By Illinois Review
On Wednesday evening, the Chicago Republican Party – during a City of Chicago Republican Central Committee meeting – elected retired Chicago Police detective Chuck Hernandez chairman – as the 38th ward committeeman easily defeated his opponent in a landslide.
Hernandez, who retired from the Chicago Police Department in January after a 28-year career, has been an active member of the Northwest Side GOP over the last several years. The club remains one of the most active Republican organizations in the city – and is home to many of the city’s first responders. And in an interview with this publication the morning after his election, Hernandez spoke about his vision for the Chicago GOP.
“I’d like to open the tent wider and get more people in and talk about the issues that matter most to people like inflation, crime and the migrant issue because Mayor Johnson doesn’t know what he’s doing and the city is a mess,” said Hernandez. “We don’t have enough Republicans in the city to win elections but it’s time to start to grow our party because the electorate is looking for answers.”
The married father of three says that he “supports President Donald Trump 100 percent.” In 2019, his daughter was an intern at the White House during the Trump administration, adding, “When President Trump was in office, our economy was flourishing, more jobs were being created and everybody across all demographics were prospering.”
As a family man and “parental rights advocate” who’s “against the indoctrination of our children,” Hernandez is gathering petition signatures to get on the ballot in November as a District 1 school board candidate. In March, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation creating Chicago’s first elected school board.
In late April, Steve Boulton announced in an email to ward committee members that he was not seeking re-election as chairman, and blamed the “far right” for his downfall after this publication published a series of damaging stories including one that revealed that in 2016, he posted a comment on social media where he compared President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
The new Chicago GOP chairman says that he entered the race because he was tired of infighting and he hopes to be a uniter instead of a divider. As a recently retired CPD detective, Hernandez says he has the time to serve as chairman and to grow the party.
