(WSIL) -- Central Illinois venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan officially entered the Republican race for governor on Thursday, casting himself as an “outsider."
His campaign released an announcement video Thursday morning ahead of a news conference planned for Thursday afternoon. He said, "I want to make Illinois a “shining city on a hill” that Lincoln would be proud of."
The video stresses his roots of growing up in central Illinois and Sullivan says he learned three main values, "faith, family and service."
Sullivan says he will focus on three core issues, "strengthening the Illinois economy, leaving the state’s historic corruption in the past, and addressing the crime hurting Illinois families."
Sullivan, 37, is the founder and CEO of Alter Global, a venture capital group associated largely with international technology related investments.
With his announcement, Sullivan filed a campaign finance report showing him with nearly $10.8 million in donations, largely from California-based business executives.
Sullivan becomes the fourth declared candidate in the June 28 Republican primary looking to challenge first-term Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Others who have announced are Bull Valley businessman Gary Rabine, state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia and former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo.
