By Illinois Review
Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy defines the phrase, “oxymoron.”
In 2002, Tracy ran in the Illinois primary for the 50th State Senate District as a Democrat.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Tracy’s family-owned business, Dot Foods – where he is an owner, donated to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
And recent revelations uncovered by Illinois Review reveal that on September 4, 2020 – just months before his election as chair of the Illinois Republican Party, Tracy made a personal donation to Citizens for Judge Emily Sutton – a Democrat running for Circuit Court Judge in the 9th Judicial Circuit of Illinois.
And in 2014, during an interview with Illinois political reporter Bernard Schoeburg, Tracy admits that he’s actually more of an “Independent” in his political views, and when reflecting on his 2002 state senate campaign, he said,
“I thought I could be more independent as a Democrat in a county where the Democrat Party was weak.”
In other words, he’s a political opportunist, and he is not guided by principles, but by whatever is convenient and offers him the most influence.
And Tracy’s actions and history proves this point.
And as candidates prepare for municipal elections on April 4th, the Democratic Party of Illinois is hard at work, supporting school board candidates and allocating funding and resources to their campaigns.
In total, the Democratic Party of Illinois is spending $800,000 towards not only supporting candidates, but they are also funding a campaign that targets and attacks their conservative opponents – every day moms and dads – and especially single moms, who are running for a seat on their local school board.
And just recently, the Democratic Party of Illinois reported a $500,000 contribution from the JB for Governor campaign, in an effort to boost a liberal extremist agenda that promotes inappropriate sexual education curriculum and divisive concepts that only deepen the racial divides in our country.
Last month, Gov. Pritzker went on the attack during a press conference, spewing lies from a taxpayer-funded podium and calling Illinois-based conservative grassroots organizations that recruit and support local school board candidates’ “racists” and “anti-LGBTQ.”
On March 23rd, the Democratic Party of Illinois announced on their website, an electoral program for municipal races across the state.
“This unprecedented plan will include mail and digital advertising sent to a base of Democratic voters in target districts, reaching hundreds of thousands of individuals and households in Illinois. The paid communications program will highlight extremists on the ballot, support credible community advocates that DPI recommends, and direct voters to DefendOurSchoolsIL.com, where they can find additional information about races in their districts.
In addition, the Party is supporting direct voter contact efforts through consultation and candidate training led by DPI’s Regional Political Organizers. DPI will invest nearly $300,000 statewide to support recommended candidates and expose fringe candidates.”
Where’s Tracy and the leaders of the Republican Party of Illinois?
They are silent, and nowhere to be found.
A quick glance at the Republican Party of Illinois website, and you’ll find headlines targeting President Joe Biden and an offer to add your name to the IL GOP database by clicking on “Join the Fight to Help Rebuild Illinois.”
Not a single post or headline mentions the municipal races, or what the party is doing to support school board candidates and defend them from the attacks being leveled by Gov. Pritzker and the Democratic Party of Illinois.
The Democratic Party of Illinois website, on the other hand, is professional and easier to navigate, and they even have a section where visitors can “Register to Vote.”
The website even talks about the upcoming school board elections.
Scroll through the IL Republican Party Twitter feed, and the only posts you’ll find mentioning the upcoming school board elections is a tweet about early voting and finding your polling location.
A quick glance at the Democratic Party of Illinois’ Twitter feed, and unlike the IL GOP account, you’ll find numerous posts about the upcoming school board races.
Tracy and the Republican Party of Illinois are an embarrassment to every Republican in Illinois and they are guilty of political malpractice for abandoning candidates in the upcoming school board elections.
It’s no wonder why Republicans always lose in Illinois – and like Tracy, some are actually Democrats pretending to be Republicans.
It’s time for Don Tracy to go – and his dereliction of duty this election cycle is further proof.
