{"id":30616,"date":"2026-02-13T10:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=30616"},"modified":"2026-02-13T10:54:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:54:41","slug":"rick-heidner-casts-himself-as-trump-republican-in-bid-to-unseat-pritzker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/30616-rick-heidner-casts-himself-as-trump-republican-in-bid-to-unseat-pritzker\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Heidner Casts Himself as &#8220;Trump Republican&#8221; in Bid to Unseat Pritzker"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Rick Heidner, a Republican from Barrington, speaks to voters following a candidate form in Tazewell County on January 15, 2026 (Capitol News Illinois photo by Brenden Moore)<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Barrington Hills businessman has been criticized for past donations to Democrats<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By BEN SZALINSKI<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&amp; BRENDEN MOORE<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol news Illinois<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:news@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">news@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rick Heidner was a late entrant into the GOP gubernatorial primary, but is betting that his alignment with President Donald Trump, business background and outsider status will persuade enough Republican primary voters to make him their standard-bearer against Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner argues Pritzker\u2019s adversarial relationship with Trump has hurt Illinois and says he could improve the state\u2019s standing with a Republican White House.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He supports cutting taxes, auditing the state budget and growing the tax base, while offering few detailed policy proposals on agriculture or rural issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He has drawn scrutiny for past real estate partnerships with a banking family that allegedly has mob ties and for previously donating to prominent Democrats, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and former Cook County State\u2019s Attorney Kim Foxx.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPRINGFIELD \u2013 A businessman-turned-politician who made his name in real estate before trying his luck in the gambling industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, it\u2019s not President Donald Trump. It\u2019s Rick Heidner \u2014 a Barrington Hills real estate developer and video gambling mogul who is one of four Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker this fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since launching his campaign in earnest last month, Heidner has worked to position himself as the MAGA candidate in the race. His first campaign ad even branded himself a \u201cTrump Republican for governor.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think it would be a major plus, rather than every single word that comes out of a governor\u2019s mouth to be demeaning to our president, I think would be helpful to have someone that we could have a good relationship with them,\u201d Heidner told Capitol News Illinois in an interview earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EMBED: &lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8243; height=&#8221;315&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dcets8Wy4Io?si=y0y_OK8fxOg8G8A7&#8243; title=&#8221;YouTube video player&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8243; allow=&#8221;accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share&#8221; referrerpolicy=&#8221;strict-origin-when-cross-origin&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He\u2019s the third GOP candidate for governor to sit for CNI\u2019s election <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/podcasts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">podcast<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> series. Capitol News Illinois will publish a feature and full interview with each of the four GOP governor candidates in the coming days.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/more-listening-and-less-talking-darren-bailey-insists-results-will-be-different-in-2nd-run-for-governor\/\"><b>\u2018More listening and less talking\u2019: Darren Bailey insists results will be different in 2<\/b><b>nd<\/b><b> run for governor<\/b><\/a><b> |<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/conservative-policy-wonk-ted-dabrowski-gets-off-sidelines-with-run-for-governor\/\"><b>Conservative policy wonk Ted Dabrowski gets off sidelines with run for governor<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner is betting that his alignment with Trump, business background and outsider status will persuade enough Republican primary voters to make him their standard-bearer against Pritzker.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Gambling mogul\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner, 65, has been a player in the state\u2019s business community for decades. His real estate firm manages more than 280 properties across the country. He also owns the gas station chain Ricky Rockets Fuel Center and wholesale fuel supplier Prairie State Energy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He founded Gold Rush Gaming with his wife, Alisa, in 2012, and it is now the third-largest video gambling terminal operator in Illinois. The company\u2019s machines are in nearly 800 bars, restaurants and gas stations across the state, according to Illinois Gaming Board records.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner\u2019s plans to expand his gambling empire with a proposed racetrack and casino in south suburban Tinley Park were axed in 2019 when the Pritzker administration refused to sell the state-owned site he and his business partner \u2014 Hawthorne Race Course President Tim Carey \u2014 had been eyeing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It came around the same time that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/10\/11\/video-gambling-owner-pitching-racetrack-casino-is-in-business-with-family-whose-financial-ties-to-mob-figures-sunk-rosemont-casino\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Chicago Tribune reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Heidner partnered in some real estate deals with a banking family that had alleged mob ties that helped sink a proposed casino project in Rosemont in the early 2000s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newspaper also found that Heidner had a similar partnership with a suburban strip club owner convicted of an illegal bookmaking and money skimming operation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner\u2019s name also surfaced around this time in a federal search warrant executed on now-former state Sen. Martin Sandoval\u2019s Springfield office as part of a sweeping public corruption probe. Federal prosecutors later confirmed Heidner wasn\u2019t a target of the investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During a candidate forum last month, Heidner blamed the Tinley Park project\u2019s derailment on \u201coptics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an interview with CNI weeks later, he lamented the project\u2019s failure and the money he lost as a result. But he said settling a score with Pritzker wasn\u2019t a motivating factor in his decision to run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner also denied any association with organized crime. He blamed the news media for wanting \u201cto play their own narratives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNobody ever wants to be wrong,\u201d Heidner said. \u201cEven when you&#8217;re 100% vindicated of something, they still want to keep regurgitating and regurgitating the same stuff that&#8217;s just ridiculous. I have no ties to the mob, I could tell you that for sure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why he\u2019s running<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few weeks before the filing deadline in October, the GOP field for governor appeared set with the party\u2019s 2022 nominee Darren Bailey running it back and conservative policy wonk Ted Dabrowski and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick placing their hats into the ring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then Heidner filed paperwork forming a campaign committee, poured $1 million of his own money into it and spent two weeks in a mad dash to collect at least 5,000 signatures needed to secure a place on the ballot. Despite the truncated timeline, Heidner got the requisite signatures, and no objections were filed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner said he did not want to see Pritzker win a third term. But once he sized up the Republican field, he came away with the belief that none of Bailey, Dabrowski or Mendrick could defeat Illinois\u2019 billionaire chief executive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo, my heart and my soul just kept dragging me into it and saying, &#8216;Rick, you have to do this. Rick, you have to do this,\u2019\u201d Heidner said. \u201cAnd that&#8217;s when I decided to run.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Alignment with Trump<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the weeks that followed, Heidner\u2019s campaign existed in name only. There was no campaign website, and the businessman did not return reporters\u2019 inquiries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Heidner emerged in mid-January, with his inaugural <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RickHeidnerIL\/status\/2011849914318471526\/video\/1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">campaign ad<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> touting his record in business while promising to pass term limits, end wasteful spending and cut taxes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond the parallels in their professional backgrounds, Heider has sought to tie himself politically to Trump. On social media, Heidner portrays himself as a staunch supporter of the president, echoing his positions while bashing Pritzker\u2019s resistance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like Trump, Heidner has shared unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RickHeidnerIL\/status\/2015768223480774918\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on social media<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. He posted on X on Jan. 26 that former Vice President Kamala Harris won Illinois\u2019 electoral votes in 2024 by about the same number of new voters who registered online. Though he provided no evidence of fraud or noncitizen voting, Heidner wrote, \u201csuspicious, isn\u2019t it? Makes you wonder what\u2019s really going on in our state.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pressed to explain his claim, Heidner ducked the question.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI don\u2019t even remember posting that, so I apologize, but I could tell you this, I\u2019m 100% for in-person voting,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m 1,000% for voting ID. I don\u2019t like mail-in ballots.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though he\u2019s tried to win over voters by siding with Trump, Heidner said he isn\u2019t always in lockstep with the president.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI can\u2019t say I\u2019ve agreed 1,000% with everything, no single thing, he\u2019s ever said,\u201d Heidner said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner said he supports creating a path to citizenship for immigrants, particularly those who have been in the country for many years and contribute to the economy. However, he said he supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Positioning himself as the Trump candidate could help in the short run as he competes for votes from a GOP primary electorate in which the president remains deeply popular. But it could result in long-term blowback in a state Trump lost three times by wide margins and, as of last month, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/emersoncollegepolling.com\/illinois-2026-poll-krishamoorthi-leads-democratic-senate-primary-plurality-still-undecided\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">registered just a 39% overall approval rating<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While largely in alignment behind Trump\u2019s positions, Heidner said it\u2019s also transactional. He argued that Pritzker\u2019s adversarial tone with the president hasn\u2019t been good for Illinois and that he can be the one who smooths things over.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt seems like Illinois got favor when we had a Democratic president,\u201d Heidner said. \u201cIt certainly seemed that way to me, and hopefully having a Republican president, I think I could have good conversations with the president about our state of Illinois. I think that would be a positive thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trump backed Bailey in the 2022 election. He has not formally endorsed in the 2026 race, though he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/bailey-to-stay-in-governors-race-following-family-tragedy\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">encouraged Bailey to \u201ckeep fighting\u201d and stay in the race<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> following a helicopter crash that killed his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Policy vision<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner leans heavily on his business background to guide the policy focuses of his campaign. Asked how his governorship would benefit farmers and rural residents, Heidner talked about horse racing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI was the hero for the southern Illinois people, okay?\u201d Heidner said, pointing to business investments he made in horse racing, particularly in Chicago\u2019s south suburbs. He went on to lament the decline in horse racing in Illinois, arguing he \u201cwas revitalizing the entire horse racing industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner added he also respects corn farmers after <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mlb\/story\/_\/id\/32312641\/frank-thomas-heads-group-buys-field-dreams-site\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">briefly owning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the Field of Dreams movie site in Iowa alongside White Sox hall of famer Frank Thomas. He did not say what sort of agricultural policies he would push as governor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like other candidates in the race, Heidner has also voiced support for lowering taxes and auditing the state budget. He said repealing Illinois\u2019 immigration policies would save the state money.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe turn over all those illegal criminal aliens to the federal police and get them out of our state \u2014 we\u2019re probably going to save the state some money there,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He added that Illinois also needs to focus on growing its tax base to allow the state to bring in more revenue without raising taxes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On education, Heidner said his solution to funding problems at public schools is to provide vouchers \u201cso that a parent and a child can have a choice in case they\u2019re not happy the way that their children are being taught so that they could move their child.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On energy, Heidner worried that data centers are straining the state\u2019s grid. He suggested they should pay more for the energy they use, which Pritzker also supports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey need to pay more for the energy, then we divide it up into our residents and our other businesses,\u201d Heidner said. \u201cThey\u2019re really creating a problem with energy and, you know, they should have to step up and pay a higher rate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Political donations under scrutiny\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner has also faced scrutiny for the Democrats he\u2019s donated campaign cash to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That list includes Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, former Cook County State\u2019s Attorney Kim Foxx, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner\u2019s $25,000 donation to Johnson came shortly after the mayor\u2019s election win over Paul Vallas. Heidner said he supported Vallas but agreed to help the new mayor pay down his campaign debt at the as a favor to a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heidner, who has business interests in Chicago, said he thought he\u2019d \u201chave the opportunity to get an appointment with\u201d Johnson as he\u2019d \u201clove to have a conversation with him about gaming.\u201d But, that meeting never happened, Heidner said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He similarly chalked up his donation to Johnson as the action of a pragmatic businessman when pressed by Dabrowski during a candidate forum last month. But on his $2,500 donation to Foxx, who was one of the major proponents of ending cash bail, he called it \u201ca mistake\u201d and apologized.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pressed on his long history of bipartisan campaign donations, Heidner said he\u2019s \u201cnever asked anybody to do anything for a donation.\u201d He cited, for example, a $5,000 donation he made in 2015 to then-Chicago Ald. Deb Mell as a favor to her father, retired Ald. Dick Mell. It turned out that Deb Mell opposed permitting video gambling in city limits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI never even asked her,\u201d Heidner said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rick Heidner, a Republican from Barrington, speaks to voters following a candidate form in Tazewell County on January 15, 2026 (Capitol News Illinois photo by Brenden Moore) The Barrington Hills [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":30620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rick Heidner Casts Himself as &quot;Trump Republican&quot; in Bid to Unseat Pritzker - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/30616-rick-heidner-casts-himself-as-trump-republican-in-bid-to-unseat-pritzker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rick Heidner Casts Himself as &quot;Trump Republican&quot; 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