By Illinois Review
On Monday, disgraced Chicago Republican Party Chairman Steve Boulton announced in an email to ward committee members that he was not seeking re-election as chairman, and blaming the “far right” for his downfall after this publication published a series of damaging stories including one that revealed that in 2016, he posted a comment on social media where he compared President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
In making his announcement, Boulton wrote,
“I announce to you all that I will not be a candidate to run for a second term as your Chair. I fully back Chuck Hernandez of the 38th Ward for Chair!”
Boulton also took aim at this publication, writing that he’s “a bit burned out after what seemed like fighting the whole world for years to create change, including inertia in the Party and maniacal enemies on the far Right.”
The embattled chairman lost his election to save his 27th Ward Committeeman seat this past March after he was originally knocked off the primary ballot for submitting an “insufficient number of valid signatures.” Boulton then tried to run as a write-in candidate, but only received 24 votes – falling far short of the 111 required to remain a committeeman.
Over the last year, Illinois Review published several articles exposing Boulton as a man with anger issues who constantly attacks his fellow locally-elected ward committeeman and grassroots conservatives – and who believes that if you are unvaccinated, then you should pay for your own hospital costs; and if you require lifesaving measures due to COVID-19 – the resources spent to save your life would be a “waste” of money.
Boulton oversaw an organization that couldn’t recruit or fund a single candidate to run for Chicago mayor in a town of 2.6 million residents, and at one point had 18 vacancies for the position of ward committeeman within his organization.
During the 2016 presidential primary, Boulton endorsed Never Trumper John Kasich, writing in a Facebook post,
“Kasich is the very successful and popular Governor of a major American state with excellent experience as a chief executive in government, but Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are not. I also have gained the distinct impression that when it is required, John Kasich can be as tough as nails. You don’t reach the heights he has by being a milquetoast. He’s just not a screamer, or a divider by his noise. Successful Presidents have not needed to be loud. He also strikes me as a leader who looks at the whole picture, not just the partisan sections. I understand and admire the passion, but we need some common sense now. I’m voting for John Kasich.”
In March of 2016, Boulton went so far as to suggest that presidential candidate Donald Trump sounded a lot like Adolf Hitler, writing,
“This Trump oath thing has even me freaked out a bit in its echoes of Hitler, who made the entire German Army officer corps swear an oath to be personally loyal to him. Way too far, Your Narcissism, way too far. This is America. Vote Kasich.”
A year before that, in December of 2015, Boulton expressed his frustrations of having Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as the only two options to choose from, writing,
“I’m distressed in this election because our system has failed to give us reasonable, powerful candidates. I think our political structure is bankrupt, if all it can offer us is Trump vs. Hillary. Both are fundamentally flawed.”
Boulton had been trying to hang onto his position as chairman, but the pressure was mounting – and by late Monday morning, he informed the organization that he was stepping down.
