Sangamon Sun

A new Republican challenger has arisen in the 95th State House District.

Springfield attorney Kent Gray, a former Trump Administration staffer, is running for Illinois state representative for the 95th District against state Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield).

“On the Republican side of things, there is a very serious unhappiness with the mask mandates and a lot of the vaccine mandates coming down from the federal government. I mean, I’m pro-vaccine. I got mine. My family got ours. It was developed by the federal government or the Trump administration, and I'm pretty proud of having been in that administration. I think they did wonders to get it out the door in basically less than a year. But that's a decision for people to make on their own,” Gray told the Sangamon Sun.  

“This is a free country and people should be able to decide what they want to, especially with medicines put into their body. And I still haven't seen hardly any research that suggests that that anything other than a properly fitted medical grade N95 mask does much for anybody other than just make them feel good.”

Gray, a Springfield resident, said he has first-hand experience with kids in local schools.

“I have two kids in Springfield Public Schools. They have – based on the court decision that came down a couple of weeks ago – basically made it optional for mask wearing in schools. And I think that's perfectly appropriate,” he said.

“If people want to wear masks, they should. If they don't want to wear masks, they don't think they should be forced to. I read the judge's very-well put-together  20-plus page decision on the issue, and it's pretty clear that state law doesn't allow for it without due process law.”

Kent previously served as a trustee of Lincoln Land Community College for nearly two decades.

“I spent 18 years in elected office working my tail off to make sure that taxes were as low as possible. We're still providing good government service,” he said.  

Previously, he also served as an executive assistant to the Illinois Comptroller and as a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Industry's staff. He's also held positions in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Gray is one of several former Trump staffers who are setting up challenges to what he describes as 'never-Trump Republicans.'

He claims Butler has an anti-Trump stance.

“Tim's an establishment Republican, and you know that that is the reality of it. He doesn't like Trump. We've obviously been on the same side of many issues over the years, but there are some major ones right now that we just don't see eye to eye on. And I think the Republican Caucus would benefit from having more pro-Trump, pro-life, pro-gun anti-tax candidates and he's not one of them,” he said.

Gray was a senior staff member of the Donald Trump for President campaign from the summer of 2015.

He also worked on Trump’s campaign in Missouri where Trump won in 2016 and 2020.

“These are Republicans I’ve known for years, but he's a never-Trumper, and he voted to more than double the Illinois gas tax. And I am just fed up with Republican candidates, especially voting to raise taxes and carrying water for Democrats that just didn't ever get a handle on their spending for state government or federal government,” he said.

Before entering the Trump administration, Gray worked on Republican presidential campaigns in 1996, 2000, 2008, and 2012. In 1996, he was a member of Sen. Bob Dole's presidential advance team.

Gray said his recognition in the area as an elected official and his campaign experience will help in the campaign season.

“It's a heavy lift because he's an incumbent in a different district, but only about 85 percent of it,” he said. “I’ve run more than 10 times in this general geographic area.”

"It'll be interesting to see. There'll be some twists and turns. I think I have a pretty good chance. I think it would be a very positive pro-Trump primary year, especially in this area. And like anything in politics, you never know exactly what's going to happen. I've learned that both the easy way and the hard way over the years.”

Gray is a private practice lawyer with 20 years of experience. He counsels municipalities and other local government entities on complex logistics initiatives and legal issues.