By Illinois Review
Embattled IL GOP chair Don Tracy is using the few allies he has left to fight back against the tsunami wave of support from the grassroots, who are calling for his resignation following embarrassing losses during the midterm election and new revelations that his family-owned business, Dot Foods, where he is an owner, donated to Joe Biden in 2020 during the height of the pandemic and lockdowns.
As the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board pointed out in a Nov. 11 editorial,
“Republicans lost every state constitutional office – governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer – and 14 of 17 congressional seats. In the General Assembly, not only did the GOP fail to gain any ground on Democrats’ supermajority, Democrats notched a record number of seats in the Illinois House. And in the Illinois Supreme Court, where Republicans had an opportunity to gain two seats…they came up short. Democrats now have a comfortable 5-2 edge in the state’s high court.”
In a Facebook post on Tuesday evening, GOP national committeemen and co-chairman of the Richard Irvin for governor campaign, Richard Porter defended Tracy, writing, “Don Tracy in particular made strides in building our party since he took over in 2021.”
Porter also highlighted Tracy’s ability to fundraise – a point that the establishment loves making.
However, as reported in a previous article titled, “IL GOP Establishment to Grassroots: Only Rich, Donor Voices Matter, the GOP measures the quality of a Republican only by how much money they donate or raise. Leslie Munger, a GOP establishment and two-time failed candidate who’s never won an election makes this point clear in a comment on the Illinois Review website, writing:
“I’m struck by the number of people who have never run for office, never run a campaign, never canvassed thousands of doors, never raised millions of dollars to support Republican political efforts, and/or never contributed substantial funds to the ILGOP or a specific candidate are now the loudest voices complaining about the results of this election.”
Munger then finished her sentence with,
“I have done all of the above.”
But Porter wasn’t finished praising Tracy, saying,
“No one wants to win more than me. And if I thought for a second that firing Don would open the door to victory, I would fire his a** in a NY minute. Instead, every time I speak to or see Don, I say “thanks for what you’re doing!”
But Porter saved his best for last, writing that “the biggest problem confronting our party now is divisiveness.”
Porter goes on to say, “We have all sorts of otherwise good people that spend more energy attacking other Republicans than they do trying to persuade Independents and Democrats to vote for us.”
But Porter forgets the divisiveness of the Richard Irvin for governor campaign, where he served as an advisor and co-chairman.
Not only was Irvin a Democrat running for governor as a Republican, but he also supported JB Pritzker, and spent years praising him.
Irvin also spent a great deal of time attacking fellow Republicans, including Republican grassroots candidate Darren Bailey.
“Darren Bailey’s candidacy is so weak, he needs JB Pritzker to do his dirty work,” said the Irvin campaign.
“A vote for Darren Bailey is a vote for JB Pritzker,” said Irvin in another interview.
Irvin even attacked GOP candidate for governor Jesse Sullivan’s civilian service in Afghanistan, leading veterans to respond by calling Irvin’s comments a “disgrace.”
In the end, Porter and his candidate Irvin would lose the primary badly — blowing $50 million and losing to Bailey by 42 points.
But the grassroots, conservative base of the Republican party shouldn’t be surprised with the establishment supporting the Irvin campaign, and why they’re fighting back so hard to protect Tracy. After all, consider the following:
Richard Irvin pulled Democratic ballots in 2014, 2016 and in 2020 — and spoke at a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020, yelling, “I can’t breathe!”
Don Tracy ran as a Democrat in 2002, and his family-owned business, where he is an owner, donated to Joe Biden in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.
And Richard Porter is a senior partner at Kirkland & Ellis, a large Chicago law firm that represents Pritzker family interests, including Pritzker Private Capital.
No wonder Republicans can’t win in Illinois – there are too many connections to Democrats.
The next State Central Committee meeting is December 10th at 10:00 am at the Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook where grassroots activists are encouraged to attend and speak.
