With the primary election less than two months away, one Democrat and two Republicans have announced their candidacy for governor of Illinois.

Democrat Neil Hartigan and Republicans Jim Edgar and Steven Baer have announced their candidacy for the March 20 primaries.

DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow said, “We’ve had 14 years of republican rule I think its time for a change.” The decisive vote will come from downstate and the debates will tell, he said.

In Hartigan’s eight years with the attorney general’s office, he has made it a “profit center,” said Ernie Slottag, a Hartigan campaign official.

Hartigan hired a consulting firm in his first term to re-evaluate the attorney general office’s budget, Slottag said.

During his nine years in office as secretary of state, Edgar has enforced stricter drunk driving laws and mandatory auto insurance, Edgar campaign official Mike Lawrence said. He has also started a program to combat illiteracy, he said.

Baer was executive director of the United Republican Fund, where he raised funds and lobbied in Springfield, said Baer campaign official Mike Gannon.

George Beasley, chairman of the DeKalb County Republican Central Committee, described Baer as “someone who’s stirring up the pot.”

But Ron Weber, a worker at Baer campaign headquarters, said, “What’s wrong with that? It’s about time it got stirred up.”

Slottag said, “Jim Edgar is wrong for thinking him (Baer) a fringe candidate.”

Baer has not had enough experience working with people, Beasley said.

Both Edgar and Hartigan have publicly said they consider education a top priority and are searching for ways of adequate funding.

Baer has not offered a formal statement on higher education, but will issue a proposal this week, Gannon said.

Edgar has already stated he will extend the temporary 20 percent tax increase set to expire in July, 1991, if he is elected, Lawrence said. Part of the revenue would go to elementary and higher education funding, he said.

Hartigan is opposed to automatically raising taxes for funding, said Slottag. Hartigan “doesn’t want to throw money to solve problems,” he said.

Slottag said Hartigan is looking into “developing a total education plan.” Hartigan will look at the state budget for areas that could be reduced to fund the education plan, he said.

Baer is also against a permanent tax increase, Gannon said. “The money’s already there,” he said, adding the government could “spend money more effectively.”

Each campaign official said he did not expect abortion to be a decisive issue in the race.

But, Lawrence warned “pro-choice people be wary” of Hartigan, who he said has switched his stance on abortion from pro-life to pro-choice.

Slottag said Hartigan has always been pro-choice, contrary to Lawrence’s comment that Hartigan “flip-flopped” on the issue. “Someone is creating an image on that,” he added, “That may have been rumored.”

Baer is a pro-life supporter, following with the views of national Republicans, Gannon said. Gannon said Baer considers never holding office to be an advantage.

Baer “doesn’t owe anyone anything,” he said. Voters “don’t have much of a choice” between Edgar and Hartigan because of Edgar’s liberal views, Gannon said. Baer represents “true republican principles,” he said.

Edgar is concerned about threats to the environment, wide-spread drug use and economic development, Lawrence said. He said Edgar would like to “use higher education to solve problems in the state.”

Slottag said Hartigan has “returned money to the state” and has made the attorney general’s office more accountable to taxpayers.

He said Hartigan would like to apply these principles to the governor’s office. Taxpayers want to “know what they’re getting for their money,” Slottag said.

Baer supports a third airport in Northern Illinois rather than expansion of O’Hare, said Gannon, expansion would increase noise and the number of flights going into O’Hare.