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Posted: Monday, 12 October 2009 5:37PM
Quinn, Dillard pick up key nods for Ill. governor
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Two candidates for Illinois governor picked up key endorsements Monday.
Former Gov. Jim Edgar said Republican Kirk Dillard has the experience, knowledge and cooperative nature necessary to be governor in a tough financial time.
Endorsing Gov. Pat Quinn, U.S. Rep. Phil Hare said the Democrat was handed ``a mess'' when he took over for an impeached and ousted governor in January but has taken bold stands on difficult issues.
Edgar, governor from 1991 to 1999, endorsed his former chief of staff. Dillard is now a state senator from Hinsdale seeking the GOP nomination for the top job against at least five other candidates.
Edgar says Dillard was ``my right-hand man'' in 1991 when he took office and faced a huge budget deficit - like the state does now. He says Dillard has character and can cooperate with Democrats to make tough decisions such as cutting spending before raising taxes.
Hare said Quinn, who was lieutenant governor under ejected Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has stepped up on issues such as the budget crisis, ethics reform and a stalled capital construction plan.
Quinn was unsuccessful in getting approval for an income tax increase last spring to handle the budget crisis and vetoed an ethics bill he says could be stronger.
But he did get approval for a $30 billion capital construction program to build roads, bridges, and schools, a proposal Blagojevich and lawmakers bickered over, but did not approve, for years.
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Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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