BURR RIDGE – Will Democrat Dick Durbin have a GOP challenger in 2020?
The IL GOP has been hushed on the topic thus far this cycle – leading all concerned to believe the Republican hierarchy hasn't been successful in wooing a credible candidate into the race. That inactivity has emboldened Dick Durbin to become more and more radical in his Leftist stands as the US Senate Minority Whip – second only to New York's Chuck Schumer in Senate Democrat political power.
So, the apparent inactivity of the IL GOP to begin a buzz about a viable Durbin challenger is leaving the door wide open for unknowns and perennial political gadflies to step into the limelight – such as Dr. Robert Marshall from Burr Ridge, Illinois.
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Marshall has run for office as a Democrat, a Libertarian and now he's running for US Senate as a Republican. He first ran for state rep in 1988 as a Republican, then for state senator in 1992. Never able to raise any funds other than his own which he loaned to his campaign, Marshall ran for US Congress in 1998 as a Republican before running for U.S. Senate in 2010 as a Democrat.
In 2016, Marshall ran in the Democrat primary against Amanda Howland, who went on to lose to then-GOP Congressman Peter Roskam. Then Dr. Marshall came in last place among six candidates in the 2018 Democrat gubernatorial primary that JB Pritzker won. One of Dr. Marshall's key issues that cycle was agreeing with Pritzker to legalize recreational marijuana in Illinois.
But now Marshall says he's the "right choice for conservatives."
Dr. Robert Marshall is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who believes that government should work for the people, not the powerful. He is a Vietnam veteran and Harvard educated radiologist who has dedicated his life to serving his community. Dr. Marshall will be a tireless advocate for health care reform, responsible environmental policy and the middle class if he is elected to serve as a U.S. Senator.
Marshall will appeal to those frustrated conservative downstaters that want to split the state up, however. As a Democrat, he said he wanted to divide Illinois as seen in this video below during an appearance on Chicago's WTTW in 2017.
