Sullivan insists he’s not a San Francisco guy
Monday, Sep 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dave Dahl…
Illinois’ newest candidate for governor is trying to explain who he isn’t.
Jesse Sullivan, the fourth person to declare for the 2022 Republican primary, is a venture capitalist from Petersburg – near Springfield and the home of Lincoln’s New Salem – who says he moved back to his hometown to raise his family.
His opponents, as well as the Democratic Party, have tagged him as a “San Francisco venture capitalist,”
“I am through and through a Midwesterner from central Illinois, a small town of 2,000 people,” Sullivan told WTAX News. Responding to a question about how he will escape his rivals’ labeling of him, “I’m a central Illinois guy who shares central Illinois values, and so anybody who tries to paint me in a different way – it’s all politics.”
While Sullivan and his campaign are disavowing the labeling, his company’s web site does not. He is the founder of Alter Global, whose site is alter.vc. A check of that site, including Sullivan’s own page on the site, reveals no mention of Lincoln, nor the small-town, Midwestern roots on which Sullivan is campaigning.
The company has apparently since updated its site…
And Sullivan no longer has a page on the site as of 10:19 this morning.
But the company’s Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook pages still list San Francisco or the Silicon Valley as its headquarters.
* I mean, it seems so trivial, but the campaign has reportedly been pushing back hard against media outlets which have labeled him a San Francisco businessperson. They’ve also released a new video on the topic whacking the media…
Um, I’m pretty sure he’s telling us he’s from the Midwest by loudly insisting he’s from the Midwest.
* Perhaps this not so subtle dog whistle is why Sullivan is so insistent about separating himself from San Francisco…
State senator Darren Bailey, who recently pointed to a jar full of corn kernels to declare himself as the Republican frontrunner, cast Sullivan as a different kind of outsider because of where he has lived
“We have witnessed San Francisco’s values on full display in our great state—it’s not good,” Bailey said. “We need a Governor who understands the Heartland, made a life here and shares our values. Our so-called ‘elites’ and their big checkbooks have had their run of things for too long. We think it’s time the regular folks in this state have their say.”
