COLLINSVILLE - As Madison County gears up for the 2024 election on Nov. 5, County Board member Paul Nicolussi is reflecting on his time in office and encouraging people to vote Republican.
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In a recent interview on “Our Daily Show!” with CJ Nasello, Nicolussi spoke about the SAFE-T Act, homelessness and taxes throughout the county. He noted that his opponent in District 23, Carolyn Hogan-Downey, has compared Republicanism to fascism; he said this language is not “helpful.”
“We’re not fascists here,” Nicolussi said. “The Republicans nationwide aren’t fascists, especially in the county. We’re hands-off. We’re freedom.”
Nicolussi said he believes that the difference between him and Hogan-Downey is how they want to govern. He doesn’t want to “go personal” or send out negative messages about her.
“It’s just a difference in governance,” he explained. “I’m going to give most people the benefit of the doubt and think they’re a good person. They just want to govern a bit differently than me.”
To that point, he said he will support the Republican candidates throughout the 2023 election. Nicolussi noted that while the primary election on March 19, 2024, had its share of “personality issues” within the Republican party, he will back the Republicans.
“If you remember me, I said, regardless of who wins the primary, I’m going to support the Republican candidate,” he added. “We’ve done good in this county. The personality issues we had, our arguments, the primaries, that’s over for me. The Democrats have a totally different vision for what the county even does. So I will support the Republican candidate. I think we have a better vision for the county than the Democrats do.”
Nicolussi spoke against Illinois’s SAFE-T Act. He commended State’s Attorney Tom Haine for his prosecution of crime and said that Madison County has higher levels of prosecution than Cook County despite the higher crime levels in Chicago. He noted that the SAFE-T Act is another issue where Madison County politicians are divided along partisan lines.
“I don’t want the book thrown at people and ruining their lives, but I just think we’re normalizing things we shouldn’t,” he said. “We had a resolution denouncing it, and all the Republicans voted for it, I believe. Some Democrats voted against it, too, but the majority of Democrats in the county support the SAFE-T Act. They even talk about how great it is. They support the SAFE-T Act, which is crazy to me. Legalizing crime doesn’t make it go away.”
This mindset has also guided Nicolussi as conversations increase about homelessness in Madison County. Many local townships have outlawed public camping, which, people argue, affects unhoused community members.
Nicolussi said some people believe it’s “inhumane” not to “ban homeless encampments.” He noted that he has empathy for unhoused people, but he feels it’s difficult for public safety officers and kids when there are unhoused people in parks and downtown.
“I’ve lived in Madison County all 46 years of my life. The homelessness wasn’t a major issue until recently,” he said. “I think we’ve got to get to the root problem if they’re homeless and figure out why, get them some help so they can start living a quality, productive life. And some people are just always going to be homeless. We’ve had homeless people for a while, but the numbers have really ramped up. I know what doesn’t work: just saying it’s okay. Legalizing something like that leads to vagrancy, for the most part.”
He added that he wants to see more conversations about the New Hope House in Alton before the Madison County Board rewards a $2.5 million ARPA grant to any entity to build a transitional housing facility in the county. He said he has received zero phone calls from any elected officials in Alton who say they are behind the New Hope House project.
As the election approaches, Nicolussi is also proud of Madison County’s flat tax levy, which he attributes to the Republicans who have been in office over the past eight years. He encourages people to vote Republican in the next election.
“What, on policy, don’t you like? What can you do to improve Madison County that we haven’t done? This is a completely different county than it was when we took over,” he said to Democrats. “If these Democrats want to run on these huge high tax levies, just come out and say it. That's fine. That’s your philosophy on government. Don’t attack us. Don’t say we’re defunding. Don’t say we’re fascists who want to get rid of things, because we’re completely opposite of fascists, we’re very freedom-loving.”
Nicolussi will hold a fundraiser for his campaign on Aug. 23, titled “Paul Nicolussi’s First Annual Great American Bash.” For more information about Nicolussi, his upcoming fundraiser or his policies, follow the official “Paul Nicolussi for County Board 23” Facebook page.
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