Jason Plu mmer, vice president of his family's chain of
lumberyards and home-service stores, said any potential conflict of
interest between his business and government duties has been
disclosed in a statement required of all candidates. The 27-year-old
political newcomer also said his campaign is releasing the name of
every political donor."The issue of releasing individual tax
returns is often used to serve as a political distraction by those
who cannot answer the real issues that voters care about," Plummer
said in a statement.
His running mate, Bill Brady, briefly allowed public access to
his returns, while Democratic candidates Gov. Pat Quinn and Sheila
Simon have provided their returns to The Associated Press.
But Plummer and Brady have rebuffed requests to see Plummer's
returns. Their aides have said Plummer was out of the country with
the Navy Reserves, that Brady and Plummer needed to discuss the
issue, and campaign officials were looking into it.
Brady's campaign did not return messages Tuesday seeking reaction
to Plummer's decision.
John Hoffman, a spokesman for the Brady-Plummer campaign, said
Plummer has filed his taxes and did not seek an extension. He would
not say how much Plummer paid the government.
Brady, a Bloomington businessman, initially said he wouldn't
release his returns. He eventually changed course and allowed
reporters to look at six years of tax documents for a total of three
hours. They showed that Brady didn't owe any federal taxes for the
past two years, which Quinn is using against Brady.
Quinn spokeswoman Mica Matsoff said Tuesday that voters deserve
to know why Plummer won't release the returns.
"What is he hiding?" Matsoff said.
Plummer, who is making his first run for public office, is a vice
president with his family's R.P. Lumber. His family and their
businesses provided much of the money for his primary campaign -- at
least $985,000 in loans and donations. Plummer also lent the
campaign $350,000 of his own money, records show.
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Many voters have come to expect full financial disclosure from
political candidates, especially in the first election after Gov.
Rod Blagojevich's impeachment, said Cindi Canary, director of the
Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
"I think it's unfortunate, because Mr. Plummer isn't yet a widely
known candidate," Canary said. "In this election cycle in
particular, voters have good reason to really want to scrutinize the
candidates, both where they stand on the issues and how they conduct
themselves personally."
Quinn and Simon, a law professor at Southern Illinois University,
have released their most recent tax returns.
"They understand that there are no degrees of transparency,"
Matsoff, the campaign spokeswoman, said. "After the last two
scandal-plagued administrations, voters and taxpayers want to be
sure of the openness and honesty of their public officials."
Simon and her husband, who also teaches at Southern Illinois, had
a total income of $153,434. They paid $22,894 in federal taxes and
donated $3,526 to charity.
[Associated Press;
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS]
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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