On Tuesday, October 7, students were able to vote in the bi-annual mock election held at York every year. Students were able to use ballots that mimic those used on election day and were able to say who they would be supporting if given the opportunity to vote.

From Governor, to State Attorney, to Treasurer, the York community put in their say of who they wanted to be represented by.

Please find a portion of York’s results in the bottom right corner of this article; winners are in bold.

For the full list of results, visit www.ThisIsYork.org.

On November 4, 2014 Illinois will hold its gubernatorial election between Pat Quinn and Bruce Rauner.

Incumbent Pat Quinn, with former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas as his running mate, is the Democratic candidate. Bruce Rauner, with the Wheaton City Councilwoman Evelyn Sanguinetti as his running mate, is the Republican candidate.

Overall, the reelection platform for Pat Quinn has primarily stayed the same; however, there have been some alterations in order to keep up with the current political ambience.

A few of the main objectives that he will highlight in his platform include: job growth, education, and the environment.

Quinn’s outlook on job growth is that the only way to succeed is to create a vast amount of substantial jobs available for citizens.

He plans to accomplish this task by having the government create more businesses in hopes that this will increase commerce and therefore, lead to citizens prospering; this would be accomplished through state funds, focusing on tailored tax credits.

For the second issue of education, Quinn encompasses the mindset that a good education at an early age is a key building block for the future. Because of this, he hopes to fund construction, rehabilitation, and repair of public schools through the new Build American bonding program.

Lastly, Quinn is a big advocate for a healthy environment. He plans to strengthen his Smoke Free Illinois Act and improve the State Parks to ensure that everyone has a fresh, public environment to enjoy.

Bruce Rauner also conveys that the creation of jobs should be the state’s top priority in order to be successful in job growth.

He plans to execute this through reforming the worker’s compensation system, in turn, allowing Illinois to become more competitive with surrounding states.

However, the main aspect he highlights for this to work is that Illinois needs to stop spending money trying to hang on to “old jobs” that aren’t flourishing; instead, he states that this money should be used in recruiting new business.

Secondly, in terms of education, Rauner stresses the importance of a strong foundation. He feels that children in Illinois need access to more quality choices, therefore, getting rid of the present education policy and adopting one that allows the parents to pick the school that will best help their children’s needs.

Alongside this, he conveys this process also needs teachers that are dedicated and knowledgeable. He claims the best learning environment is in a classroom with a teacher that is passionate and educated in what he/she is teaching.

Lastly, he connects these two big issues with his overall plan on the spending policy. He states that in order to make the government spending more accountable two main things must happen: every dime must be audited and the pension system must be reformed so money can be spent on education, roads, and public safety–top priorities for the future.