Libertarian McLean County Board candidate Bennett Morris announced on Thursday afternoon that he has accepted a new career opportunity in Chicago and will withdraw from the District 7 race. Morris, a twenty-year resident of McLean County, will remain as Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Illinois.
Morris served as McLean County Libertarian Party Chairman from 2016 until April of 2018 when he was elected as the state party chair. As county party chair, he oversaw the achievement of established party status in McLean County and the subsequent growth in local candidates and membership.
“My proudest accomplishment here in McLean County was achieving established party status to finally give voters a real choice,” Morris said. “Last election cycle, 13 candidates ran unopposed because of local gerrymandering and restrictive ballot access laws. This year, there are only 2 local candidates running unopposed in large part due the Libertarian Party petitioning for ballot access and overcoming the 5% threshold. My goal is to attain established party ballot access for the entire State of Illinois.”
As a candidate, Morris’ primary focus was to end corporate welfare in McLean County. “The very fact that local politicians continue to offer tax incentives to attract new business demonstrates a, perhaps unintentional, admission that tax cuts do lead to economic growth and that local taxes are too high in the first place. Targeted tax incentives punish the hardworking business owners already committed to our community and further burden individual taxpayers.”
Morris added, “it is abhorrent that elected officials from the two old parties in McLean County are picking winners and losers by offering exclusive incentives to businesses like the Chicago-based restaurant that recently opened in Normal while other restaurants and businesses suffer from a competitive disadvantage artificially created by government. I hope that the next County Board will choose to democratize tax relief to make it more desirable to hire, produce, and live in McLean County. Tax cuts should not just be available to the politically connected.”
Morris stated that he will not endorse either of his former District 7 opponents. “I would encourage people who are dissatisfied with the two-party system choose to support Libertarian Party candidates if they want competitive elections in 2020 and beyond,” Morris said.