Rauner Says He’ll Take Term Limit Fight To Illinois Supreme Court

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network

The Republican candidate for governor says he’ll fight to the Illinois Supreme Court to get term limits for lawmakers on the ballot.

A judge disallowed the term limits referendum, ruling that it doesn’t conform to the requirements of a constitutional amendment.

“We are going to pursue appeals. We’ll appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. We think that term limits are a very important initiative. We believe firmly that the way we drafted our term limits initiative is constitutional, and we’re gonna battle all the way through, all the way up to the Supreme Court, if need be, to get it on the ballot,” said Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner, who is bankrolling the term limits campaign.

The campaign of Gov. Pat Quinn issued a statement noting the Quinn has been in favor of term limits for decades, heading the “eight is enough” campaign as state treasurer in 1993, and expressing disappointment with the ruling on Friday.

The proposal would limit lawmakers to eight years in office, change the size of the General Assembly and make it harder to override a veto. The judge also said no to a redistricting proposal; those proponents do not plan to appeal.

Rauner, at a media availability in Joliet, also tried to explain how he didn’t pull strings to get his daughter into a selective enrollment high school in Chicago. He said he didn’t as for any special favors when he made a phone call to the school superintendent. He says the questions about his daughter’s admission are being brought up by the Quinn campaign to distract from the trouble Quinn is in over the mismanaged Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, and allegations of patronage hiring at IDOT.