Sangamon Sun

Republican candidate for governor Jesse Sullivan is questioning Gov. J.B. Pritzker's judgment after the Illinois Supreme Court turned down the governor's appeal to continue forced masking in schools.

“Gov. Pritzker’s spin on today’s ruling is dizzying. It took horrible polling numbers, members of his own party voting against him and judges ruling his orders moot before he finally allowed his school mask mandate to expire,” Sullivan said in a press release. 

“This is a victory for Illinois parents who simply want the freedom to do what is best for their children. As governor, I will fight for strict limits on executive power to make sure this extreme overreach is never allowed again, under any administration.” 

As a result of the decision, mandatory masking in schools is effectively outlawed.

Parents protested at school boards and schools around the state, and local school districts revoked local masking.

In the weeks since Pritzker's first loss in state court, other school districts have made masks optional.

As of this week, almost 700 of the state's 859 school districts have made masks optional. 

Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow's decision to reject the mask mandate was upheld by the Fourth District Appellate Court last Thursday.

Pritzker’s state of emergency mandates for masks and testing in schools were declared "null and void" by Grischow in that judgement.

She said that the governor and his agencies imposed rules on pupils without their permission.

Following his loss in the appeals court, Pritzker attempted to overturn both court findings by petitioning the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, which denied him in a 9-0-2 decision. 

Sullivan, 37, is a tech entrepreneur who was born and raised in the Menard County.