Four Democrats battle in March primary to succeed Susana Mendoza as Illinois comptroller

Each of the four Democrats running for Illinois comptroller insist they can keep the state’s finances afloat amid the Trump administration’s repeated cuts in federal funding to the state.

The candidates — three state lawmakers and a county treasurer — boast differing backgrounds that they argue best suit the office that is responsible for managing billions of dollars in state funds every year.

State Reps. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, and Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, state Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim are all looking to succeed outgoing Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who announced last July that she wouldn’t seek reelection after nine years in office.

The winner of the March 17 primary election will likely face the lone Republican candidate, Bryan Drew, a southern Illinois attorney, in the November general election.

The comptroller functions as the state’s chief financial officer, overseeing Illinois’ checkbook by paying bills, disbursing funds to municipalities, schools, contractors and all other services in the state budget. The comptroller’s work directly affects the state’s credit ratings, which play into the interest rates the state pays on borrowed money and, in turn, can influence the state’s budgetary decisions.

Kim, 45, from Mundelein, said the state needs a “weathered sea captain at the wheel” — a description she says she fits. She steered the state’s third largest county through the pandemic as treasurer, which in Lake County operates similarly to comptroller. Kim’s own financial hardship as a single mother in college, and a victim of identity theft, has shaped her into “a fierce protector of people and their money,” she said.

But the three legislators said Illinois requires a comptroller who has a background in state government and understands the complexities of massive budgets during a crucial moment of financial unpredictability. The Trump administration has frozen or cut billions of dollars in federal funding to Illinois for various services over the last year.

Kifowit, a former financial adviser with more than 10 years in the House and another 10 years as an Aurora alderperson, said her experience working through the two-and-a-half-year budget impasse during former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s term sets her up perfectly to firewall the state from President Donald Trump.

“It [the state budget impasse] really mirrors what we’re seeing right now on the national level, with using the budget and using funding as a weapon, weaponizing against individuals in order to achieve a goal,” said Kifowit, 54, a Marine veteran with the backing of several labor unions, veterans groups and moderate state and suburban Democrats.

Croke, 33, from Lincoln Park, has seemingly emerged as the Democratic Party’s top candidate in the race.

She is backed by Gov. JB Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, the Cook County Democratic Party, dozens of other state, city and county legislators, numerous labor unions and banks. Her more than $800,000 cash on hand at the end of last year was more than the other three candidates had combined, according to state campaign finance records.

Before being elected to the House in 2020, Croke was the deputy chief of staff at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and she worked on the campaigns for Gov. Pritzker and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Croke said the state should take advantage of any federal grants still available. She also considers revamping the comptroller’s vendor payment program, which expedites overdue payments to state vendors through financial institutions that later collect the money from the state.

“I anticipate that over the next few years, we are going to have to weather the storm of the Trump administration and essentially try to fill the holes where we can until we have a more sane federal government,” Croke said.

Villa, a former school social worker, is a strong supporter of human services and income equality. She and Kifowit have both floated the idea of reconsidering a graduated income tax — one of Pritzker’s first initiatives in office that voters rejected in 2020.

“I’m not running for comptroller because I love spreadsheets. I’m running because I believe and understand deeply that budgets are moral documents,” said Villa, 47, who is endorsed by Senate President Don Harmon, the Chicago Teachers Union, outgoing U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and numerous state lawmakers, unions and community-based organizations.

“When I’ve been watching as we’ve had to cut services in order to balance budgets, to me, it has been gut-wrenching because those, to me, are children, seniors, working families, who are getting shoved basically to the back of the line,” Villa said.

The state senator said she would prioritize distributing money for human services and public health, then for payrolls, schools and local governments, before other payments. Villa also emphasized her plan to implement a procurement accountability program that would ensure the state does not contract with vendors that are linked to federal immigration authorities like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Kifowit and Kim both outlined priorities to expand the comptroller office’s prevailing wage department, which ensures contractors on state-funded projects pay workers a wage comparable to the standard rates in the respective industry. All four candidates also stressed the need to continue the comptroller office’s project to modernize its computer systems and strengthen its cybersecurity.