved was also to help my parents. The plan was to have them move in with us,” Bolton said. “They had moved two years before for the same reason, taxed out of their home while living on a fixed income! My husband and I wanted to give them some security and a sense of peace unfortunately we lost my beloved step-in dad in April and my beautiful mom in September so our plan didn't quite work like we had hoped for!”

It is a period of change and she is learning how to live with that.

“At this time I'm just adjusting to my new surroundings, I am not sure what God has planned for me,” Bolton said. “I will pray as a person of faith and leave it to him to decide what is next.”