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Shon-Tiyon Horton
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Shon-Tiyon Horton (independent) ran for election for Governor of Illinois. He lost as a write-in in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Horton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Shon-Tiyon Horton was born in Alton, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University in 1998. His career experience includes working as a school district employee, a multilingual translator and interpreter, and a student lecturer while studying abroad.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Illinois gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of Illinois
The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Illinois on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | J.B. Pritzker (D) | 54.9 | 2,253,748 |
 | Darren Bailey (R) | 42.4 | 1,739,095 | |
 | Scott Mitchell Schluter (L) | 2.7 | 111,712 | |
| Emily Johnson (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 28 | ||
 | Shon-Tiyon Horton (Independent) (Write-in)  | 0.0 | 28 | |
| Elizabeth Sebesta (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 18 | ||
| Total votes: 4,104,629 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mancow Muller (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois
Incumbent J.B. Pritzker defeated Beverly Miles in the Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | J.B. Pritzker | 91.9 | 810,989 |
 | Beverly Miles | 8.1 | 71,704 | |
| Total votes: 882,693 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Illinois
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Illinois on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Darren Bailey | 57.5 | 458,102 |
 | Jesse Sullivan | 15.7 | 125,094 | |
 | Richard Irvin | 15.0 | 119,592 | |
 | Gary Rabine | 6.5 | 52,194 | |
 | Paul Schimpf | 4.4 | 34,676 | |
 | Max Solomon | 0.9 | 7,371 | |
| Total votes: 797,029 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Keisha Smith (R)
- Christopher Roper (R)
- Cheryl Erickson (R)
- Emily Johnson (R)
Campaign themes
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released Nov 6, 2022 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Shon-Tiyon Horton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Horton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am an everyday citizen that is willing to give the next four years of my life in selfless pubic service to the people of my state by way of being governor. I am self financing this run for public office in order to give my fellow Illinoisans at least one candidate in their life time that isn't beholden to anyone other than them. I am a write in candidate as I only want to focus on solving the problems of the people in my state and not become enmeshed in adhering to party dogma or catering to a wing of a party. I am giving people a reason to vote, and have solely focused on running a campaign based on my vision of service and not attacking any of my rivals. Having been a missionary, and in a variety of cultural exchange programs abroad, I am keen on incorporating what other countries do better than us and enhancing what we already do well in regards to public services. Immigrate families are making a smoother transition to our country due to my work as a multilingual translator and interpreter in the local school district of my hometown of Alton, IL.
- My number one goal is to make Illinois debt free. Two years ago, I was able to pay off my student loan as well as personal debt. I am now able to accomplish a lot more due to the freedom of being debt free. I believe the sky is the limit in regards to what we can accomplish as a state that is out of debt and operating with a surplus that is not built upon accounting tricks.
- Cultural changes can lay a foundation for generational success. Our society has had too much "us vs. them" going on; in part abetted by our political culture. The bully pulpit that comes with public office can set the tone for how we value and treat each over as members of one race---the human race. This will lead to personal changes that no law can ever bring to past.
- The tax laws and the business climate will be changed to make Illinois the number one destination in the Midwest to start a business, expand a business, get an education, raise a family, and to retire. I aspire to reverse the trend of having more people leave Illinois than come to Illinois.
This past summer I ventured to Central America where I had served as a Peace Corps Small Business development volunteer. I listened to families with whom I had worked with and served detail a variety of experiences on how the migrant caravans were impacting local communities and the impact US immigration policy was having. Policy vision or a lack there of has real life consequences. My experiences living, working, and studying abroad as well as my current role as a translator/interpreter working with immigrant families has prepared me well to lead a new approach to how we address immigration here. In addition, I continue to see more and more For Sale signs in yards that once belonged to friends/neighbors as both businesses and good people flock to greener pastures elsewhere. For me, it is not choosing between helping my fellow Illinoisans or the recently arrived immigrants. A win-win situation is more than attainable if we are willing to see each other as members of humanity and commit ourselves to making an insightful long term plan that addresses the root of the problem without looking to score political chits in order to win the next election.
An elected official must always remember that he or she is a public servant. This role is to be selfless with a focus on the common good that is keen to the long term. Humility is cornerstone to service as without it; the public servant is no longer a public servant but someone who uses the public to serve his or her own agenda, or needs. Second, integrity has to be a lifestyle and not a buzzword. People won't follow who they can't trust. Last, but not least, a sense of humor would be the third component of serving well as an elected official. Humor can make a tense situation or a life challenge more bearable not to mention it makes people more relatable. There is enough pain and suffering and bitterness and division in society today. Each person has more than enough of his or her own personal problems. If humor can be interjected into one's life that is not at the expense of someone or some marginalized group; then we are all the better for it.
As mentioned before, I want to give my fellow Illinoisans at least one candidate in their life time that spoke to their aspirations, dreams, and hopes, that sought to bring the best out of them, and that gave them a reason to vote for someone and not against a demonized rival. I am proud to say that I have kept a positive campaign that has been free of "us vs. them" rhetoric and that has only focused on my vision of service to the state as well as my ideas to solve our common problems.
My first job was working with Senior Services Plus in my hometown as a handyman/jack-of-all-trades to meet the needs of their elderly clientele. I started working as soon as I turned sixteen during my junior year in high school and kept this job throughout high school and some college summer breaks when I would return home from Howard University and Morgan State University.
Although you use the term governor, I see it more as a facilitator. This role is to facilitate the people of the state towards three main goals: 1) solving problems once-and-for all, 2) debasing certain challenges to the degree that victory is more feasible, and 3) discover new threats in which to start the process of doing either number one or number two. Second and just as importantly, one is also responsible for setting the tone or creating the environment in a state. I don't mean just in the political sense but more importantly in a societal or cultural sense. It serves no good if you pass a new law to solve a problem, but don't inspire or encourage the people to change their mentalities, attitudes, and approaches towards the problem. Look at Prohibition. We passed an amendment making alcohol illegal but made no effort to reach the hearts and the minds of the people. As a result, the eighteenth amendment bit the dust. On the contrary, take note of how President Lincoln kept engaging the divided American public (i.e. the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, etc.) during the Civil War in regards to ending slavery and keeping the United States a country with united states. We are still here as a country and it would be unimaginable for someone to move to make slavery legal in modern society in our country.
I believe a core responsibility of governor that is greatly overlooked, but essential to the long term health of a state is the ability to create a social/cultural environment that is conducive for the betterment of the people of that given state. Why is it that some states are known to be great for tourism, or business, or retirement; whereas others are known to be challenging for business expansion, or cost of living, or employment opportunities for youth...the environment that was allowed to exist in that state. The governor can set the tone for the direction that a state moves in as well as what type of environment is present for the people of that state. As mentioned before, this goes beyond setting a political agenda to pass through a state legislature. This involves incorporating the bully pulpit to address the issues of the day, alert people to the challenges of tomorrow, and to keep the public mindful of the lessons that we have learned from the past. One of the main initiatives that I plan to enact as governor is to make my rounds yearly of all 102 counties building relationships among the various segments of society in each community. Too often a political "leader" plays to his or her base during a campaign. Although he or she may try to run a state for the betterment of all, bitter partisan feelings leftover from attacks during the campaign almost ensures that the relationship between the governor, state legislature, and the people is guaranteed to be a rocky one from the get-go. As a result, I am running a write in campaign that is only attacking our problems. I won't have to immediately address partisan divisions in the legislature and in society because no given "group" can find any attack from any aspect of my campaign. Furthermore, I am committed to serving a single, full four year term. By freeing myself from becoming a political celebrity or trying to move up the political leader, I can zero in like a laser on our common problems.
Please forgive me if I sound like a broken record. Although I am running as a write in candidate for governor, I believe that most of problems will not be solved long term from me passing law after law after law. I believe it is in our best interest as a state for me to utilize the bully pulpit or platform that comes with me being governor to make cultural/societal changes that will serve us well both now and in generations to come. For example, part of the reason I feel that the state continues to be bogged down in debt is neither party wants to make a bold move to solve the problem because it is well known that any move that is done will be centered in an attack ad in the next election cycle to demonize that given person as well as his or her party. This paralysis has robbed us as a state of many ideas that would bode well for us collectively as a people. By serving as governor without a partisan label, all parties are free from being blamed if anything goes wrong as---yours truly---the governor without a partisan label will get the blame (hopefully, I will get credit as well for what goes right under my watch). Rising above the political fray, I intend to tap into five pillars of society---government, businesses, charities, educational institutions, and religious bodies---to forge a united front to address eliminating the state debt, making Illinois the number one magnet in the Midwest for investment and business creation and expansion, the number destination in the Midwest for study abroad opportunities, and a state with a reputation in which anyone---and I do mean anyone...regardless of whatever difference real or perceived from mainstream society---can have his or her dreams, hopes, goals, aspirations, and ambitions become a reality. As of now, many of my fellow Illinoisans are seeing other states as being more conducive and I want to spend the entirety of the next four years reversing this trend to the best of my utmost ability.
My favorite joke has to be the Far Side comic about a gifted student pushing the door to get into school when the sign says pull. This is just classic and I still laugh about this comic strip many decades later.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on November 7, 2022
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