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Rauner defends HB 40, remains cagey about re-elex plans


A quick question-and-answer between Gov. Bruce Rauner and reporters in Chicago Tuesday included the subject of a possible primary against one of the legislative leaders — House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs).

“I don’t know, I can’t predict the future,” Rauner said with a nervous chuckle. “Today, I’m not really focused on politics.”

Really? What about his 2018 re-election plans?

“If you just watch and see how I’m working — the one thing I can say to you is I will never give up on working to protect Illinois, create a better future for Illinois. I will never give up, I will never back down, never give in. Our system is broken, it’s fundamentally broken, and I believe that we can have a movement.”

That movement, Rauner said, would include term limits and changes to the redistricting process.

On the abortion bill he signed last week, the governor said, “Reasonable people can disagree reasonably.”

Rauner called the Las Vegas massacre Sunday “so heartbreaking, so horrible, beyond description” before framing it as a mental health issue. He would not delve into specific policy ideas.

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