Four of the five executive members of the NIU Young Democrats have switched their support from Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., to Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

John Morreale, the group’s chairman and DeKalb County director of the Dukakis for President Committee, said he had great admiration for Paul Simon. “But he lacks the executive experience Dukakis has as a three-term governor. Dukakis has done marvelous work for the state of Massachusetts, and I believe that he would perform just as well for the United States if elected president.”

Morreale said unlike Simon, Dukakis believes in free trade. “If there has to be a tax increase, and Dukakis is not convinced there ought to be any, it will be based on one’s ability to pay,” Morreale said.

Morreale said he has furnished the Dukakis for President Committee with enough information to help it run its phone bank successfully. He said the Young Democrats have mailed information leaflets to prospective voters to sway them from Simon to Dukakis.

“There is no doubt that this is Simon country, but we aim at demonstrating the broad support Dukakis has throughout the country,” Morreale said.

Tom Elkins, NIU Young Democrats secretary and one of the board members who has switched support from Simon to Dukakis, said he also admired Dukakis’ taxation policy. “If Dukakis is elected president, it is the wealthy who would have to pay more tax, not the poor,” he said. “Some other presidential candidates are advocating a sales tax, but this would harm the poor, because they seem to shop more for things.”

Elkins said he admired Dukakis’ Central American policy, and under him Massachusetts had the lowest unemployment rate of states with a heavy industrial base.

Elkins said he does not expect Dukakis to win the Illinois primaries but hopes he will broaden his support from the election. “Most people are realizing that Paul Simon cannot win enough delegates for the Democratic National Convention, that is why they are now taking a serious look at Dukakis,” Elkins said.

Reacting to the switch in support from Simon to Dukakis, William Sarto, Kane County Democratic chairman and coordinator of the 14th Congressional District’s Dukakis for President Committee, said, “I think it is great that the leadership of NIU’s Young Democrats has endorsed Mike Dukakis for president. We are very glad to have this kind of support in the 14th Congressional District.

He said Dukakis supporters will be helping to recruit volunteers for the phone banks located at Labor Temple, 400 Federation Place, Elgin, Ill.