By Illinois Review
On Monday, Illinois Republican State Central Committee member Jeanne Ives – a close ally to embattled IL GOP chairman Don Tracy – went on Facebook to publicly slam her own constituents – the conservative grassroots base of the party – for emailing and asking about an incident that took place during the state convention – angrily posting, “canned emails get a canned response.”
Earlier on Monday, the powerful and influential base of the Republican Party – the grassroots – sent emails to IL GOP leaders including Ives, asking why SSC member Mark Shaw – who was running for national committeeman – was spotted wearing a “delegate” badge during the state convention when he was not an actual delegate. As a delegate, Shaw could vote for himself for national committeeman – a vote that wouldn’t help, as he would lose the election in a landslide to the grassroots-backed candidate Dean White. But growing agitated by the influx of emails concerning Shaw, Ives decided to go on her Facebook page and post a comment that read, “You send a canned email, you get a canned response…at least I replied to your canned email.”
The comment drew an immediate backlash as Republicans fired back calling Ives’ comment “ignorant” and “belittling” to the constituents she’s supposed to represent. In her “canned” reply, Ives stated “Thank you for contacting me. This email is to confirm that I received your input and to let you know that I will look into the matter. Jeanne Ives, IL 3rd SCC.”
Ever since her election to the Republican State Central Committee in 2022, Ives has abandoned her grassroots base for the IL GOP elites – becoming part of the establishment instead of opposing it. Last September, Ives – who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during the 2024 presidential primary – was angry that this publication accurately reported that Donald Trump Jr. ‘s team had turned down requests for her to participate in an event during his visit to the Chicagoland suburbs the following month – went on Facebook attacking the event and falsely alleging that they couldn’t sell tickets. And since that time, her popularity has been in decline, and her radio show, which is streamed live on Facebook, receives very little engagement. On May 26th, her 2-hour show received only five likes and two shares.
A few days ago on her show – just days after a New York City jury convicted President Donald Trump on 36 counts for non-cimes – she spent her time talking to two guests about the Illinois state budget – when she could have spent an entire show talking about the weaponization of the justice system to target President Joe Biden’s political enemy. And how everyday Americans are next. But the radio show host found the time more useful talking about budgetary matters, instead. During that show, she received only two likes and one share – slightly down from the previous week.
Ives remains a close confidant to Naples-based Chicago radio host Dan Proft, who’s dominating Chicago headlines – but not in a good way. In April, Proft appeared before an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing officer, as lawyers discussed whether or not his PAC – People Who Play By The Rules, was illegally coordinating with Darren Bailey’s campaign when he was running for Illinois governor in 2022. Bailey campaign officials, including Bailey – are not friends with Proft, or even acquaintances, but the campaign was in need of money from billionaire Richard Uihlein who was funding Proft’s PAC. PAC’s must remain independent and they cannot coordinate with campaigns that they are supporting financially.
But as it was revealed in April and reported in the Chicago Tribune, just one day after Bailey’s primary election victory, Proft – and at Brian Timpone and Ives’ urging, requested to meet with Bailey and his campaign manager in a backroom of a Chicago Country Club where he slid over an envelope that he said contained $20 million. And like a scene out of a movie, Proft said Bailey could deposit the check if Bailey would hand control of the campaign over to him. As the shocking story continues, Bailey refused to hand the reins over to Proft and offered him an advisory role insead. But Proft declined the offer saying that – as reported by Crain’s – “that Uihlein’s money would follow him” and not Bailey. After being denied, an angry Proft then told Bailey that he needed to fire his entire campaign team and then hurled expletives at Bailey’s campaign manager who was sitting across the table.
On May 10th, a Lake County Judge ordered Illinois-based publishing company Local Government Information Services (LGIS) – a company associated with Proft and his business partner Brian Timpone, to remove sensitive voter data from their websites that was illegally published and included the names and home addresses of police officers, domestic violence and human trafficking victims, by 5:00 pm Monday, May 13th.
Voter data is only available to political organizations like People Who Play By The Rules PAC – and sharing that data with non-political organizations like LGIS and publishing it is against Illinois law. Illinois Attorney General Kwame – just a day before the judge’s ruling, filed a lawsuit against LGIS for illegally publishing the personal information of voters. It still remains unclear how LGIS obtained that voter data, but the violation is a felony.
Proft, Timpone and Ives remain close friends and confidants.
