Justin Jones and Sara Bean

Illinois needs a third major airport, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roland Burris told supporters at a campaign fund raiser Saturday.

We need to build an airport to increase tourism, Burris said. It would be a great economic engine and I’m going to build it.

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Burris said by building a new airport, new airways would be opened up, as O’Hare and Midway Airports are almost operating at capacity. This would allow more commuter flights from Southern Illinois to Chicago.

He proposes the airport be built in Peotone in south Cook County. Burris said the airport will increase air travel in Illinois to accommodate 135 million passengers, provide 53,000 jobs directly and an additional 236,000 jobs indirectly by 2020.

The rally was at the Eurma Hayes Center, 441 E. Willow St., and comes on the heels of a recent statewide newspaper poll that shows Burris leading his Democratic primary opponents.

The Chicago Tribune showed Burris at 36 percent, well ahead of U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, D-Marion, former U.S. Justice Department official John Schmidt and former U.S. Attorney Jim Burns.

Burris told the audience of about 30 people that his experience as state comptroller make him the best candidate for governor because he knows how the states spends its money. He has served three terms as state comptroller and has also served as Illinois’ attorney general.

Burris said mining is an important issue in Southern Illinois and deserves careful consideration. He said he wants to see scrubbers installed in the mines and miners going back to work.

I’ve never made a promise to the people of this state that I couldn’t keep, Burris said.

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