The Republican nominee for governor is aiming to win over more female voters to his campaign—but not by discussing women’s issues.
Speaking to a crowd of mostly white women in Northbrook, a northern Chicago suburb, Bruce Rauner was asked about his stance on abortion. He said that’s a decision that should be left to women, their doctors and their families, but added that those aren’t the issues he’s focusing on during the campaign.
“I don’t have a social agenda,” Rauner said. “(Lieutenant governor nominee Evelyn Sanguinetti) and I are pushing an economic and education agenda. That’s where our focus is.”
That’s in contrast to the 2010 Republican nominee, State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), who held conservative views on both abortion and same sex marriage.
Rauner said after the event that women are just one of the typically Democratic-leaning groups he has been targeting, noting that he’s spent his past two Sundays at predominantly black churches in Chicago and Rockford.