People of the state of Great Lakes, I am here to announce my candidacy for Governor. Since early September, my good friend /u/Vakiadia has been serving as your loyal leader, but soon his term will come to an end. It is my hope that I can continue and expand up the legacy carefully built up by the incumbent Governor, to maintain and protect a sensible, balanced government, that represents each and every citizen of the Great Lakes State.

    However, I am not trying to imply that the last two terms have been perfect. If I did not think there was work to be done, well, I wouldn’t be running for the job. I plan on making my term one of the most active yet, with initiatives and reforms that will put people to work, benefit this state’s economy, increase the health of this state’s people, and streamline this state’s government.

    One of the most pressing issues in our real world counterpart of Illinois is that the state has the highest rate of outmigration in the United States. To counterbalance this, the best course of action is to encourage in-migration from other states and, more importantly, immigration from other countries. To achieve the latter, I will start a program that gives grants to impoverished immigrants for education, so that they can gain new skills to enter the workforce with, skills they may not have been able to get in their home country.

    A similar program will also be started for those put out of work by rising automation rates or similar factors. With technology improving everyday, the future is uncertain, and multitudes of people lose their jobs to technology every year. I firmly believe technology is a great boon to the economy and the world, but people should not have to lose their jobs, their livelihoods on account of it. Which is why I believe we need to expand and improve upon the job training programs already carried out by the Department of Labor in order to prepare those for the new, technology-based economy.

    While we are on the subject of education, we are in need of serious education modernization and reform. There is a great atrocity in the fact that schools in this state rely on local property taxes for funding, so that schools in poorer areas have lower quality education. This leads to students from poorer areas being practically doomed to never realize the full potential, and creates a cycle where those born poor remain poor and those born rich remain rich. We need to create an equality of opportunity by abolishing the practice of funding schools with local property taxes and properly redistribute the state’s wealth to all of the state’s schools, so that those in poor areas, especially de facto racially segregated neighborhoods, can break the cycle of poverty. We are also in great need of proper sexual education, which can be achieved by the complete abolition of abstinence-only education and improvement on the way contraceptives, same-sex relations, and other sexual practices are taught.

    Lastly, we need to keep our citizens healthy, both mentally and physically. America is facing a major obesity epidemic, and by increasing awareness of not only the different ways to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, but also the harmful effects of being overweight, we can fight it. In the same vein, we need to reform the way we think about drugs, alcohol, and addiction, recognizing that people will do them, whether we want them to or not, and teaching how to safely and moderately use them, and needle exchange program would also help to stop the spread of diseases through dirty needles. All in all, we need to think of drugs and alcohol as a health issue rather than a moral one. Also, we need to reconsider the way we treat mental health and destigmatize the issues of mental disorders. We have made great progress over the past few decades alone, but work still needs to be done. All of these goals can be accomplished, and when we do accomplish them, people will be happier, healthier, and more productive, benefiting everyone in the long run.

I want all of these things just as much as you do, because I know this state and care immensely for it. I have travelled to many places across the state, Chicago, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Springfield, and all across southern Illinois. I have been to the Illinois State Capitol, viewed that beautiful dome, spoken with officials, and seen first hand the inner workings of the government. I know it’s something I want to be a part of, not for any lust for power, but to help people and make a positive impact on this state and the world around it.

    I can not tell you who to vote for. All I can do is make my case to you. The choice is yours, and I am sure you will make the right one.