Recently Retired Rockford Judge McGraw Running for Congress
Recently retired Winnebago County Judge Joe McGraw formally announced his campaign for the 17th Congressional District Wednesday.
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Recently retired Winnebago County Judge Joe McGraw jumped into the GOP primary for the 17th congressional district Wednesday.
We reported last month McGraw was likely to enter the race.
McGraw held events in the Quad Cities, Peoria, and Rockford. He is the DC Republican choice to challenge Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Moline) next year.
McGraw retired in July after 21 years on the bench.
Republican philanthropist Ray Estrada dropped his campaign last week. Quad Cities area farmer Scot Crowl has also filed paperwork to seek the seat.
Republicans have made multiple attempts to recruit high profile candidates for the race, including a personal call from then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia). Republicans also approached House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savana) and former Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington. All passed on the race.
We’ve attempted to reach McGraw multiple times in the last few weeks and he has not returned our messages.