Will County Gazette

Republican Congressional candidate Rick Laib is beyond puzzled by what he sees as Gov. J.B. Pritizker’s inexplicable handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The governor is given the sort of power that we need a governor to have so that someone can make immediate decisions on behalf of the state when immediate decisions need to be made,” Laib told the Will County Gazette. “Decisions regarding mitigation of a disease that has a 99% survival rate do not require immediacy, especially when current decisions are helping bankrupt our state.”

Running against Rep. Bill Foster (D-Illinois) in the 11th District, Laib fears Pritzker’s latest decisions only set the stage for more of the same struggle and chaos. Citing rising infection rates, the governor recently moved to reenact restrictions that include bans on indoor dining at restaurants and bars. The move has instantly raised the ire of many small business owners still reeling from the governor’s initial shutdown orders. As the stakes grow higher, a growing number of democratic lawmakers are also now demanding that the governor hold public hearings to justify his latest actions.

Among Democrats, one of the loudest critics has come to be state Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago, who recently charged Pritzker “can’t rule with an iron fist” on the issue. When it comes to their overall sincerity, Laib said he is taking a wait-and-see attitude.

“Illinois Democratic lawmakers have a reputation for being well-funded by their party and not standing alone in their decision-making,” he said. “I believe they see the financial and emotional brokenness of Illinois families and I believe they see the need for hearings. But there is a limit to what they will push for.”

Laib fears what it all could come to mean for the state.

“Other states are opening up and offering the kind of freedom that is increasingly not found in the Prairie State,” he said. “I can't see why these shutdowns won't help encourage people to leave.”