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McConchie: GOP Field For Governor Isn't Set

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) says he expects at least one additional high-profile GOP candidate to get into the race for Governor.

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The Illinoize sat down with Senate GOP Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) following a town hall in Crystal Lake last week.

You can see what McConchie had to say about Governor JB Pritzker, vaccines, mask mandates, and how he hopes the GOP will make gains in the 2022 election here.

We also asked McConchie about the current field of candidates on the GOP side and if he believes any of them can beat Pritzker:

“I don’t think the field is set. I think that there are other people that I know of that are certainly looking at that. As a result, I think we’re still very early in that process. I went to an event with [all of] the candidates and they’re improving, they’re getting better. Some of these things take time and sometimes you’ll have someone who, in the beginning, maybe didn’t seem very promising who, later, really grows into the role. It’s very early for us to make any judgement calls on that.”

That’s not a ringing endorsement of any of the candidates in the field. Especially one that includes his Senate colleague, Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and his former colleague, ex-Sen. Paul Schimpf.

It’s known that McConchie is close to Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), who has said he is considering the race. Barickman told us recently he was still “thinking about” it.

Patrick Pfingsten

@pfingsten1 patrick@theillinoize.com