A former state senator from southern Illinois is running for governor. Monday Paul Schimpf from Waterloo announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination next year.
After graduating from the Naval Academy, he served in the Marine Corps for 20 years, retiring in 2013. He ran unsuccessfully for Illinois Attorney General in 2014, and then won a seat in the state senate two years later, but did not run for re-election.
In his announcement, Schimpf says he spent his career in the military not in politics.
"If you're going to be successful in the military, you have to be able to do two things. First, you've got to be able to work with people from across the political and social spectrum. The other thing you have to have to be successful in the military is you cannot be afraid of challenges. I'm not going to be intimidated by the challenges that our state faces."
During his service for the Marines in 2005, he served as the lead American attorney advisor to the Iraqi prosecutors in the trial of Saddam Hussein. And later worked for a Minnesota congressman as his advisor on defense and veteran issues.
