Marion County Republicans got to hear from a number of candidates during their annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Building Saturday night.
Statewide candidates Darren Bailey for Governor and Bryan Drew for Comptroller both pushed the need to get the vote out on Tuesday.
The two Republican candidates seeking to become Marion County Clerk both spoke.
Zach Rose told the crowd he grew up in Salem, was a Salem Community High School grad and his three children. He said he was not a career politician.
“I think what a lot of it is, is I’m running because of my kids,” Rose said. “I’m concerned about the future. I look at the news, I see what goes on, and the world is just in a crazy place right now. I think that it’s time that people start standing up and running for these positions, because I think the future depends on it. People with good Christian values and a good moral compass need these positions.”
Rose says he has visited with several county clerk offices to learn how they do their jobs to learn what could be implemented in Marion County.
Greg Wright said he moved to Salem as a freshman, graduated from Salem Community High School and Kaskaskia College, served in the US Army, and then retired after a 25-year career with the Salem Police Department. He then obtained a job at the Marion County Clerk’s office two years ago. Wright said he had no idea what the job all entailed from elections to serving the public in several ways. He has some ideas for improvements if elected.
“One of those, first and foremost, is a website,” Wright said. “We filled hundreds of calls a day, people wanting to know what they have to bring to our office to get the information they need to collect, so that’s one thing that I’d like to do. There are other things that become cost prohibitive, but we do not want to create a tax burden on individuals. Having said all that, I want you to know I am excited about the job, I look forward to doing the job, I fell in love with the job.”
Three of the four candidates for the circuit judge opening in the nine counties making up the fourth judicial circuit also spoke.
The primary election is Tuesday, with polls open from six am to seven pm.
