Collin Corbett, Carolyn Schofield

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running?

Illinois has massive potential. We’ve got incredibly talented, hard-working people, top-tier schools, and a mix of cultures you won’t find anywhere else. Plus, we’re a powerhouse for building and moving things across the country, and our farmers help feed the world.

Yet Illinoisans feel stuck. Everything costs more, and we are being asked to do more with less. Better-paying jobs are hard to find. All while we watch our family and friends move away.

We feel stuck because our broken political system is grinding Illinois to a halt. Instead of solving problems, it pits us against each other and rewards the most extreme voices instead of the smartest solutions. It concentrates power in the hands of party bosses and special interests. Too many good people have simply given up.

It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time to put everyday Illinoisans back in charge. That’s why we’re bringing together a mainstream, Independent majority in Illinois, led by Independent candidates who know the price of groceries and the weight of a mortgage, not millionaires or billionaires.

Illinois deserves a governor who will deliver common sense solutions that make people’s lives better.

Unfortunately, we won’t get that from the two major-party candidates. JB Pritzker continues to blame everyone but himself for Illinois’ challenges and refuses to step up and lead, for fear of negatively impacting his national ambitions. And perennial candidate Darren Bailey has repeatedly proven he’s too extreme for Illinois.

What do you think is the most pressing issue facing Illinois residents and how do you plan on addressing it?

How unaffordable our state has become is the single biggest issue for working families. In a recent survey, 21% of Illinoisans said the state is affordable compared to 57% who said it is too expensive.

JB Pritzker has made it worse. He’s raised taxes and fees at least 57 times since taking office, costing the average Illinoisan over $1,400 a year more in taxes.

Working families shouldn’t have to struggle just to get by.

We’ll improve the cost of living in Illinois by finally lowering property taxes, holding state spending in check, providing relief at the pump, bringing down energy costs, reining in unchecked data center growth, reducing health care costs, and building new affordable, quality housing while stabilizing the value of current housing.

At the top of our affordability plan is lowering property taxes. Illinois has the highest property taxes in the country—double the national average and nearly triple rates in Indiana and Florida. Yet Pritzker repeatedly claims crushing property taxes are not his fault, while Darren Bailey is pretending he can fix the problem with magic pixie dust.

I have the only real, actionable plan to finally deliver property tax relief for Illinois working families.

While our full plan will not fit in this questionnaire, in summary: we will reduce unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts, fully fund schools and LGDF, restore pension system solvency, consolidate excessive government, get Illinois growing again, create a property tax reduction fund, and shield local governments from payment delays.

How would you attract more businesses to open in or relocate to Illinois?

We have to get Illinois growing again. Since JB Pritzker took office, Illinois ranks 46th in GDP growth, 45th in job growth, and 39th in income growth. We have the 5th highest unemployment and 3rd highest outmigration rate.

One of the reasons for this is in JB Pritzker’s Illinois, big out-of-state corporations get tax breaks while local small businesses pay the full weight of our state’s oppressive tax and fee burden. Small businesses create a majority of the jobs in Illinois. It’s time to level the playing field and help them succeed.

I will scale back special tax giveaways currently only accessible to big out-of-state corporations, and instead increase grants, loan programs, and tax credits for Illinois small-to-midsize businesses, manufacturers, and family farmers.

I will also stop increasing taxes and fees on our small businesses to pay for Springfield’s overspending. The current tax-and-spend approach is stifling our growth and limiting job opportunities for our workers. Instead, I will level the playing field by allowing our businesses to utilize the same federal tax incentives available to competitors across the country.

Finally, I will fix Illinois’ broken procurement processes, phase out the estate tax so family-owned manufacturers and farms can be passed on to the next generation instead of being sold off to big corporations or foreign interests, and grow our skilled workforce.

The goal of all of this is to create more and better paying jobs for Illinoisans—raising everyone’s wages. Our workers deserve more opportunities to build high-paying careers.

What approach should the state take when it comes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions?

Local law enforcement should focus on local policing while federal law enforcement polices immigration. That said, local law enforcement should be allowed to work with federal law enforcement to catch violent criminals who are here illegally.

Governor Pritzker has said he agrees with this stance. However, the way the TRUST Act is written, most county and local law enforcement agencies believe they cannot coordinate with federal law enforcement in any capacity. Whether they are correct or not, it seems the wisest course of action would be to simply amend the TRUST Act to clean up any language that is leading to confusion.

How should Illinois address the rising costs of health care? 

Health insurance premiums in Illinois continue to rise faster than the national average, up 29% this year, while Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans are up 36% in 2026, the largest increase in the Midwest, giving the state the highest cost plans of any surrounding state.

Federal health care reform is desperately needed, but Illinois can take meaningful steps now to provide families relief.

Illinois faces severe healthcare delivery challenges driven by market consolidation, regulatory barriers, and misaligned financial incentives. Expenditures for public and private payers are being driven up as traditional health systems prioritize high-margin specialty procedures over low-cost preventative care.

I will increase price transparency so patients can make informed decisions on providers and prescription drugs that fit their budgets.

I will reduce state mandates on insurance that increase health insurance premiums without meaningfully improving benefits.

I will stop hospitals or private equity companies from owning doctors, which lessen local market choice and drive up prices.

I will expand access to association health plans to let small businesses join together to purchase coverage cooperatively, giving them the same economies of scale as larger businesses.

I will launch a Direct Primary Care (DPC) program for state employees and non-Medicare retirees to remove all barriers for primary care and increase preventative care.

And I will reform state health care permitting and oversight processes to encourage independent medical provider investment and reduce overall service costs.

What approach would you take on tax policy and what is your top priority? 

My top priority is to finally lower property taxes. But since that is covered under another question, I will focus on another priority in this answer.

The sales tax system in Illinois is highly regressive, punishing working families with one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country. Currently, Illinois has the 8th-highest combined sales tax rate in the nation. Some locations, like Chicago, have among the highest rates anywhere.

Illinoisans still pay sales taxes on everyday essentials like over-the-counter medicines and health items, medical appliances, diapers, personal hygiene products, and household cleaning supplies. Many Illinoisans still pay sales taxes on groceries and baby formula. In addition, Illinoisans in the 6-county RTA region pay an additional sales tax on everything including food, drugs, and medical appliances, a tax Pritzker just raised by .25%. And Illinoisans pay sales taxes on gas on top of the ever-increasing gas tax.

Illinois needs a modernized sales tax structure that lowers baseline rates for working families, broadens our tax base to reflect a modern 21st-century economy, and provides real, permanent relief where taxpayers need it most.

I will eliminate the sales tax on everyday essentials, because working families should not be punished with regressive sales taxes when they’re simply trying to survive. I will broaden the tax base to include services, especially high-end and non-essential services. And as we restore fiscal responsibility to state government, I will work towards lowering the baseline sales tax rate on all goods and services to further help working families.

How should Illinois address shortfalls in public pension funding?

In Illinois, state government creates generational debt instead of generational wealth. Illinois carries over $140 billion in total debt—highest in the country.

Decades of politicians underfunding pension funds and high Tier 1 benefit structures mean state funding is consumed paying off legacy debt service while a massive portion of every property tax dollar is diverted to service historical pension debt.

I will protect state employees’ retirements while reducing and paying down the state’s pension debt. As these efforts are successful and pension debt takes up a smaller percentage of the state’s budget, funding will be freed up for other important priorities. 

I have a plan to restore fiscal responsibility to the state budget. As funds are freed up, I will invest those into paying down the state’s legacy pension debt to restore solvency to our pension systems. In addition, I will require 50% of additional revenue above projections be invested in paying down the pension liability.

I will ensure we avoid digging the hole deeper by preventing new Tier 2 benefit sweeteners until the state reaches fiscal stability.

Finally, I will reduce pension liability by continuing the state’s successful voluntary pension buyout program and extending the program to government employees at all levels, eliminating pension spiking, and providing parity between all school districts in Illinois and encouraging more responsibility among school districts accruing pension obligations ultimately paid by state taxpayers by consolidating teacher pension funds and implementing a baseline state pension contribution for every teacher in Illinois.

Is the funding system for public education in Illinois currently working? What would you change?

The number of school districts in Illinois that are adequately funded has declined for three consecutive years under JB Pritzker. As a result, lower-income rural and suburban districts are falling even further behind. No kid’s education should be held back because they happen to be born in the wrong zip code. That’s why, before running for Governor, I helped our lowest-funded districts streamline overhead and secure over $1.6 billion in critical funding for classrooms and infrastructure.

Illinois covers just 24.5% of local school budgets, down from 27% when JB Pritzker took office. The national average is 45%. State infrastructure support is even worse. Over the last 28 years, Illinois has provided just $3.1 billion to build and renovate local schools, creating a statewide backlog reaching up to $14 billion—40% of which is for health/life safety projects.

School districts are forced to make up the shortfall through increased property taxes and referendums.

As governor, I will ensure the state fulfills its responsibility to fully fund our schools, giving our kids the quality education they deserve while providing relief for overburdened homeowners, who pay the highest property taxes in the country. I detailed my plan to accomplish this in my answer on property taxes above.

How would you describe the current state of your party and what changes or new approaches would you like to see your party adopt? 

As has happened to so many, my political party left me. The two parties continue to move further and further to the extremes, leaving many of us politically homeless.

47% of Americans now identify as Independent, nearly double the number that identify with each of the two political parties. 38% of Illinoisans consider themselves moderate, more than those who align with liberals or conservatives. Yet the mainstream is woefully underrepresented in our politics.

That’s why I’m bringing together the Independent majority in Illinois. We’re delivering common sense solutions that make people’s lives better by moving beyond left vs right and focusing on right vs wrong.

Together, we can make Illinois affordable and build a state where every Illinoisan has a chance to get ahead.

Illinois is ready to grow again. It’s time to bring back hope.