First off, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected by the frenzy of tornadoes in central Illinois that struck down on Saturday.

I have felt the fear of a tornado going by and going through my town, so I cannot imagine what those who had damage done to their livelihood and property are experiencing.

On top of that, Central Illinois experienced 12-22 of them (depending on which site you read).

But my main focus here is to keep our Governor-Elect, J.B. Pritzker, in check.

And it does have to do with the tornadoes.

Throughout his campaign, he released the typical campaign videos of random shots of him smiling with a citizen as a voice in the background says that he is such a people-person.

In fact, one of his main messages, that he spoke about himself, in those advertisements was that he was a man of the people and he was going to fight to give us what we want and help us.

Well, now is as good a time as any.

Governor Bruce Rauner has already gone to visit those affected by the tornadoes, and now it’s time for Pritzker to do the same and live up to what he preaches.

But I think both need to go visit the area and actually talk to the people.

Moreso for Pritzker, I think visiting the area and talking to the people is something he needs to do for a couple reasons.

First, it is a good thing to do and it would be a great way to get ready to start your term.

Because of the recent, negative and nondescript history and happenings in the state, Pritzker’s election, in my opinion, has died down and no one really talks about it right now.

Doing this is a great way for him to back up his words that he actually cares, and seeing the Governor-Elect come to talk to you after such a rare event would be great.

Secondly, this is his chance to connect with a group of people that did not even vote for him in the first place.

Litchfield, for example, had two tornadoes (one south and one north of town) surrounding the city at the same time Saturday afternoon. Litchfield is in Montgomery County, which had 40.8 percent of its voters vote for Rauner, which was good enough for Rauner to win the county.

In every direction for a stretch of multiple counties, a sea of red shows that Rauner was the favorite in the November elections, according to the Washington Post.

So, considering that’s the area where the tornadoes caused injuries and damage, a visit to the affected areas is a way for Pritzker to connect with the people who did not vote for him and get some backing before he takes his place in Springfield.

Dillan Schorfheide can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].