GOP Chairman Race Has Implications for Fractured Party
Outgoing Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider speaks at the Illinois State Fair in 2019. The GOP State Central Committee will pick Schneider’s replacement Saturday while Republicans across the state are divided over Donald Trump and the anti-Trump rhetoric of Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon).
State Republican party officials had hoped to choose a new chairman last weekend, but a snowstorm delayed the decision to Saturday, and the race appears to be “wide open,” according to multiple state central committeemen.
Whoever of three candidates to fill the position are likely to inherit a party divided over the policies and rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, legislative super minorities, and a gigantic fundraising disadvantage compared to state Democrats.
Even then, candidates for the party position say they’re optimistic.
“We’re pretty optimistic about 2022,” said Don Tracy of Springfield, an attorney, former chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, and former candidate for Lieutenant Governor. “I know Trump lost and we lost the Senate and didn’t get back the House, but the [federal] house picked up 13 or 14 seats and we did better in the Senate than people expected. We won 8 of 11 Governorships. Here in Illinois, we beat back the unfair tax proposal and the Kilbride [Supreme Court] retention.”
Kendall County Board Chairman Scott Gryder says history is on the side of the GOP.
“We’ve got a great opportunity in 2022 ahead of us,” he said. “With a midterm for a Democrat president with the Governor up as well, and, for the first time, you’re going to have someone other than Mike Madigan trying to hold on to the House. I’m sure the new Speaker will have his own mechanism, for sure it’s not going to be easy, but it’s time to test that out and see if there’s an opportunity.”
The third finalist, Lake County GOP Chairman Mark Shaw, did not return multiple messages from The Illinoize Thursday.
The new chairman will be chosen by the Republican State Central Committee, 17 members elected by precinct committeemen from around the state.
“I'm keeping an open mind,” one committeeman told The Illinoize. “If you are asking for a prediction, at this time, it appears it will come down to between Mark Shaw and Don Tracy, but things could change.”
One committeeman told us he’s received more than 20 calls in support of one candidate or another. Even some heavy hitters in the party, like Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) have been making calls. Davis supports Tracy.
But it’s still hard to predict.
“It looks wide open,” another committeeman said. “Most committeemen won’t commit to any of them yet. They really want to have a good look in the eye of each of the candidates. They really want to see and hear this group. So that tells me that it can go in any direction, with most committeemen deciding based on what they see on Saturday.”
Much of the final decision will come down to the choice of State Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), who holds the greatest weighted vote in his heavily Republican 15th Congressional District.
Rose hasn’t committed to a candidate and says he’s keeping an open mind.
Whoever wins the race Saturday will deal with a party heavily split on the soul of the party, and whether it is a party that belongs to Donald Trump or if the GOP advances on conservative policy ideals.
“I like to focus on the policies that are behind Trump as opposed to Trump himself,” Gryder said. “If you pivot enough to focus on policies versus Trump, then that’s a winning message. I think [his] issues still resonate in the suburbs; you just have to change the messenger. I think if you focus on the policy, you can still have a winning message in Illinois.”
Tracy says the GOP should focus on blue collar workers, pro-family voters, and “law & order” issues.
“We have to focus on those core values and those core principles that Trump represented very well and appeals to the pro-Trump voters, but also appeal to the suburban voters,” Tracy said. “By focusing on those core values and those core principles, which so many Republican policies orbit around, we can unite the party and bridge whatever gap there is between the super pro-Trump voters and those in the suburbs that rejected Trump.”
Trump also centers around the other top concern among Illinois Republicans, that of the comments and impeachment vote of Trump by Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon).
Some county parties have sought to censure Kinzinger for his outspoken criticisms of Trump. Others have called Kinzinger, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, a traitor, for opposing the former President.
“I certainly don’t share Adam’s views on impeachment,” said Tracy. “I’m not a “never Trumper,” I was a Trump delegate. But, to win, we’ve got to bring the “never Trumpers” back into the party. We have to expand the party, not decrease it in order to win. You can’t grow the church by excommunicating the sinners. I certainly oppose censuring [Kinzinger] and taking the Democrat bait to divide our party with an intraparty fight. I don’t agree with Adam said or did, I know a lot of people do, so it’s a political disagreement within the party, but we need to leave it as that, as a political disagreement.”
Gryder says the GOP needs to embrace all corners of the party.
“If we’re going to have any chance to make gains in Illinois, we have to support our people,” Gryder said. “He’s our senior Republican congressman. If you take the why he did it and what he did out of the equation, you can take to the bank anything else he tells you. Because you’ve seen the blowback and the vitriol that’s come after him and anybody that’s gonna go out and take that kind of a stand, if they tell you they’re going to be pro-gun rights, or less taxes or less regulation, I think you can pretty much count on it. They’re going to take way less of a beating than he’s taken the last few weeks.”
A fourth candidate applied for the job, former U.S. Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg, apparently submitted his application late and isn’t available in person for the interview Saturday, so Illinois GOP Executive Director Derek Murphy says Sauerberg won’t be considered. Sauerberg ran against Senator Dick Durbin in 2008 and lost by around 40-percentage points.
Republicans around the state who have spoken with The Illinoize say Tracy is the most accomplished fundraiser in the group, Gryder may be the best spokesmen of the three, and Shaw has been focused on grassroots party development.
Asked if the position matters, especially to rank-and-file Republicans and voters around the state, Rose says it comes down to organizing the party and defeating Governor JB Pritzker in 2022.
“The Republican Party needs to remove JB Pritzker before he can do any more damage to the state. The person to help us do that is important,” Rose said. “He has poorly bungled the vaccine rollout, he’s signing budgets that are billions of dollars out of balance. And he’s changing the rules for the pandemic on the fly. We can’t afford four more years of JB Pritzker.”