Metro East Sun

Former House candidate Mike Babcock (R-Bethalto) is convinced frustrated voters have reached the point of tuning out Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on the subject of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People are ready to get back to work and feel we need to open up our economy, period,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “The governor has overreacted and people are really tired of it. I’m not sure they’re interested in listening to anything the governor has to say any longer.”

Hundreds of angry protesters recently gathered for demonstrations outside state government buildings in Springfield and downtown Chicago, where they called on the governor to put an end to the statewide stay-at-home order that has forced most small businesses to shutter over the last several weeks after they were deemed to be nonessential by the government.

“The governor doesn’t seem to want to put people back to work and that’s really a problem,” Babcock said. “People are ready to reclaim their lives and they need to get back to their livelihoods.”

Babcock said the governor’s one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with the deadly virus doesn’t help the situation.

“People down here in Southern Illinois have had enough, period,” he said. “For them, there’s not really much else to say at this point. They understand all the precautions we need to take to stay safe, like social distancing, and they’re ready to move on.”

Babcock said time is of essence because residents know they can’t depend on the government for long to help keep them afloat.

“The state doesn’t have any money to give anyone,” he said. “The truth is they’ve ruined this state with all their lack of accountability and some of the damage they’re doing know will be almost impossible to overcome if we don’t get things in order right now.”