Rauner: IDOT Jobs Could Have Gone To Veterans

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Taking aim at one of Governor Pat Quinn's key constituencies, Republican challenger Bruce Rauner unveiled a coalition of veterans who support him on Tuesday.

WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports Bruce Rauner was flanked by high-profile veterans like Republicans Senator Mark Kirk and Congressman Adam Kinzinger and questioned Governor Pat Quinn's advocacy for vets in light of lagging unemployment for them and others and he says the IDOT patronage scandal likely thwarted the state's hiring preference for veterans.

"I think you can look at the hundreds of people that were illegally hired in IDOT and you can be fairly certain that there would be many veterans who could have taken those jobs instead of the cronies who were hired," Rauner said.

The Quinn campaign says Illinois' unemployment rate is lower than when the governor took office and that the state has become a national leader in re-employing veterans. Last year alone, they say the Department of Employment Security found jobs for 12,000 veterans.