It was delayed by a week due to snow, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Schimpf made his first campaign stop in Waterloo on Feb. 23. 

Schimpf, a former state senator, spoke to a handful of supporters in front of the Monroe County Courthouse about topics the Republic-Times has already reported on like why he decided to run and his criticisms of Gov. JB Pritzker’s recent actions like his proposed budget and signing the criminal justice reform bill. 

Schimpf also blasted Pritzker for not addressing in his State of the State speech what Schimpf described as the “key statistic” for the economic health of Illinois — population loss. 

Schimpf said Illinois had a net population loss of almost 80,000 people from July 2019 to July 2020, and he laid the blame for that at Pritzker’s feet. 

“People are leaving this state due to his policies and just the continued idea that the solution to every challenge is to spend more money and increase taxes,” Schimpf told the crowd, many of whom were local GOP leaders. “If we’re going to turn Illinois around and make Illinois the strongest state in our nation, we have to change course. We need to change to a philosophy that recognizes that a strong Illinois needs a responsible government, safe communities and economic growth through the free market, not socialism.” 

Schimpf also spent several minutes of the roughly 20-minute event addressing concerns that he did not have the fundraising power or ability to win the 2022 election. 

In regard to fundraising, Schimpf said he was a complete newcomer running against the most popular politician in the state, Lisa Madigan, during his failed campaign for attorney general in 2014. Still, Schimpf secured 37.8 percent of the vote in that election, and he highlighted that he flipped 44 counties to Republican and held Madigan under 60 percent despite only spending $171,000.

“I’ve got almost that much in my campaign account right now,” Schimpf said. “We’ve raised almost that much just since I announced for governor. If we did all that against Lisa Madigan with almost no resources, what are we going to be able to do against JB Pritzker?”

Schimpf further said he believes Pritzker is vulnerable to defeat, given that his signature graduated income tax amendment failed in November. 

To beat Pritzker, a billionaire who self-financed his campaign in 2018, Schimpf said a Republican candidate must do three things: unite the state’s “fractured” GOP, give voters a policy and life story contrast and secure crossover votes from Democrats. 

Schimpf argued he checks all three of those boxes because he chooses his words carefully, has a middle-class background and served in the military, and flipped many voters in his state senate campaign in 2016. 

“We are absolutely going to be able to beat JB Pritzker and turn our state around,” Schimpf said. 

State Sen. Terri Bryant, who now holds Schimpf’s seat in the Legislature, echoed her predecessor’s statements. 

“It’s been a very long time since we as Illinoisans had somebody who we could look at and say ‘this guy is the real deal,’” Bryant said. “When people ask me ‘does Paul Schimpf have a chance to win?’ I say, ‘I’ve never seen anybody who has a better chance.’”

Bryant said the fact she is coming out in support of Schimpf so early in the race, with state Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) being only the third Republican to officially announce his candidacy, shows how strongly she believes in him. 

“I want there to be no question about where my loyalties are going to be and who I’m going to be working for for governor,” she said. “I’ve already put my money where my mouth is, and I hope you all do too because I know Paul might not ask you to do that.” 

Schimpf did not request donations, though he did ask for support in whatever form people could provide, including prayer. 

“My plea today is (to) stay in this with me,” he said. “It is not going to be a sprint. It’s going to be a marathon.” 

In addition to Schimpf and Bailey, businessman Gary Rabine is also running to be the Republican nominee for governor ahead of the March 15, 2022 primary. 

Pritzker, a Democrat, has not officially said he will run for re-election.