Dan Proft

Daniel K. Proft
Born	April 29, 1972 (1972-04-29) (age 39) Oak Park, Illinois
Residence	Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Occupation	Principal, Urquhart Media, Republican candidate for Governor of Illinois

Daniel K. Proft (born April 29, 1972) is political commentator, entrepreneur, and a Republican candidate for Illinois Governor in the 2010 election.

Early life

Proft was born in 1972 in Oak Park, Illinois. He was raised in Wheaton, Illinois, and attended Benet Academy in Lisle. He graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. and Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. At Northwestern, Proft co-founded the Northwestern Chronicle, an independent campus newspaper.^[1]

Prior to his current gubernatorial campaign, Proft was a Republican consultant working on numerous political campaigns and served in various leadership capacities in state and municipal government since 1994. Most notably, Proft worked on Jack Ryan’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign. When Ryan pulled out of the race, Proft continued to work for his replacement, Alan Keyes. Keyes was defeated by then-State Sen. Barack Obama.^[2]

Proft is currently a political commentator for WLS-AM 890 radio in Chicago where he shares a weekday show with Bruce Wolf. He regularly contributes to Human Events, School Reform News, the Illinois Policy Institute, and other free-market publications. He also serves as Chapter President for the Illinois chapter of Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide assistance to active duty military families, particularly those with a spouse serving overseas. Additionally, Proft founded Starfish Consulting and serves as its Managing Principal. />

2010 Illinois Gubernatorial Election

On April 9, 2009, Proft filed a form D-1, forming a “Proft for Governor” committee.^[3] On April 30, Proft formally stepped down from his position as spokesman for the Town of Cicero. In doing so, Proft said: “My decision is based entirely on an opportunity that has presented itself to pursue other professional endeavors.”^[4]

On June 23, 2009, Proft announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois on the “Don Wade & Roma Show” on WLS (AM). Later he spoke to reporters during a press conference at the Chicago Hilton.^[5]

Positions on Issues

"Chicago 9" Proft argues that the problems in Illinois stem from a consortium of Chicago Democrats he refers to as the “Chicago 9.”^[6] They include: Gov. Pat Quinn, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Secretary of State Jesse White, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.^[7]

University of Illinois Admissions Scandal In response to the Chicago Tribune’s investigation into the University of Illinois’ admissions scandal, Proft has proposed what he calls a “Merit-Based Opportunity” admissions standard. The proposal would replace an applicant’s name on his or her application with a random identification number with the purpose being that admissions officers would be unable to comply with a request to give preferential treatment to any applicant.^[8] Proft rejects calls for resignations, notably a bill sponsored by State Sen. Kirk Dillard, which would fire all the members of the University Board of Trustees.^[9]

Illinois Budget Crisis Proft is against tax increases to help balance Illinois’ estimated $11 billion budget shortfall. Rather, Proft argues for statutory spending caps and tax cuts.^[10]

Education In his announcement speech, Proft listed Chicago Public Schools as an example of one of Illinois’ “fixed” systems, by which he means that the system is fixed to benefit the teachers unions and politicians.^[6] Proft is a proponent of school choice programs and says that Illinois needs to raise the charter school cap.^[11]

Criticism

Proft has been criticized in the media for his media firm’s work on behalf of the Town of Cicero. On September 25, 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported that Proft’s firm, Urquhart Media, received contracts from Cicero totaling $578,000.^[12]

Proft has responded to the criticism in interviews with the Chicago Tribune and with "Public Affair's" Jeff Berkowitz.^[13] On June 24, 2009, the Proft for Governor campaign responded on the conservative blog Illinois Review to a column^[14] from the Chicago Sun-Times’ Carol Marin, who has been outspoken in her criticism of Urquhart’s Cicero contracts. In his response, the campaign wrote that the Cicero relationship “began in 2005 and is governed by a contract that was negotiated with elected officials and ratified by the Town Council. It can be canceled at any time with 30-days notice.” Regarding the accusation that the contracts with Cicero were “no-bid,” the campaign wrote: “There is a very legitimate reason why not all contracts between government and the private sector are given to the lowest bidder: your opponents would bid the lowest.”^[15]

Despite the fact that the Stored Communications Act prohibits government entities from obtaining customer information through most lawsuits, Proft defended a discovery petition filed by his employer, the Town of Cicero, aimed at discovering the IP addresses of the people who created what it described as "imposter" profiles on the social networking site, Myspace.com.

References

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/05/eff_challenges_myspace_petition/print.html

1. ^ 1871media.com - [e-mail]. "URQMedia.com". URQMedia.com. http://www.urqmedia.com/proft. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
2. ^ By HANK BECKMAN For The Sun (2009-07-17). "Proft brings campaign for gov. to old hometown :: Bolingbrook Sun :: News". Suburbanchicagonews.com. http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bolingbrooksun/news/1670075,Proft-brings-campaign-to-Wheaton_na071609.article. Retrieved 2010-08-29. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Illinois Review: Whitley drops; Proft files for 2010 gubernatorial bid". Illinoisreview.typepad.com. 2009-04-28. http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2009/04/whitley-drops-proft-files-for-2010-gubernatorial-bid.html. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
4. ^ April 30, 2009 8:57 PM (2009-04-30). "Cicero spokesman Dan Proft steps down". Chicago Breaking News. http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/04/cicero-spokesman-dan-proft-steps-down.html. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
5. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ ^{a b} Manifiest Digital - [e-mail] (2009-06-23). "Dan Proft for Illinois Governor". Proft2010.com. http://www.proft2010.com/news-room/contentview.asp?c=188871. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
7. ^ "Change of Subject: Dan Proft, the un-Oscar". Blogs.chicagotribune.com. 2009-06-23. http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2009/06/dan-proft-the-unoscar.html. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
8. ^ Manifiest Digital - [e-mail] (2009-06-30). "Dan Proft for Illinois Governor". Proft2010.com. http://www.proft2010.com/news-room/contentview.asp?c=188749. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
9. ^ Manifiest Digital - [e-mail] (2009-07-16). "Dan Proft for Illinois Governor". Proft2010.com. http://www.proft2010.com/news-room/contentview.asp?c=188914. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
10. ^ Manifiest Digital - [e-mail] (2009-07-07). "Dan Proft for Illinois Governor". Proft2010.com. http://www.proft2010.com/news-room/contentview.asp?c=188814. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
11. ^ Manifiest Digital - [e-mail] (2009-07-21). "Dan Proft for Illinois Governor". Proft2010.com. http://www.proft2010.com/news-room/contentview.asp?c=188946. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
12. ^ Grimm, Andy. "Featured Articles From The Chicago Tribune". Archives.chicagotribune.com. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/sep/25/local/chi-cicero-spokesman-25-sep25. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
13. ^ “”. "Dan Proft - Public Affairs". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7QKOsexdUA. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
14. ^ Marin, Carol (2009-06-24). "In Illinois Politics, You As For 'Em, We Got 'Em - Carol Marin". Blogs.suntimes.com. http://blogs.suntimes.com/marin/2009/06/in_illinois_politics_you_as_fo.html. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 
15. ^ "Illinois Review: Proft campaign responds to Carol Marin". Illinoisreview.typepad.com. 2009-06-24. http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2009/06/proft-responds-to-carol-marin.html. Retrieved 2010-08-29. 

External links

• Proft For Governor
• Starfish

Persondata
Name	Proft, Dan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 29, 1972
Place of birth	Oak Park, Illinois
Date of death
Place of death