Sangamon Sun

Conservative candidate for Illinois House of Representatives District 95 Kent Gray is questioning his opponent over voting with the Democrat majority to raise the state’s gas tax, making Illinois’s gas prices the second-highest in the nation. 

Gray’s opponent, State. Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield), voted to raise the state’s gas tax on a schedule where automatic increases occur — regardless of broader economic or political problems. 

“I'm most concerned about a state representative who joined with the Democrats to double Illinois's gas tax right before you know, we're in a situation now where this is just killing the trucking industry and individuals trying to drive to work,” Gray told Sangamon Sun.

Butler and a group of other Republicans went against their party's wishes and voted to raise the state's gas tax. The gasoline tax is also slated to rise in lockstep with inflation. As a result, bigger taxes are still on the way, Illinois Policy reported.

Gray has been campaigning to unseat Butler in the June 28 Republican primary. He is a Springfield attorney who worked on Trump's campaigns in Illinois and Missouri, according to Sangamon Sun. Gray has over 20 years of experience assisting municipalities and other local government bodies with complicated logistical and legal concerns.

Wirepoints noted that the state is a national outlier when it comes to gas taxes. On Memorial Day alone, Illinoisans were faced with a record-high gas price of $5. Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints said the numerous layers of taxes imposed by different authorities resulted in placing the state as the second-highest paying in gas taxes. 

This multi-layer of gas taxes that Illinoisans pay has been noticed by gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey commenting that gas hikes are "due to the inept policies of the Biden administration," SE Illinois News reported. In Naperville, motorists pay a total of roughly 25% in taxes, which includes federal tax, two types of state taxes, a DuPage County tax and a local city tax.

The 95th State Representative District includes Chatham and part of Springfield and spans across portions of Sangamon, Christian and Macon counties.