Politics & Government

Mendoza Wins 2nd Comptroller Term; Tells Rauner, 'You're Fired'

Incumbent Democrat Susana Mendoza won against Republican Darlene Senger, Libertarian Claire Ball.

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ACROSS ILLINOIS —Incumbent Democrat Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza won a second term Tuesday night against Republican Darlene Senger, in what appeared to be a quick and easy race. When Mendoza was elected comptroller in 2016, she became the state's first Hispanic person independently elected to statewide office during a special election to fill the late Judy Baar Topinka’s last two years. With more than 2.5 million votes for Mendoza, more than 1.2 million of those votes came from Cook County alone, according to results and a chart from The Sun-Times.

However, several media outlets and social media posts quickly recapped Mendoza's speech after Senger conceded Tuesday night, as the second-term comptroller had some words for Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who had just conceded to victorious Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

Mendoza went on stage at Pritzker’s party to declare victory in the comptroller race and call Governor Rauner “the biggest bully in the state.”“Governor,” she said, “you’re fired.”

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Talk of Mendoza running for another position in office recently started swirling after a video leaked last week, showing Mendoza announcing her candidacy for Chicago mayor.
Mendoza, in a statement, says she hasn't made a decision about a Chicago mayoral run and is concentrating on her current re-election run, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In the mix of reactions shown below, Twitter users had mixed emotions on Mendoza's victory, and some didn't hold back on mayoral run rumors.

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More on Mendoza

Mendoza grew up in Bolingbrook after her parents came to the U.S. from Mexico. She was first elected to public office in 2001 as a state representative in the 1st House District, where she served six terms, and was the first woman elected to the clerk's office in Chicago in 2011. In 2015, she won election to her second term as city clerk. Mendoza also earned national attention for getting a citywide ban on the sale of puppy-mill pets. During her first term as comptroller, her office assisted in recovering more than $36.5 million in outstanding debt for hundreds of local governments around Illinois and played a role in passing the state budget.

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Reactions to Mendoza's victory

Mendoza calls herself a "fiscal watchdog," and said on her campaign website, "I feel a strong responsibility to protect every tax dollar. Since elected as Illinois Comptroller in November 2016, I’ve proven myself to be an independent truth-telling fiscal watchdog in the effort to help the State get back on track fiscally and morally. Examples of this effort are my major transparency legislation reforms — the Debt Transparency Act and Truth in Hiring Act. "

Photo: Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza (Photo via State of Illinois)

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