To inform voters and to help the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board make endorsements, the board posed a series of questions to the candidates running for governor. See their answers below. See how other candidates answered here.

• Candidate name: Jesse Sullivan

• Running for: GOP candidate for governor

• Residence: Petersburg

• Current occupation: Founder & CEO, Alter Global LLC

• Previous political experience (elective and appointed positions): None

• Education: St Louis University (BA), University of Oxford (MA), Stanford University (MBA)

• Spouse’s occupation: Director of Religious Education at St. Peter Church

• Sources of outside income: Investments

[A guide to the Illinois primary election, including the key dates, where to vote — and the highest-profile issues]

[Editorial: Tribune announces endorsement in GOP governor primary]

Questions with candidate’s answers

State budget figures put Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities at roughly $130 billion earlier this year. That’s a massive deficit that wreaks havoc on the state’s long-term financial stability, and discourages employers from bringing jobs to Illinois. What should Illinois do to fix this problem?

We’ve made a commitment to our public employees, and we need to do everything in our power to keep our word. The first step is to stop digging, which we can do by bringing the state’s retirement benefit more in line with the private sector and other states. An average family of four in Illinois owes more as a share of those unfunded liabilities ($76,000) than they earn in household income ($63,585). That prevents us from investing more in priorities like education, tax relief, and law enforcement.

Long term, Illinois isn’t going to tax our way out of the problem – our worst-in-the-nation tax burden is already driving families out. We need a robust, growing economy that offers a path to jobs, financial security, and the ability to care for our families. Real reform requires a hybrid defined-benefit and defined-contribution pension system as an alternative for new workers that looks more like a private sector style 401(k). And we don’t need to look far to find what works: More than 20,000 employees in our state university system have already opted into a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

Do you support establishing a pension reform referendum that would ask voters to amend the Illinois constitution to allow a reduction of future benefit growth to levels that the state can afford, while keeping current earned benefits untouched? Please explain why or why not.

Yes. Illinoisans made their voices loud and clear when they voted on J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax amendment. We cannot tax our way out of the financial mess created by Illinois politicians. Now, Illinoisans deserve a vote on constitutional pension reform.

Illinois’ massive pension debt is the number one reason for our high property taxes, the number one reason for our sluggish economic growth, and the number one reason for the poor quality of our government services. We need to fix it.

A constitutional amendment that protects benefits already earned while allowing for changes to future benefits is the only way to fix this problem while keeping our promise to retirees and protecting Illinois taxpayers.

The Michael Madigan indictment highlighted the need for genuine ethics reform in Springfield that restores Illinois citizens’ confidence in government, and prevents the abuses of power that have become all too common in the state capital, and have persisted for decades. What is your vision for meaningful, lasting ethics reform in state governance?

The same old insiders and professional politicians aren’t going to solve this problem. It’s going to take a true outsider, and I’m the only one in this race who truly doesn’t owe anything to anybody.

On Day One as governor, my administration will launch a line-by-line corruption audit to root out the patronage and corruption that is costing taxpayers billions. We will be transparent about our results and regularly report our progress to taxpayers.

I am the only candidate in this race to propose a comprehensive Ethics Reform package, our Clean Up Agenda, which calls for term limits, fair maps, and the harshest penalties for public corruption in the nation. It has the endorsement of former Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope – the woman in charge of rooting out corruption in the General Assembly.

This is a moment where the people of Illinois can truly stand up and make a change from the crime and corruption of the past – when we can embrace the Land of Lincoln part of our history, not the Capital of Capone.

Do you support making possible a referendum that would ask voters to approve a state constitutional amendment overhauling redistricting in Illinois by creating an independent citizens commission to oversee the decennial remap process? Please explain your answer.

Absolutely. One of the very worst things that J.B. Pritzker did as governor was breaking his promise to deliver “fair maps.” That was the fundamental proof that we can’t trust Pritzker to clean up our state or keep his promises to Illinoisans. He continued the insider-first, corrupt politics he inherited, even after promising he would stand up to it.

The rigged redistricting process has been a key tool in electing and protecting a Democratic super-majority in Illinois, and inoculating politicians against having to face the voters. The voters should pick their leaders, not the other way around.

Illinois has the second highest real estate property taxes in the country. Please lay out two ways that the state can provide a measure of relief to Illinois homeowners and citizens, and please be specific with your answer.

Illinois just re-took a dubious distinction, as the state with the worst property taxes in the country. J.B. Pritzker ran for governor promising to do something about property taxes by convening a bipartisan task force of lawmakers. That task force failed to come up with a single recommendation to reduce our property taxes, and then disbanded.

Leadership on property taxes starts with a real change at the top – somebody who will finally put the taxpayers ahead of the tax spenders. Illinois doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. Here is what I will prioritize as governor to reduce your property tax burden:

Step one is addressing our glut of governments. Illinois has more units of government than any state by far, and it’s crushing taxpayers. We need to right-size government. This is especially true of our school districts. Illinois spends more money on school district-level bureaucracy than any state in the nation. This money should flow to classrooms and taxpayers – not duplicative administrators with six-figure salaries.

Step two is providing real school choice to Illinois families. By giving money to students instead of systems, parents can choose the best possible education for their child, and reduce redundancy in our education system.

Step three is rooting out corruption. Recent federal indictments show it’s not just Springfield that has a corruption problem – local governments throughout the suburbs are riddled with waste and abuse, and require stricter oversight. I will issue an executive order Day One barring sitting lawmakers from moonlighting as property tax attorneys in front of the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board.

Runaway inflation continues to be a major source of concern for Illinois families. What specific measures should be undertaken at the state government level to help Illinois citizens and families cope with rising inflation that is causing undue economic hardship?

Governor Pritzker’s election-year gimmicks are an embarrassing ploy to push off the pain until after Election Day. The gas tax has more than doubled under Pritzker, but his only response was to push the next hike off until after the election… and force gas station owners to run campaign ads for the Democrats.

The first thing I will do as governor is push to end the Pritzker gas tax hike, easing the pain at the pump instead of pushing it off to next year. Second, I will end Illinois’s grocery tax – 37 other states have found a way to make do without taxing food, and Illinois can too.

What should Illinois do to improve job growth across the state?

There is no better, faster way to save Illinois than to have a robust, growing economy that offers a path to jobs, financial security, and the ability to care for our families.

As a job creator who has found and invested in some of the best entrepreneurial talent and job creators around the world, I know what it takes to grow the economy. I will reduce the barriers to starting businesses, and cut the taxes that make it so hard to afford real estate, hire employees, and invest in growth.

We need to end the culture of corruption and insider dealing that has put the people of Illinois – and the job creators and innovators of the future – last. And we need to deliver regulatory certainty so that more businesses invest and more jobs are created right here in Illinois.

Census 2020 figures showed that Illinois was just one of three states in the country to lose population over the previous decade. That cost the state a congressional seat. All but 15 of Illinois’ 102 counties lost population, according to the census. What should Illinois do to turn this trend around? (Editor’s note: This question was posed to candidates before new census figures were released showing Illinois’ population change was actually a modest gain.)

This isn’t just an interesting “trend” or a budget problem with a declining tax base. This is a life-changing impact for Illinois families who will only see each other at Christmas; businesses that won’t have the next generation to take over, and grandparents who won’t get to see their grandkids grow up.

The solution can be found in which states Illinoisans are moving to – the freedom states like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Each of these states has taken real steps to cut their taxes and embrace freedom, not big government.

As governor, I will deliver on a commitment to growth, lower taxes, and an end to the crime and corruption that is driving people out of state.

In March, Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith was cited an eighth time on a contempt of court order for failing to appropriately place a teen who was in the agency’s care into the proper setting. What should be done to address the agency’s shortage of proper shelter for children in DCFS care? What other reforms do you believe are needed at DCFS?

The crisis at DCFS is very personal to me and my family – my wife Monique and I made the decision to be foster parents and have welcomed two incredible foster kids into our home. Other politicians will say they’re pro-life or pro-family – we’re living it.

The problems at DCFS, sadly, go deeper than a quick fix. It takes a culture change at the top, and the solution isn’t just going to be throwing more money at a broken system - they’ve tried throwing more money at the system, but nothing changes. Fixing this broken system is going to require partnering with and empowering the faith and civic leaders in our state; they are the key to solving this crisis. It will also require recruiting great families to foster our most vulnerable children, which is something I am uniquely suited to do, as a foster parent.

Rising violent crime continues to be Chicago’s top priority. Numbers of homicides, shootings and carjackings are all unacceptably high. What should Springfield do to help reverse the rise in violent crime in Chicago and elsewhere in the metro region and state?

I will act firmly to curtail the violent crime epidemic that is plaguing our communities. We are the only campaign to release a plan to address crime starting on day one that is backed by active law enforcement officers – our Safe Streets Agenda. It is backed up by our Safe Streets Leadership Council, a group of 20+ law enforcement officers from across the state who agree that our team is the only one that can deliver real safety to our home. Our plan calls for actively enforcing the laws that are on the books; defending our heroes in law enforcement so that we can fill every vacancy, and put well-trained, well supported cops on the streets; and restoring accountability at every level of the system.

Finally, since we have a prosecutor in Cook County who refuses to bring charges against repeat violent offenders, I will work to pass a law allowing for the recall of public officials. I will fight to recall State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, because the people of Cook County deserve a prosecutor who holds criminals accountable for their actions.

Give us your assessment of the overhaul of the state’s criminal justice system that was passed by the General Assembly in January 2021. Will it help or hinder efforts to rein in crime? In your answer, please indicate whether you support or oppose the provision within that legislation that abolishes cash bail in 2023, and explain the rationale for your viewpoint on that provision.

Restoring public safety to Illinois means doing three things: 1. Enforcing our laws, 2. Defending our law enforcement heroes, and 3. Restoring accountability to the system, so that criminals are held accountable.

The Democrats knew that crime is a major issue for the people of Illinois, but they decided to pass a plan to give themselves political cover, rather than giving law enforcement the tools they need to truly make a difference. While we were putting together our Safe Streets Agenda, we met with law enforcement from around the state. What shocked me was that to a person, they said that Governor Pritzker and the Democrats never gave law enforcement a seat at the table.

The first and highest responsibility of the government is to keep us safe. Cities across our state are facing a terrible spike in violent crime. I support the repeal of HB 3653, and a new regime to take its place. The fact of the matter is that cashless bail has been tried, in places like New York City and Chicago. It has resulted in more crime, in pressure on judges to release even violent defendants right back onto the streets, and crucially, it sacrifices the best opportunity we have to intervene with criminals and addicts - at their most vulnerable point, when they are first jailed.

I’ve met with DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick, who has done incredible work to reduce recidivism and drug relapse among his jail population. But cashless bail would all but eliminate those opportunities, allowing these defendants to go right back onto the streets.

I will focus on addressing this epidemic of violent crime by restoring cash bail and stringent pre-trial detention practices, ending electronic monitoring for violent offenses, and enforcing outstanding warrants.

Give us the best example of when you displayed independence from your party or staked out an unpopular position.

The answer for me isn’t an “example” or an “anecdote” – it’s who I am at my core. I’m a coach’s son; I grew up in a sports family, not a political one. I knew way more about Soldier Field and the Bears than what election was going on. I am running for office on a platform of faith, family, and service, which is at the heart of who I am as a person.

I’m the only candidate in this race who truly doesn’t owe anybody anything in politics. I’m a true outsider who will bring real change to Illinois, not just shuffling the deck chairs as our state continues to fall further and further down the wrong path.

Sum up why should voters nominate you and not your opponent(s).

I’m the only candidate in this race who is a true outsider who doesn’t owe anything to anybody. If you agree that Illinois needs faith, family, and service, and less of the insider corruption that has gotten our state to where it is, I’m asking for your vote and your support on June 28th. Thank you.