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Former Democratic state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias on Sunday endorsed Republican Tom Cross over Democrat Mike Frerichs for the job of managing Illinois money.

While Im not in politics anymore, and who Im friends with and who I think would be a good leader is probably not important to a lot of people, I do appreciate the fact that Tom Cross has done his homework on the office of treasurer, said Giannoulias, a senior director at BNY Mellon Wealth Management and chairman of the Illinois Community College Board.

Appearing on WGN radio, Giannoulias said Cross understands the role (of treasurer) and when we talk about people willing to break with their party and do whats right, I think he represents one of those people.

Cross, of Oswego, is the former Republican leader of the Illinois House and has been a state lawmaker for 21 years. Frerichs, of Champaign, has served in the state Senate since 2007.

Giannoulias, who served one term as state treasurer before narrowly losing a 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate against Republican Mark Kirk, said he did not want to bash the Democratic nominee.

But he noted Frerichs has criticized outgoing GOP state Treasurer Dan Rutherford for putting a premium on investments outside the state and U.S. Rutherford, however, has said the states only foreign investment is in Israel bonds. Frerichs campaign said it never intended to divest the state of Israel bonds.

I think his statements on Israel bonds werent carefully thought out. Its been one of the better investments in the state treasurers office, Giannoulias said of Frerichs. Giannoulias also appeared critical of Frerichs back-and-forth on the issue of combining the offices of state treasurer and comptroller. Frerichs had supported the idea, later appeared to back off the position, but then said he was in favor of combining the offices. Cross supports merging the two offices.

I feel like in Springfield, if theyre really talking about trying to find ways to save money, maybe combining the offices is important of comptroller and treasurer, Giannoulias said.

While Im a proud Democrat, proud of what we have done, I do think there are certain people who run for office on both sides who are willing to reach across the aisle. Ive known Tom Cross for awhile. I think hes got courage. I think hes a good guy, Giannoulias said.

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Democrat Giannoulias backs Republican Cross for state treasurer