The Republican Brain Drain
Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) and Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) are two top Republicans leaving the chamber.
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
By the time the new General Assembly is sworn in next month, Republicans will lose a long list of top members, institutional knowledge, charisma, brains, and political acumen.
Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), elected 2014
Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), appointed February 2015
Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), elected 2000
Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield), appointed March 2015
Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon), elected 2012
Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst), appointed July 2018
Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), elected 2010
Rep. David Welter (R-Morris), appointed July 2016
Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego), elected 2014
Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), House 2011-2013, elected to Senate in 2012
Batinick and Morrison didn’t seek re-election. Welter lost his primary while Mazzochi (so far) and Wheeler lost their general election races. Bourne, Brady, and Demmer all sought higher office and lost. Butler and Barickman are resigning.
Rep. Keith Sommer (R-Mackinaw), who was elected in 1998 and was the longest tenured House Republican, also didn’t seek re-election this year.
The list could eventually include House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), who served from 1995-2003 and again since 2006. It isn’t clear how long he may remain in the legislature after he steps aside as Leader at the end of the current General Assembly.
Those departures nearly eviscerate House Republican Leadership, which could lose as many as 10 of 12 members of leadership.
The brain drain leaves Republicans with dramatically inexperienced leadership and few members with a record of running point on top issues.
“There’s a huge leadership vacuum,” one Republican lawmaker said on the condition of anonymity. “[Incoming House GOP Leader Tony McCombie] has a big job ahead of her to replace people like Butler and Bourne and Batinick.”
In numbers run by Democratic lobbyist John Amdor, House Republicans will have an average of fewer than five years of service when the new General Assembly is sworn in next month. House Democrats, comparatively, will have about seven years of average service.
McCombie has some people around her she can lean on to step in on top issues, including Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis), Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian), and Rep. Amy Elik (R-Alton), among others. It would be a time for them to step up.
In the Senate, Barickman was the top lieutenant to Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) and led negotiations on most of the top issues Senate Republicans were allowed at the table for.
Barickman is considered by many to be one of the brightest Republican minds in the General Assembly and was someone who was considered as a possible candidate for statewide office this year.
This is a good restart point for Republicans in Springfield. If they hope to succeed, they will need to put together new messaging operations and earned media efforts and constituent outreach operations.
It’s a chance for Republicans to grow. Let’s see if they are up to the task.
