McLean County Times

Illinois District 91 House candidate Sharon Chung, a McLean County Board member is advocating for higher income taxes. 

At a Sept. 27 debate with GOP opponent Scott Preston Chung bemoaned the public’s decision of voting down a referendum that received heavy backing from Democrats. 

“I actually was very disappointed that the FairTax amendment failed last year,” Chung said in a recent debate. “The misinformation around it was supported by a billionaire who left Illinois as soon as, you know, he just didn't want to play in the sandbox and he took his toys and left the state. The Fair Tax was really one of the ways that we could have really addressed a lot of the problems that sort of the things that we put the extra burden on working and middle-class families on the that with the flat tax that we have here, the Fair Tax really could have solved a lot of issues. I was really disappointed when it didn't happen. But again, when you're sort of going up against a billionaire who wants to make more money for himself, and then when, you know, his candidates didn't win this past primary, that he took his toys and left. But, you know, it's something that I voted for and I proudly voted for back last year. I would love to see that try and happen again, maybe with that gentleman not being in the state anymore.” 

Speaking before the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Preston said Chung advocated raising taxes on Illinois residents and declared that if elected, she would bring back the tax increase. 

"Chung talked about how she would love to see that tax fight happen moving forward, we can't let that happen in central Illinois or Bloomington-Normal," Preston said according to The Pantagraph. "The ramifications are too big and we have to put people over the politics of the day in our opponent's progressive politics."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker led Democrats in an aggressive ad campaign trying to raise taxes on Illinoisans, spending $58 million of his own riches in the process. Nevertheless, the income tax increase was defeated at the polls with 53% of voters rejecting the tax increase. Mark Cavers noted in an op-ed he wrote for Prairie State Wire at the time that "Voters took note. In 2020, 53% of people voted against the graduated income tax despite Pritzker putting the full weight of his office and campaign behind it. Voters sent a clear message that they don’t share Pritzker's high tax governing vision.”

Chung's attempt at damage control was deemed by WGLT-TV to be "partly incorrect, lacking context, and deceptive." That criticism resulted from a fact check on a flurry of mailings sent out against Preston, who was accused of "increasing taxes" by renewing Normal's tax levy as a voting council member.

At the conference, Preston was supported by House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) who noted that “Clearly, Sharon Chung is running to represent herself and her extreme ideology, while Scott Preston simply wants to make Illinois a safer, and more affordable place to live,” according to WEEK-TV. “Chung promotes a tax hike that the district already rejected overwhelmingly. Electing politicians who tell you when they run that they plan to ignore the will of the voters is a gambit that taxpayers cannot afford to lose in Central Illinois,” Durkin added.