SE Illinois News

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) responds to Illinois teacher’s unions promoting a campaign against him after he advocated for school choice. The video was created by the campaign of his Republican primary candidate Matt Hall.

The video, produced by Americans for Matt Hall, the campaign of Wilhour’s opponent in the Republican primary, accused Wilhour of not working in the best interest of Illinois school children. The video, funded by the Illinois Education Association, one of Hall’s biggest campaign supporters, claimed Wilhour voted yes on two bills that allowed convicted minors to be paroled and and allowed illegal aliens to become police officers. 

Wilhour has responded, clarifying that he voted against both of the bills the video referenced. 

"I am not surprised by the tactics being used against me," Wilhour told SE Illinois News. "Lies and half truths are the norm with the Democratic and Republican combine that has run our state into the ground. People like me are the bad guys because we campaign as conservatives and actually vote the way we believe."

"The wizards of smart in Springfield look at conservative like we are a bunch of rubes who just don’t understand how the system works," Wilhour said. "But what has the system gotten us? We have a growing pension deficit we can never repay. The so-called smart people in Springfield lost $2 billion to unemployment insurance fraud. And they want us to trust them with more money? The same teachers’ union whining about $75 million in privately funded scholarship money for low- income students are demanding more money when one in 10 Black students in Chicago can read at grade level." 

"The problem isn’t conservatives who are shining a spotlight on our state’s piss poor leadership. The problem is the people who have created this mess. I am a target because I won’t back down in exposing the total frauds these people are."

Rep. Blaine Wilhour is a lifelong Illinois resident and a graduate of St. Elmo High School. He is a veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard and a former member of the Fayette County Board. He is a managing partner in a post-frame construction company started with his father and four brothers as well.