Chambana Sun

 State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) has formally declared his candidacy in the newly drawn 107th District.

Now holding the seat in the 102nd District after initially being elected to serve in the 110th District, Halbrook insists he has a whole list of reasons for seeking a return to Springfield.  

“There are many challenges facing our state right now,” Halbrook posted on Facebook. “We have not addressed pensions. We have done nothing to provide Illinois residents with any kind of meaningful tax relief. Spending is out of control, and we have failed to root out the culture of corruption in Illinois. We need a new approach and that can only happen if reform-minded candidates run for the statehouse and win. I am running to continue to keep fighting to turn our state around.”

Halbrook has also spoken out against several other policies enacted under Gov. J.B. Pritzker, including the state’s version of the Green New Deal, a measure to bring sex education into the classroom for kids as young as 5-years-old, a bill to amend the right of conscience act and a ban on parental notification of abortion.

While Halbrook concedes the new legislative maps pushed through by Democratic lawmakers will likely make it more challenging for conservative candidates, he said he's convinced voters have had enough and are ready for major change.

“There were more than 50,000 residents who signed a petition against the bill to end the right of conscience for workers when it comes to COVID-19,” he said in his Facebook post. “Voters are tired of being ignored. They are frustrated and their frustration crosses party lines. We need qualified conservative candidates to run for office. I am running because I want to be a part of the solution – not a part of the problem.”

Halbrook has opposed President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan and commented on Pritzker's trip to Washington, D.C., to witness the signing of the new bipartisan, $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan.

“[Chicago] Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker were among 200 guests invited to President Biden’s Monday White House large singing (sic) ceremony for the $1 trillion infrastructure bill (not to be confused with the ‘Build Back Better’ (BBB), an additional $1.75 trillion legislative proposal currently stalled in Congress.),” read a post that Halbrook shared on Facebook. “No Republicans will vote for the BBB measure because it contains major Biden agenda items – climate change, expansion of health care, child care, and immigration with provisions Republicans find objectionable. . . too expensive. There is also disagreement among moderate and progressive Democrats over the BBB legislation.”

More recently, the Chambana Sun reported Halbrook blasted the governor’s statements on the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict and the state’s holiday vaccine campaign “a two-for-one in the lunacy department.”

Back in November, Pritzker’s office issued a press release promoting the COVID-19 vaccine during the holiday season and another on a Wisconsin court finding Rittenhouse not guilty for the deaths of two men at a protest there in 2020.

On the vaccine front, the governor said it’s “the greatest gift you can give is to protect yourself and your loved ones from COVID-19.”

On the issue of Rittenhouse, he said the court that tried the teen failed to consider that his actions were “fundamentally wrong.”

“Gov. JBP must be kidding . . . How has Illinois survived this long w/o his great leadership,” said Halbrook, who was first elected state representative in the 102nd District in 2016 after having previously served two terms in that position in the 110th District.