Lawmaker defends ‘repulsive’ ad in governor’s race
CHICAGO — A Republican lawmaker trying to unseat Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is standing by a campaign ad that’s being blasted as racist, homophobic and “repulsive.”
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, a social and fiscal conservative, says the ad that began airing this weekend illustrates the GOP governor’s “chosen constituents based on the policy choices he made.”
The ad features actors portraying people including a transgender woman and a Chicago Teachers Union member, all thanking Rauner.
The deep-voiced transgender woman, wearing a dress that reveals a hairy chest, says “Thank you for signing legislation that lets me use the girl’s bathroom.”
Rauner hasn’t signed a so-called transgender bathroom bill.
Advocacy groups and people from both political parties quickly condemned the ad.
Ives says GOP primary voters need to know about Rauner’s “betrayals of conservatives.”