Treasurer, comptroller candidates: They want to watch your money
Illinois never seems to have enough money, but it does have two elected officials whose job is to look after it.
This November, voters will elect a treasurer, whose task is to invest the state’s cash, and a comptroller, whose job is to monitor how it is spent.
The treasurer’s post is the lone open statewide office this election because current Treasurer Dan Rutherford chose to run instead for governor — and was defeated in the Republican primary.
Running to replace Rutherford are Tom Cross, a Republican state representative from Oswego, and Michael Frerichs, a Democratic state senator from downstate Champaign.
The comptroller’s race pits incumbent Republican Judy Baar Topinka against Democratic Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, who announced last year that she would not run again for lieutenant governor amid speculation that she would run for attorney general. But that didn’t happen after Attorney General Lisa Madigan decided not to run for governor.