Republican Joseph Severino Enters the Governor’s Race

Lake Forest businessman Joe Severino lays out a bold case for using the pen-and-ink strategy—governing through executive orders in a Democrat-dominated legislature.

In our rundown of potential Illinois governor nominees, we highlighted a hidden "Severino for Governor" Facebook page and predicted Joe Severino's candidacy for governor before any announcement hit the airwaves.

Facebook / Joseph Severino

Sure enough, Lake Forrest’s Joe Severino broke the news on Shaun Thompson's legendary show on AM560 and later confirmed it on social media.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE

Facebook/ Joseph Severino for Governor

For the author of this piece, who is based in West Rogers Park, Severino's campaign touches a very personal nerve. My top issue in Chicago has always been the disgraceful sell-off of public assets—the parking meters and the Indiana Skyway.

Chicago politicians handed parking meter deals to foreign governments in transactions so drenched in corruption that 17 years later, you can still smell the cigar smoke, cheap perfume, and sludge.

2010 Atlantic Article on the chicago parking meter deal

2025 FOX 32 article on the financial burden of the foreign owned Chicago Parking Meters

The tolls and meters are billion-dollar burdens on Chicagoans, business owners, and tourists who do not receive the benefits.

Meanwhile, the benefits flow to governments many disagree with in Canada and Abu Dhabi. The Illinois Record hopes President Trump accounts for Canada’s ownership of the Illinois to Indiana Skyway during the trade battle. This toll continues to increase above national norms, hurting local Chicagoans and the national trucking industry. Canada charges American truckers between 25 and 65 dollars per truck.

ABC NEWS update on sky way prices

When Severino skipped the usual generic political distractions and discussed several strategies to ending the corrupt parking meter and tollway deals, it landed with force.

Facebook / Joseph Severino

Severino also wasted no time confronting the political reality of Illinois: any Republican governor would be working with a Democrat-supermajority legislature.

Many Republican Candidates have ignored the white elephant that Democrats have well beyond enough seats to prevent vetoes in both the House and Senate.

For a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, it’s politically convenient to pretend they’ll find common ground with a legislature that can easily steamroll them—while still claiming they'll deliver on core GOP promises like government reform, pro-life, and access to guns.

Severino’s solution?

Facebook / Joe Severino

He acknowledges the problem preemptively and tells Shawn Thompson, "I am not interested in reaching across the aisle; I am interested in reaching into the well, the inkwell….JB Pritzker has been ruling by executive order, so why should we do anything differently?

Indeed, HB Pritzker held Illinois in a state of emergency for more than two years—a precedent setting move that gave him sweeping control over the state's response to COVID and beyond.

Illinois Policy article written during Pritzker’s perpetual state of emergency

Even now, long after the emergency has ended, he continues issuing executive orders at a breakneck pace—faster than Joey Chestnut Downs hot dogs—totaling in the hundreds and shaping major areas of Illinois governance.

Twitter/ JB Pritzker signs a real estate related executive order in December 2024

The Illinois Record believes the “pen and ink” strategy has clear precedent—and any Republican running for governor on conservative promises has no excuse to ignore it.

Candidates who campaign and fundraise on the Republican platform can’t credibly claim they’ll “fight” for those values while dismissing the only realistic tool they’d have in office.

Severino said he was starting his executive wrath by dissolving the public teachers' unions, who he says are profiting on corrupting Illinois kids. Severino tells the Illinois the record that “The Teachers Unions is a business and is no longer pro-teacher or pro student”.

This move is likely to resonate with Republican primary voters frustrated by bloated public school budgets and the mounting liabilities driven by more than 20,000 retired state-paid “educators” (mostly administrators) collecting six-figure pensions each year—including many who live out of state or are controversial figures like former terrorist Bill Ayers.

2018 Forbes Article by Adam Andrzejewski (may his memory be a blessing) that has been proven right beyond his worst fiscal nightmare

In the interview, Severino also targeted rich retired Illinois administrators and politicians living out of state. His message: move back or lose the check.

Shaun Thompson suggested—and we wholeheartedly agree—that it's time to finally challenge the 1970s constitutional pension clause that bankrupted the state. Severino, a former boxer, seems more than ready for that fight.

Now, let's address the strange energy coming from the only other declared candidate, DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick. The campaign is likely less than thrilled, as Severino has already called on Mendrick to take a polygraph over his Jussie Smollett-style tale involving a politically motivated bullet

His supporters took to social media to respond passively aggressively to Severino's announcement- which has been gaining traction on social media.

One key Mendrick Supporter started spreading the message that the ILGOP needed a "constitutional sheriff" for governor—which could not possibly be about Sheriff Mendrick, whose department just cost taxpayers $11 million in a wrongful death settlement involving an innocent 50-year-old mother.

Chicago Tribune Coverage over the wrongful death of a 50 year old mother under James Mendrick’s watch

They also brag about his fundraising, but his first month only brought in $6,000, and his first "Big Tax Day" fundraiser appears to have brought in a meager $5,000, not accounting for expenses.

James Mendrick campaign donations reported on April 15th, the day of his first “big fundraiser”.

Flyer from the April 15th fundraiser

And now Mendrick's supporters are trying to brand Severino as "Batman." If that's an insult, we'll take it. In a state where political villains have run wild for generations, Illinois likely wants a Batman.

Facebook/ James Mendrick dressed as Thanos.