WASHINGTON DC – Illinois' Governor Bruce Rauner's refusal to be anywhere near Donald Trump is raising Republican eyebrows downstate, where Trump handily won once-Democrat strongholds.
The Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet reported Illinois' Republican governor's confusing behavior while in D.C. over the weekend. He went to D.C., dissed the bi-partisan National Governor's Association conference, only to attend the Republican Governors Association meetings and dinner keynoted by Vice President Mike Pence.
But Governor Rauner evidently didn't find it necessary or beneficial for his 2018 re-election efforts to attend President Trump's governor's ball at the White House Sunday night – another public diss of the president.
Rauner never endorsed Donald Trump for president and has publicly disagreed with the President's travel ban and his offer to bring federal troops to violence-ridden Chicago.
Governor Rauner's actions were noticed by former Macoupin County's GOP Chairman Terri Koyne, who said Rauner not attending the White House event was disrespectful, but not surprising.
"Trump won Illinois in the Primary election – the Republican voters spoke," she told Illinois Review. "If Rauner chooses to disrespect the voters, that is his choice."
In Koyne's Macoupin County, more votes were cast for Trump in the General Election than any other presidential candidate – Republican or Democrat – in decades.
"It seems by his actions that counties like mine don't matter to the governor in his re-election strategy," Koyne said. "It will be interesting to see if Rauner can help the lower offices in their races in Central/Southern Illinois in the next election as much as Trump did in this past election."
To be noted, those statewide races in November where GOP candidates were more closely aligned with Rauner than Trump didn't turn out so well.
Chicago Tribune map of Illinois counties in 2016 election:
Shame on our Republican Governor. Even Democrat Governors had the respect to attend this important event. I hope he is not counting on conservative grassroots to help him in the future. Rauner has now joined the list of weasel GOP politicians who are spineless and on the wrong side of history. Government needs a reminder they work for the People and not for their careers and donors.
Rauner’s refusal to attend the Governors’ event with Trump
doesn’t sit well with me either. Rauner shows up here from time-to-time. He WILL hear about it from me.
So, he forfeits any influence he may have in Washington during a Republican administration. This guy really is going to raise taxes. He’s a goner. Done. Finished. Illinois is a broke mess. Downstaters have to look to Washington, as weird as that sounds, for any real conservative leadership.
Bruce Rauner is Pro-Abortion, Pro-Immigration, and he’s ANTI-TRUMP. Governor Bruce RINO has made no secret of ANY of this, this is just the latest example. Rauner and his bought-and-paid-for State GOP pulled every passive-aggressive trick in the book to undermine the Trump campaign in Illinois last year. We need a REAL Republican Governor in 2018…
In 2014, 40% of the Republican primary vote was outside of Chicagoland. Assuming that future primary electorates looks like this map, I bet that over 60% of the Republican primary vote is downstate now. That’s the base of Rauner’s party, whether he likes it or not and it’s the future of the Illinois Republican Party.
What do Illinois Republicans expect when they elect a lifelong Democrat who never discovered he was a Republican until 2014?
Robert, I think that almost all Republicans are pro-immigration. Some are pro-legal immigration, and some are pro-illegal immigration.
After Trump’s impeachment he’ll be free and clear of that dead weight. smart move. Some of the rats and billionaires under Trump will go down with him. Down the drain.
Bruce Rauner is Pro-Illegal Immigration. Rauner’s done nothing to cut into the tide of illegals attracted to our state. He refuses to do anything on Chicago as a Sanctuary City, and I expect Brucie to hem and haw on the new Sanctuary State bill (like the good Pat Brady-Dan Proft-Mark Kirk RINO that he is).
We need a pro-life challenger to Rauner in the primary for 2018.
I agree 100%
And whose North Shore, lifelong liberal, wife influenced him to appoint mostly leftists to State Commissions?
A deluded Lefty still living in some kind of bizarre parallel universe.
Just how might a minority party in the US Congress effect the impeachment of a US President?
How many of those magic mushrooms has this troll been eating?
Robert, I thought you meant that Rauner is pro-illegal immigration, and I agree. Before the 2014 primary, I read that Rauner liked the law that allows illegal aliens get driver’s licenses.
Rauner is a hard core Democrat and you Republicans were idiots to vote for him. All you did was allow Madigan to hang the yoke of the decline of Illinois on the Republican party’s neck. Rauner never had a chance of outmaneuvering madigan and it was obvious with this failed ballot initiatives before the election. The smart move for Republicans would have been to let the public Democrats hold the office of Governor to hang the State’s decline on the Democrats. Instead, like a bunch of fools you played right into Madigan’s hands.
And now your great Governor disses the greatest President this nation has know in a generation.
It’s gross when $3 billion, and that was a decade ago, of social service spending in Illinois is appropriated on illegal aliens. Are Illinois Republicans that dumb? Like, seriously, how the F do they think illegal aliens are going to vote when they receive all of these programs and are taught that the reason why they’re impoverished is because of ‘discrimination’?
It will be interesting to see if any other Illinois Republican challenges Governor Rauner in the GOP Primary. And if so, which state Republican will have the necessary name recognition and the required political campaign funding to challenge an incumbent with deep-pockets like Bruce Rauner? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Your party, the Democrats, will be down there to greet them, as your political ideology is already in the sewer.
He hasn’t raised taxes, yet. If he raises taxes, I think that even an outspent opponent could beat him.
Not smart of Rauner to make enemies of Trump and his friends when the demos are going to run Robert Kennedy’s son in 18… Rauner going to need every friend he can get.
The Illinois electable idiot RINOs created this whole mess. They pandered, pandered, and pandered hoping that they would win a Latino vote, only to make a mess of this state and darken blue it. The NeverTrumps before Trump was even a thing created the mess.
When Republicans pander and supporting Dems in local nonpartisan elections. The Illinois Republican party lack a clear and deliberate propose in delivering the message of true Republican values, values that are the high ground of the political argument. Things will not change in Illinois until the Republican leadership in Illinois grow a spine and stand united.
Hey comrade? Now that Sessions perjured himself under oath to congress about being contact with Russia? you think there anything going on??
Sessions will at minimum now need to recuse himself and stop protecting comrade Trump, Attorney General who lies under oath for the job should resign. I mean lying under oath is really really bad. Ain’t the right? when if it came Clinton right?
Here a man coverts with Russians and PERJURES himself to congress and it’s a ok with you comrade?
LOL LOL….. drip drip drip drip….. impeachment of the Russian mole is going to happen.