Former Democratic Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon announced her candidacy for the state Senate on Monday.
Simon is seeking the Illinois Senate District 58 seat, being vacated by Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville), who is not running for another term in 2016.
In announcing her state Senate bid during a Labor Day event at the Du Quoin State Fair, Simon slammed Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner over his push for anti-union proposals.
"There's so much at stake right now, we need strong unions," Simon said, reported the Southern Illinoisan. "The reason the governor is holding the budget up is because he wants to weaken the union rights in Illinois and I am entirely opposed to that."
She also discussed education issues during her announcement.
"I'm going to speak up for people who want that opportunity to afford to go to college and maybe, most importantly, I'm going to speak up for our children, because our schools in Southern Illinois so often get the short end of the stick," Simon said.