First, we should be clear that any of the major Republican candidates for governor – Bill Brady, Ron Gidwitz, Judy Baar Topinka or Jim Oberweis – is preferred over the incumbent, Rod Blagojevich.

That said, our endorsement goes to Bill Brady, a state senator from neighboring McLean County, who we believe would best reflect the traditional conservative values of downstate Illinois and also would be in tune to its needs.

Brady's district includes Bloomington-Normal, and he has been a strong supporter of public higher education and of fully funding the state's pension system. As the Republican leader on the Senate Pensions and Investment Committee, Brady was at the forefront last year of opposing the Blagojevich-backed raid on the state pension systems. But because Democrats were able to supply all the votes in the House and Senate, the short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible legislation was approved, again delaying the effort to guarantee the constitutionally required full funding for public pensions.

Brady has been in the Illinois Senate since 2002, following eight years in the Illinois House. He has a solid understanding of Illinois' fiscal problems which continue, even with healthy increases in tax revenue, because the governor and Legislature persist in spending more than the state is taking in.

Brady has a plan to return Illinois to responsible budgeting. It calls for cutting jobs and services, instituting managed care for Medicaid, undoing Blagojevich's new taxes and fees on businesses and ridding Illinois of its double-taxation of motorists. He wants to eliminate the 5 percent sales tax on fuel that comes on top of the 19-cent-a-gallon tax motor fuel tax. Brady contends that cutting taxes would boost investment, and reverse the loss of jobs the state has experienced over most of the last decade.

Brady is a successful businessman (he has housing developments in Champaign County) and has first-hand experience with taxes, fees and regulations that unnecessarily bind Illinois businesses and keep others from locating here, in spite of the state's rich infrastructure of highways, airports, railroads, utilities, higher education facilities and work force.

He has been endorsed by a number of local GOP officials, including U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson of Urbana, state Sens. Rick Winkel of Urbana and Dale Righter of Mattoon, and Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden.

The other major Republican candidates also make persuasive arguments for election. Gidwitz, with experience as chairman of the State Board of Education and as the chief executive of a major Illinois corporation, would be an excellent governor. He is full of solid ideas for turning around the woeful condition of state government. Topinka, with 14 years in the Legislature and 11 years as state treasurer, has built a commendable record of fiscal discipline and trust. Jim Oberweis has an outstanding record as a businessman and in public service. But we're backing Blll Brady, based on his experience in government and in the private sector, and because he understands the problems and needs of East Central Illinois.

In the race for lieutenant governor, we support state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin. A former small businessman and a member of the Senate for nearly 14 years, Rauschenberger has an outstanding grasp of the state's financial condition. No matter who is the Republican nominee for governor, we believe Rauschenberger would be an asset to the ticket.