Bill Brady (politician)
William E. "Bill" Brady Jr. is a Republican member of the Illinois Senate who has represented the 44th Legislative District since his appointment in May 2002.
Brady previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 88th District from 1993 to 2001. He also ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Illinois in 2006, 2010, and 2014.
Early life, education and career
Brady was born on May 15, 1961, in Bloomington, Illinois. He graduated from Central Catholic High School and Illinois Wesleyan University.A millionaire real estate developer and broker, Brady is a co-owner of Brady Homes, one of Central Illinois' largest home builders, founded by his father, Bill Brady Sr. In early 2014, it was reported that Brady's real estate development business had been sued twice for defaulting on loans.
Illinois Legislature
In 1992, Bill Brady defeated seven term incumbent Gordon Ropp by a razor thin margin in the Republican primary. Ten years later, Brady was appointed to the Illinois Senate in 2002 to succeed John Maitland.Committees
Brady serves on the following committees:- Agriculture and Conservation
- Committee of the Whole
- Conference Committee on SB1
- Environment
- Insurance
- State Government &Veterans Affairs
- Transportation
Political campaigns
2006 gubernatorial election
Brady ran for governor in 2006. He finished third in the Republican primary, getting about 18% of the vote.2010 gubernatorial election
In the 2010 gubernatorial election, he defeated his closest competitor, State Senator Kirk Dillard, by 193 votes in the GOP primary, and faced incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney in November. Brady's running mate was 28-year-old Jason Plummer, past Chairman of the Madison County Republican Party and, at the time, an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve and vice president in his father's lumber business. Despite winning 98 of Illinois's 102 counties, Brady lost to Quinn by around 32,000 votes out of 3,700,000.Results
Brady won 98 out of the 102 counties, winning all of the Chicago collar counties. However, Quinn's huge win in Cook County which encompasses the Chicago Metropolitan Area, provided a large buffer of votes that Brady could not overcome. On election night, Quinn had an initial, large lead when results from Cook County were the first began to come in. Once suburban and rural precincts reported the vote tallies, Brady narrowed the gap, but Cook County provided enough votes to give the election to Governor Quinn. Brady conceded defeat on the following day, November 3. Quinn's win was ranked by Politico as the 7th biggest upset of the 2010 elections.2014 gubernatorial election
Brady announced his third bid for Illinois Governor on June 26, 2013. His fellow GOP contenders were businessman Bruce Rauner, state treasurer Dan Rutherford, and Senator Kirk Dillard. Brady's running mate was Maria Rodriguez. She was initially courted by Bruce Rauner as a running mate. Rodriguez carried two terms as mayor of Long Grove, Illinois. Brady was the lowest-funded of the four Republican candidates for the primary election, with only $273,000 in his campaign account at the end of 2013. During his campaign, Brady made several swipes at competitor Bruce Rauner, including comparing Rauner to disgraced and jailed former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Among other things, Brady advocated for pension reform, reducing taxes, reforming worker's compensation, not increasing the minimum wage, and the dismantling of the Illinois State Board of Education. Brady lost the GOP primary at third place with 15% of the vote.Political positions
Budget
According to his campaign website, Brady believes in balancing the budget and paying down debt by "deconstructing Illinois spending and constructing a new budget, based on efficiency and priorities". He has proposed a plan to cut “a dime for every dollar” in state spending. But depending on the starting point, that may cut $3 billion to $5 billion from the $13 billion deficit.Education
Brady supports replacing the Illinois State Board of Education with a smaller agency that receives half of the current $80 million funding, or $40 million.Brady believes that intelligent design, which he has described as "in other words, teaching the Bible", should be taught in public schools, saying that "we should teach the Bible in our schools. One of the basic, fundamental voids we have in our school system is bringing God into the system." In a follow-up interview, he explained: "I certainly believe that local school boards should have the opportunity to teach kids about the Bible, just as they ought to be able to teach them about the Qur'an." He added: "I believe in school prayer. I think that local school boards should be able to dictate that they start the day with prayer."
Brady supports competition in elementary and secondary education and, "either through board action or citizens initiative", school districts funding the tuition to private schools, at a rate that is, at minimum, what the state provides to the school district.
Employment
Brady supports lowering Illinois' minimum wage from its current $8.25 per hour to match the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Brady has said that the minimum wage should be controlled by “market-forces”. “I think supply and demand in the marketplace determines the rate of minimum wage. I don't think governmental intrusion is as effective," said Brady. Brady has also called for a freeze in the state's minimum wage until the lower federal rate catches up to that in Illinois.Death penalty
Brady intended to lift the moratorium on the death penalty if he became governor.Abortion
Brady is anti-abortion. He supports a ban on all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. He makes an exception and allows abortion when a mother's life is at risk. He has also backed legislation allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception.Same-sex marriage
A week after winning the Republican primary, Brady introduced a proposed state constitutional amendment on February 10, 2010, defining marriage as between "one man and one woman". The proposed constitutional amendment would also deny validity and recognition to any "uniting of persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same sex relationship." Although Brady was originally the main sponsor of the amendment, its chief sponsor is now Illinois State Senator John O. Jones, who became co-sponsor with Brady the week following its submission. Brady has stated that he is "concerned that activist judges could overturn our current law protecting this institution". Brady has also stated his opposition to civil unions for gay couples on more than one occasion.Stem cell research
Brady voted against legislation that would authorize state funding for embryonic stem cell research but prohibit human cloning. The legislation passed.Health insurance
Brady voted against extending parental health insurance to unmarried dependents. The legislation later passed.Brady co-sponsored SB 908 – Insurance Without Mandated Coverage - in 2003. SB 908 would have allowed insurance providers to offer plans that do not include coverage otherwise mandated in Illinois law. He voted NO on HB 211 in 2003 – Contraceptive Coverage in Private Health Insurance. HB 211, which became law in 2003, required any private insurance plan that covered prescription drugs and devices to also cover FDA approved contraceptive drugs and devices, but expressly states that nothing in it requires the coverage of abortion services.
Brady has called for cuts to the state's Medicaid program, where he says his proposed forensic audit would reveal fraud, mismanagement and abuse. He also favors switching many Medicaid patients to a managed care system – the type currently administered by many Health Management Organizations – to control the cost of health care.
Drugs
Brady opposes the legalization of marijuana in Illinois.Gun control
Brady has stated that he is opposed to any further restrictions to the ownership of firearms in Illinois. He is also for legalizing concealed carry, which would allow a law-abiding, licensed Illinois resident to carry a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner.Ethics
Brady's campaign website states that his administration would be a "clean break" from the ethics scandals of past governors. He supports capping individual campaign contributions at $4,800 for each election cycle and prohibiting union and corporate contributions.Brady has opposed requiring campaign contributors to list their occupations. He also dismissed adopting detailed federal-style statements of economic interest for public officials in Illinois as an "overreaction."