Will County Gazette

Veteran state Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) believes there’s a clear and distinct reason for why Democrats are all of a sudden joining Republicans in demanding COVID-19 answers from Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“I think it tells you how many citizens there really are that are outraged by the governor’s actions and Democratic representatives are being forced to respond,” McDermed told the Will County Gazette. “Knowing how much Gov. Pritzker hates criticism and is so sensitive, you know the pushback Democrats are getting has to be huge for them to criticize the czar of Illinois.”

Citing rising infection rates, Pritzker recently moved to reenact COVID-19 restrictions that include banning indoor bar and restaurant service in a flood of counties across the state. Almost from the moment it was announced, the move instantly raised the ire of many small business owners still reeling from the impact of the governor’s initial shutdown. Among Democrats, state Rep. LaShawn Ford of Chicago is leading the charge in demanding answers, recently calling on Pritzker to hold public hearings to justify his actions.

McDermed welcomes all the help Republicans can get.

“Whatever it takes to make the governor change his position because this is about people’s lives,” she added. “The problem with the governor’s approach of running the state by unilateral decree is it’s very difficult for people to buy into anything when they don’t understand the data behind the decisions being made. Right now, no one understands why the governor is doing what he’s doing because to this day he still won’t reveal what science he’s relying on. We’re being forced to just take his word.”

Given that, McDermed said she isn’t surprised to see more small business owners putting up more resistance to the governor’s orders this time around.

“They know what’s at stake, which are the businesses they’ve built and the welfare of their families,” she said.