Illinois Lt. Governor candidate Carl Hawkinson wrapped up his 16-city tour by answering questions for concerned DeKalb County Republicans.

A press conference was held featuring Hawkinson and Republican Party Chair Gary MacDougal Thursday at the Citizens for Burzynski Headquarters, 505 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore. Brad Burzynski, Illinois State Senator for the 35th District, introduced MacDougal to the crowd.

“I’m glad we’re last, but not least,” Burzynski joked.

MacDougal talked about support the party has had, both financially and through promotional materials.

“You’re going to get a lot of support during the next couple of days,” MacDougal said.

He dove right into outlining the Republicans’ concerns about the Democratic party.

“Unless you live in Chicago, if the Democratic ticket makes it, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said.

MacDougal explained that all six statewide candidates for constitutional office on the Democratic ticket live within a seven mile radius of each other in the city of Chicago. He also talked about his concern about the Democratic domination in the House and the Supreme Court.

“They have an agenda that is not friendly to business,” MacDougal said.

MacDougal then introduced Hawkinson by citing one of reasons the Chicago Tribune endorsed the Jim Ryan/ Hawkinson ticket was because of Hawkinson.

Hawkinson started off talking about the endorsements he and Ryan have received.

“The papers south of Interstate 80 about all support us,” Hawkinson said.

He also talked about the Chicago Tribune endorsement, as well as the St. Louis Dispatch endorsement which, Hawkinson said, usually favored Democrats in the past.

Hawkinson said the highest levels of state government will live in one place in the city with one point of view. Both he and MacDougal emphasized the importance of Republicans outside of Chicago voting.

“We are looking for the most Republican votes ever from this county to offset Chicago,” MacDougal said.

Burzynski thought very highly of Hawkinson and what he had to say.

“Hawkinson is a colleague of mine and I have tremendous respect for him,” Burzynski said. “They stand head and shoulders above [the other candidates].”