Rep. Miller on billboards criticizing Pritzker and Johnson’s policies: ‘Their open borders, their soft on crime, their anti-business policies have had real-world consequences’

Rep. Chris Miller (R-Charleston) has thrown his support behind a series of billboards critical of Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that went up around the Democratic National Convention last week.

The billboards, which were designed to counter Pritzker and Johnson’s narratives, will remain up for now, and feature messages such as “Welcome to America’s Murder Capital,” “Welcome to the Unemployment Capital of the Midwest” and “Thanks, JB! For Blocking the Brighton Park Migrant Shelter.”

“Chicago is being overwhelmed because our leaders refuse to cooperate with ICE,” Miller said. “Pritzker and Johnson would rather virtue signal than be responsible leaders. Their open borders, soft-on-crime, anti-business policies have had real consequences in the form of more violence on our streets, out-of-control immigration, and job and population losses. If we want to solve these problems, we must reverse these harmful policies.”

The TRUST Act of 2017 transformed Illinois into a sanctuary state, protecting illegal immigrants from federal immigration enforcement. The policy has generated much controversy.

There are now more than 700,000 illegal immigrants in the state, and taxpayers pay billions of dollars each year.

Meanwhile, organized crime has increased dramatically. Often, the crime is linked to foreign drug cartels in the state, for example human trafficking and drug trafficking.

In addition, several companies, including Citadel and Boeing, have left Chicago and Illinois in recent years, and Morton Salt’s headquarters have moved to Overland Park, Kansas.

The company was founded in Chicago nearly 180 years ago and has since grown to become the largest salt producer in North America.

Chicago’s overall crime rate has also increased dramatically in recent years.

The city’s murder rate remains five times higher than New York City’s, surpassed only by Philadelphia among major cities. Homicides in Chicago were up 23% from pre-COVID 2019 levels, and major crimes increased 16% overall.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois also has the second highest unemployment rate in the country, at 5.2%.

Miller said he attributes the state’s challenges to poor leadership.

“The challenges our state faces are the direct result of terrible leadership,” he said. “We don’t have to be leaders in violent crime. We don’t have to deal with measles outbreaks in our schools because of illegal immigration. We don’t have to be tied with California for the second-highest unemployment rate in the country. The Democrats have allowed these things to happen with their shortsighted policies. The nation needs to be reminded of what total control by the Democratic Party looks like.”

The billboards are part of a broader campaign led by Dan Proft and his political action committee, the People Who Play by the Rules PAC.

Proft has expressed frustration over what he sees as censorship by major billboard companies. He says JCDecaux, the world’s largest outdoor advertising company, refused to run the ads at all, and Clear Channel Outdoors rejected their designs.

He argues that this reflects a larger problem of media influence and control. Pritzker has a personal fortune of $3.5 billion inherited from his parents, and controls lucrative campaign funds, plus the state’s advertising budget.

Pritzker has spent a total of $323 million on his two gubernatorial campaigns, using even more from his personal fortune. In addition to self-funding, Pritzker contributed $24 million in the 2022 campaign to the Democratic Governors Association, which played a role in shaping the Republican primary to favor his eventual GOP opponent, former Sen. Darren Bailey.

Meanwhile, Pritzker’s net worth has increased by an estimated $400 million during his tenure as governor. Under his leadership, he has made personal investments in 12 companies, totaling $20 billion in state contracts.

However, when it came to the role of money in politics, Miller expressed concerns about Pritzker’s significant financial influence.

“I have no problem with J.B. Pritzker’s money,” Miller said. “His family earned it. If he wants to spend it on politics, so be it,” Miller said. “The best way to counter Pritzker’s millions is for patriots to vote en masse.”

“Illinois is not a lost cause. We just need honest people to get involved and work hard,” he said.

Campaign money is big business for advertising agencies like JCDecaux and Clear Channel Outdoors.

In the 2020 election cycle, the most expensive ever, Democrats outspent their Republican counterparts nationally by $8.4 billion, compared to $5.3 billion.

Despite the impact of such spending, Miller stressed the importance of freedom of expression and the role of financial contributions in political debate.

“There is freedom of speech in this country,” he said. “Money spent on politics is speech. The best way to overcome money spent on politics is for ordinary citizens to become informed and learn the truth.”

“We also need patriotic citizens to step up and donate to counter the narratives of the left. Putting up billboards in Chicago isn’t cheap, but it’s an important way to help voters understand what’s happening to their communities and why it’s happening,” Miller said.