GOP Organizations Continue Holding Maskless Indoor Events
State Senator Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), a GOP candidate for Governor, speaks to a mostly maskless crowd at the Douglas County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner Tuesday night in Arcola.
At least a handful of county Republican party organizations are moving forward with their annual “Lincoln Day” dinners, a traditional fundraising and party building event, often held in the spring in each county.
So far, at least two downstate counties, Clay County in Southeastern Illinois and Douglas County in east-Central Illinois have held their events. Moultrie County has scheduled its event for next week. A similar event is planned in suburban McHenry County for March 26th.
Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), a Republican candidate for Governor, has, or is scheduled to attend, all of the events. Bailey has questioned the efficacy of masking as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19. At Tuesday’s event in Douglas County, Bailey was joined by Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), who represents the area and Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), a potential candidate for Governor. All three men were in the Senate Wednesday after attending the maskless event Tuesday night.
(Disclosure: I managed Barickman’s first campaign and consider him a close friend.)
We asked both Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) and Senate President Don Harmon if it was appropriate for the three members to attend the Senate after attending a maskless gathering, but neither spokesperson returned our messages. Senators have the option of participating in session remotely.
Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) and Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) were also in attendance Tuesday night, but the House did not have in-person meetings this week.
“These guys,” said one exasperated suburban Republican elected official. “This kind of crap is the reason we can’t win [in the suburbs.] We look like the party of crazy.”
Clay County Republican Chairman Bryan West e-mailed The Illinoize calling Governor JB Pritzker’s mask mandate “arbitrary.”
“Arguably, he has no authority and no ability to enforce the "rules" he puts in place,” West said, not noting the legislature gave the governor the legal authority for the actions decades ago. “The issue isn't whether or not it's safe (safe is a relative term). The issue is how powerful you want one person to be. By the way, I prefer a dangerous freedom over a safe slavery.”
Sen. Bailey resides in Clay County.
“Nobody south of I-70 has worn a mask this entire time,” said a downstate Republican lawmaker. “If they didn’t before, they’re not going to start now.”
When asked about the defiance of mask protocols Thursday, Governor JB Pritzker shook his head with a frustrated look as the situation was described.
“I would advise anybody, and if it’s happening mostly with Republicans, then, I would advise Republicans that they should be wearing masks, that they should be socially distancing, that they follow the mitigations that exist today,” Pritzker said. “People need to be careful and do the right thing. I don’t want people spreading the virus because we’re just at a point that we’re almost past this.”
While these four counties have proceeded with events, most county GOP organizations around the state have decided to hold virtual events or postpone their Lincoln Day Dinners until the fall.