Margaret Croke, Democratic candidate for Illinois comptroller, made an appearance with the Illini Democrats in Urbana Tuesday.
Croke is running for Democrat Susana Mendoza’s seat this November against Republican downstate candidate Bryan Drew. Mendoza announced that she would not seek a fourth term as comptroller in July 2025, which led to a Democratic primary election that Croke won.
The state representative of the 12th District sat down with members of the RSO at Espresso Royale on Oregon Street, to discuss her experience as a politician.
Croke said her relationship with Gov. JB Pritzker, whose Think Big America PAC Croke is a part of, gave her an advantage in delivering on promises made to taxpayers.
“I was really proud to have the governor’s endorsement,” Croke said. “(Pritzker) does not appreciate yes-people. He wants smart people around him to challenge him.”
Croke said she would deliver on payroll for government workers and to strengthen the financial regulations in the state, noting that the indictments of Carol and Aaron Ammons came after Comptroller Mendoza was alerted to the alleged wire fraud.
“As the state CFO, we can make sure (to issue stop payment orders) as we see this improper usage of funds from the state-level,” Croke said. “Because we know that the state intervened, even if (Carol Ammons) is not found criminally liable for whatever she is being charged with, we know she misused funds. It’s disappointing.”
Croke has made financial transparency a key aspect of her campaign for comptroller.
“Transparency is the most important thing I can do to earn your trust, and sometimes people may not like how we spend the revenue of the state’s taxpayer money, but at least you know how it’s being spent,” Croke said.
As Chair of the House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee of Illinois, Croke oversaw early state-level conversations around regulating cryptocurrency, and the troublesome notion of tying a hypothetical “crypto license” to a secure financial institution.
“A lot of people have asked me about crypto in general,” Croke said. “As it comes to the state level, I have had questions about whether or not we would ever consider having a crypto depository within state government. I don’t see a world in which we would ever hold crypto. It’s unreliable.”
In her time on the Illinois Gaming Board, Croke was approached with the regulation of prediction markets. Croke said Kalshi and similar platforms are, in her estimation, just online gambling.
“You’re even seeing how there’s crossover with sports betting, but in the prediction market,” Croke said. “We’re seeing how people in positions of power, in the federal government, are betting on different regulatory frameworks or tariffs, whatever you can think of.”
Croke admitted to having looked at how the bettors weighed her odds in the Democratic primary for comptroller, which predicted her as the winner but misidentified Karina Villa as third-place candidate. Villa actually finished just two percent behind Croke.
Croke said she had been in conversation with members of the gaming committee on regulating prediction markets to be taxed like sports betting or gambling, but had been stymied by the federal government.
Speaking to the Illini Democrats directly, Croke encouraged any college-aged person with an interest in politics to run for office where they see potential for change.
“In this career path of wanting to serve, you have to think about timing, and sometimes timing is never right,” Croke said. “You could say that you would love to run for office when you’re 35 or when you’re 40, but if the opportunity comes when you’re 27 years old and you know that you could make a difference within your community, just do it. We’re going to be lucky to have you in that role.”
The post Illinois comptroller candidate Margaret Croke sits with Illini Dems appeared first on The Daily Illini.
Feeds,News,Region: Champaign,College
via The Daily Illini https://ift.tt/ogy21Zl
October 9, 2026 at 09:30AM
