UPDATE: I apologize. I misspelled Mr. Griffin’s name.
Ken Griffin, Illinois’s wealthiest person, is spending $45 million to defeat Governor J.B. Pritzker and other candidates in the upcoming GOP primary election. He picked a personal feud with the governor over crime in Chicago, especially in his Gold Coast neighborhood. It is the Battle of the Billionaires.
Griffin does not know how things work. The governor is not responsible for crime in Chicago and can do little to curb crime. As many know-nothings suggest, sending in the National Guard for crime control would be irresponsible and useless.
Griffin lives in Chicago. He is right to be angry about the criminality, especially the violence. Due to his status and wealth, Griffin has a bully pulpit. He should be directing his ire at City Hall/County Building, not the governor’s mansion. City and county elected officials are solely responsible for public safety in Chicago. The mayor, alderpersons, Cook County State’s Attorney, and the Cook County criminal courts are responsible for keeping the public safe and ensuring criminals are held accountable for their crimes.
If Griffin were more intelligent, he would have funded a candidate to defeat Machine Boss, Toni Preckwinkle, in her primary run for another term as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. It is her misguided failing criminal justice policies helping to drive crime in Chicago. Then, looking forward, he should be looking to replace Preckwinkle’s Mini-me Minion, Kim Foxx, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot when they run for reelection.
Instead, Griffin wastes millions of dollars on a candidate who cannot beat Pritzker. Richard Irvin is not ready for prime time, as he demonstrated during media appearances. None of the other GOP candidates are electable. They have no mass appeal, grasp, or real solutions to the state’s issues.
In my memory, only three Republican governors defied the math, James Thompson, Jim Edgar, and Bruce Rauner. In each case, voters were fed up with either corruption or ineffectiveness.
I am a cynic, a disillusioned idealist. I have a healthy mistrust of politicians, political parties, and candidates. Every election, I hold my nose when voting, hoping for the best. I am never surprised when I am disappointed.
What happens in Chicago affects the whole state. Chicago is Illinois’s economic engine. Chicago sends more tax money to Springfield than any other city or county in Illinois. Chicago’s reputation is being tarnished by bad policy decisions, bad governance, and a county government that cares more about criminals and the welfare of their families over the welfare of victims or their families.
The Chicago Police Department is overworked, understaffed, and demoralized. They are being led by a Police Superintendent, David Brown, who is so far out of his league that he is not even in the ballpark. He was a mistake from the beginning. He should have been fired after his first disastrous year.
Ken Griffin may be a financial whiz. He should stick to his knitting or hire a politico who knows what they are doing. Griffith would save himself from wasting his money.