Former Rep. Rosenthal Running for Senate
Former State Representative Wayne Rosenthal (left) as Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 2018.
Former GOP State Rep. Wayne Rosenthal tells The Illinoize he will run for State Senate next year. If the current map holds up, that means he’ll be in a primary with incumbent Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) in the new 54th district in the next June’s primary.
Rosenthal was State Representative from Morrisonville from 2011-2015 and left the General Assembly to serve as then Governor Bruce Rauner’s Director of the Department of Natural Resources.
He’s a former Brigadier General in the Illinois National Guard.
Rosenthal said Monday night he wants to see what sort of changes Republicans and other plaintiffs in the legislative map lawsuit propose. Those submissions are due November 8th. McClure is expected to announce his run for re-election this week. He told me yesterday afternoon he’s not focused on anyone else.
The new 54th district eliminates most of Springfield from McClure’s current 50th district. It includes western Sangamon County, Menard County, Montgomery County, then shoots east picking up Taylorville, Shelbyville, Effingham, and parts of Decatur.
Rosenthal says he’s not specifically targeting McClure.
“The way the map looks now, once Darren Bailey leaves, there won’t be any ag interests in the Senate Republican caucus,” said Rosenthal, a farmer. “This is an ag district, and I believe it needs ag representation.”
Rosenthal is 71 (McClure is 37, by the way), and he wasn’t really a prolific fundraiser when he ran in 2010, 2012, and 2014. But McClure only had about $68,000 cash on hand when the third quarter ended. Rosenthal remains close with Rauner, but he says he hasn’t discussed the race with the multi-millionaire former Governor and hasn’t discussed campaign contributions with him.