Former state comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch endorsed Dan Hynes for governor today, calling him "a solid, competent" manager.
"Dan Hynes has been a straight shooter and independent voice from the very beginning," Dawn Clark Netsch said during a press conference this afternoon. "For years, he's been signaling that our state's finances are on the wrong track."
Hynes admitted that he has long sought the endorsement from Netsch, a former comptroller and a well-known voice for reform in the state.
"I've worked hard for 11 years without a lot of glamor and glitz," Hynes said. "This is the proudest day of my political life."
In 1994, four years after she was elected comptroller, Netsch ran for governor, winning the Democratic nomination over former Attorney General Roland Burris, now a U.S. senator, and Cook County Board President Richard Phelan. She eventually lost to re-elected Gov. Jim Edgar.
She recalled a memorable ad from that race, showing her playing a game of eight-ball pool as a metaphor for her reputation as a straight shooter.
The effective, yet mild, ad is a sharp contrast to those aired during this election cycle. Hynes recently used archival footage of the late Mayor Harold Washington harshly criticizing Pat Quinn more than two decades ago.
Netsch defended the move, distinguishing the content of the ad from her aversion to negative campaigning more generally.
"That's a fair point to bring up," she said. In her view, Washington was commenting on Quinn's performance in a "very important" position as Chicago's revenue director.
While Netsch initially declined to speak ill of Quinn's qualifications, she eventually said that the governor would fall short of the demands for his office.
"I do not think that he has shown the right competence" at this time to deal with the budget and the state's financial situation, she said.
Quinn's campaign spokeswoman, Elizabeth Quinn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Netsch says no one from Quinn's campaign asked for her endorsement.
Netsch, who has also endorsed former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman in the Democratic U.S. Senate race, now teaches law at Northwestern University.