'Mancow' Muller Running For Illinois Governor, Vows More Freedoms

CHICAGO — Veteran Chicago radio host Erich “Mancow” Muller has announced he plans to run for governor and provide Illinois residents with more freedoms in a state that residents have been fleeing, and where he said politicians have continually lied to their constituents.

But more than anything, Muller just wants his city and his state back and wants to make it a destination rather than "the haunted house at the end of the street everyone wants to stay away from."

Muller announced in a televised interview on Wednesday that he is joining the list of challengers hoping to replace Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the June primary. Muller will run as an independent, and if elected, plans to "leave people alone", which strays from the tactics of his fellow gubernatorial candidates, he said.

Muller, 55, said he hopes to tackle vital issues such as cutting Illinois’ gas tax in half, school of choice and said on the News Nation Now program “On Balance” that he is running as an independent because he’s “not willing to sell his soul.”

In a telephone interview with Patch on Thursday, Muller said he knows he's in for a David vs. Goliath-type battle against Pritzker and other well-funded challenger. But he insists that he is serious about fighting his way through a campaign that he has thought about for the past two years.

"I'm out here with my slingshot, but I do have name recognition (and) I do have a lot of love and goodwill I have built here in this community," Muller told Patch. "I think it still means something."

In the televised interview, Muller said he has helped many state politicians get elected over the years.Those same politicians, Muller said, are the same ones that “do nothing” and “find new ways to steal from us.” Muller, who last hosted his radio show in 2018, said he plans to eliminate red-light cameras and toll booths and make life better for everyone in the state regardless of their political loyalty and, in turn, “end the great Illinois exodus.”

On Thursday, Muller said he wants to be the "governor for everybody", bring people home and put more money in their pocket.

“What I want to do is leave people alone,” Muller said in Wednesday television interview, adding, “I want to run the state for everybody.”

However, whether a radio personality who was once waterboarded, buried alive in ice and shut down San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge can be taken seriously remains a major question facing the legitimacy of Muller’s campaign.

Muller said in the News Nation Now interview that despite having a “graveyard full” of skeletons in his closet, he is prepared to go through a campaign that already have candidates including Pritzker and hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of the Citadel. Both have the financial resources for high-priced campaigns, but Muller insists he is ready to go to battle.

Muller said he has a top-notch accounting firm at the ready that he will work with to balance the state budget, keep everyone pay and cut taxes.

Muller said some of his previous actions were radio stunts, but that his experience operating businesses as a restaurant owner and used car lot operator makes him a viable gubernatorial candidate. He will do so despite who not having the financial warchest as his opponents — and said in the television interview that he "doesn't have two nickels to rub together."

Muller said Thursday that the "fix is in" when it comes to attaching himself to a political party. He said that Republicans have told him they love his name recognition, but wonder where they money is to fund his run for the governor's mansion. As successful of a radio career as Muller had over more than three decades, Muller says he does not have the $350 million that other candidates have pledged to throw into their campaign, but has a plan to financially make things work.

Muller said he has yet to officially file paperwork to get his name on the ballot but that he understands the process of making himself a viable candidate. Muller said Thursday night he has not spent "one penny" on his efforts to run and declined to specify how he will fund his campaign until the necessary paperwork is filed.

But he said he is serious about delivering on what he is promising to do. Muller was asked repeatedly during Wednesday's television interview if he is serious about seeking the office, which —in following a true Mancow script — Muller sees as a daunting role.

"I have decided I want to be the captain of the Titanic," he said Wednesday night.

On Thursday, Muller said he knows what awaits him in a campaign that is sure to take many twists and turns on the way for the Illinois he is vowing to clean up, saying "the iceberg is up ahead."

But the reward of tackling it head n, Muller said, is worth it.

"(Chicago) is a jewel on Lake Michigan — this is a destination and when I'm governor, it's going to be a destination," Muller told Patch.

"I've seen behind the curtain for 30 years and I want to give it back to the people. Illinois is for us. It's not for these billionaires and we're moved around like chess pieces ...and I think someone with common sense — me — can fix it real quick."