Dan Proft

Dan Proft
Personal details
Born (1972-04-29) April 29, 1972
Oak Park, Illinois, United States
Political party Republican
Alma mater Northwestern University
Loyola University, Chicago

Daniel K. "Dan" Proft (born April 29, 1972) is an American businessperson, writer, and radio talk show host.[1] He is a former Republican candidate for Governor in Illinois. He formerly hosted a radio show with WLS and currently is on-air with AM 560 The Answer in Chicago where he co-hosts the morning drive show from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday with Amy Jacobson. He also is the chairman and treasurer of the Liberty Principles PAC, a super PAC the supports economic conservative candidates for the state legislature in Illinois.

Early life

Proft was born in 1972 in Oak Park, Illinois. He was raised in Wheaton, Illinois, and attended Benet Academy in Lisle. He graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. and Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree. At Northwestern, Proft co-founded the Northwestern Chronicle, an independent campus newspaper.[2]

Professional life

Dan Proft co-hosts the morning drive show from 5 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday with Amy Jacobson on AM 560 The Answer in Chicago.[3]

From 2011 to 2015, Proft was a political commentator for WLS-AM 890 radio in Chicago. From 2014-2015, he shared a weekday show from 5 to 9 a.m. with Bruce Wolf. After his contract expired, he moved to AM 560 WIND. He has also appeared on Chicago television including ABC 7 Chicago and Fox Chicago and his commentary has been featured on national outlets including Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNBC.

Proft also works as a Senior Fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute, a free-market think tank in Chicago. Proft serves on the boards of directors for the Disabled Patriot Fund, a nonprofit that provides assistance to Illinois military families; Freedom to Learn-Illinois, which provides private elementary school scholarships to disadvantaged children in Chicago; and Aid for Women, a Catholic pregnancy center in Chicago.[4][5][6]

Proft is a speaker and writer for the Illinois Opportunity Project, an organization that promotes free-market solutions. [7]

Proft also serves as the Chairman and Treasurer for Illinois Liberty Principles PAC, an independent expenditure, Super PAC organized "to make independent expenditures in support of liberty oriented policies and candidates."[8] Liberty Principles PAC received some criticism after it sent political mailings in newspaper form to voters ahead of the 2016 primary elections, publishing eight separate periodic mailings.[9][10] The Illinois State Board of Elections decided not to formally discipline the PAC after a formal complaint was made that alleged it violated campaign finance laws.[10]

Prior to his campaign for Governor, Proft was a Republican consultant working on numerous political campaigns and served in various leadership capacities in state and municipal government. He was the spokesman for Cicero Town president Larry Dominick.[11][12]

On July 11, 2016, the Chicago Tribune published an op-ed written by Proft concerning the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers. In the article, Proft criticized the media's coverage of both the Dallas shootings and the shootings of black men by police officers. Profit argued on behalf of a middle ground, writing, "There is plenty of intellectual room between 'cops can do no wrong' and 'cops are all racists waging war against minorities.' The reasoned room in between is occupied by most of the Americans who are not on television, radio or Twitter."[13]

Notable guests on radio and web shows

Guest Notability Type/Show Date Discussion Reference
Dean Angelo, Sr. President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 (Chicago, Illinois) Radio interview 4/14/16 Mayor Rahm Emanuel's panel on the Chicago Police Department following several police-involved shootings [14]
Alan Dershowitz Prominent scholar on United States constitutional law and criminal law Radio interview on The Answer (AM 560) 4/28/16 The sentencing of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert [15]
Bruce Rauner Governor of Illinois Radio interview on The Answer (AM 560) 5/25/16 The Democratic-controlled state legislature passing a budget before the end of the legislative session on May 31, 2016 [16]
Michelle Malkin Best-selling author and syndicated columnist Against the Current 10/31/16 Factors that led to the rise of Donald Trump's candidacy [17]
Allen West Former Florida congressman and current President/CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis Against the Current 11/3/16 Range of pre-election issues: Obamacare, ISIS, and the 2016 election [18]

2010 Illinois gubernatorial campaign

On June 23, 2009, Proft announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois on the “Don Wade & Roma Show” on WLS (AM). The tagline of Proft's campaign was "Illinois isn't broken. It's fixed,"[19] signifying Illinois' government is set up to serve the politicians in power, not the people. His contracts with Cicero Town president Larry Dominick was an issue during the campaign.[11]

Proft called for "policy revolution"[20] to slice state personal and corporate income taxes in half and abolish the estate tax, to freeze spending and only allow it to increase based on inflation and population growth, and to implement a statewide opportunity scholarship program.

Proft earned 7.78% of the vote, coming in sixth in a seven-way Republican primary race.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "How Bruce Rauner can lead Illinois from ruin". Chicago Tribune. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  2. ↑ "About Dan Proft". Dan Proft for Governor. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "AM 560 The Answer - News. Opinion. Insight". 560theanswer.com. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  4. ↑ "Dan Proft- Illinois Policy Institute". Illinois Policy Institute. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Disabled Patriot Fund All Volunteer Board". Disabled Patriod Fund. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "Board Members". Aid for Women. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Project". Illinoisopportunity.org. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  8. ↑ "Committee Details". Illinois State Board of Elections. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  9. ↑ Dahlstrom, Katie (February 19, 2016). "PAC-Funded Newspaper Hits McHenry County Homes". Northwest Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Dahlstrom, Katie (March 24, 2016). "State Board of Elections Rules on McHenry Times, Liberty Principles Complaint". Northwest Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Cicero spokesman's firm got pacts worth $578,000 a year to promote town, school districts". Articles.chicagotribune.com. 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ Proft, Dan (2016-07-11). "How to (really) achieve the 'important conversation'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  14. ↑ Proft, Dan; Jacobson, Amy (2016-04-14). "Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo on CPD Report Alleging "Systemic Racism"". Upstream Ideas. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  15. ↑ Chicago's Morning Answer (2016-04-28), Interview with Alan Dershowitz - April 28, 2016, retrieved 2016-12-03
  16. ↑ "ILLINOIS budget disaster lives on – CPS officials to storm Capitol – CHICAGO's HAMILTON ticket melee". POLITICO. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  17. ↑ Proft, Dan (2016-10-31). "A Conversation With Michelle Malkin". Upstream Ideas. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  18. ↑ Proft, Dan (2016-11-03). "Lt. Col. Allen West Sits Down With Dan Proft". Upstream Ideas. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  19. ↑ Proft, Dan. "Campaign Announcement". Proft2010.com.
  20. ↑ Horrell, Steve (12 April 2009). "Home News Proft promises to slice income tax". The Intelligencer.
  21. ↑ "2010 Gubernatorial Election Results". The New York Times. 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
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