North Cook News

Republican gubernatorial candidate Gary Rabine is demanding that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker finally put voters first in the battle to gain control over the COVID-19 crisis.

Rabine is pressing the issue after Elmhurst University became among the latest in a growing number of state universities mandating that all students be vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to returning to campus for the start of the fall semester. Unvaccinated students will be required to wear face coverings and submit to on-campus testing that includes multiple checks each week.

“Stop bullying Illinois children into getting an experimental vaccine,” Rabine, who recently launched his campaign against Pritzker, posted on both Facebook and Twitter. “I’m calling on JB Pritzker to immediately issue an executive order banning K-12 school districts, private schools and colleges in Illinois from mandating and requiring students to get a COVID vaccine.”

Meanwhile, Rabine questions how the governor can press forward with such stringent rules, given that of the three COVID vaccinations now available to the public only the Pfizer shot is approved by the FDA for emergency use in children ages 12-18, the McHenry Times reported.

Rabine added it’s his total concern for the welfare of the masses that moved him to launch his challenge to Pritzker.

“I’m running because I can see my family, my friends’ families and so many others that just want to get out of here,” he recently told IllinoisChannelTV. “It bothers me so bad. I’ve been in business for 40 years, the last 20 building businesses as a leader, understanding what great leadership looks like, and it’s not what we see in our governor and our mayor of Chicago. I’m confident we need a leadership mindset that understands how to build leaders and doesn’t rule like royalty.”