By Illinois Review
On Thursday, Illinois House and Senate Democrats – who maintain supermajority control in Springfield, passed a bill in less than 24 hours that protects incumbents – giving Democrats a significant advantage going into the November election as Republicans continue to feel the pain as the party in the superminority.
The bill, which was rushed through the Democratic-led legislature in record time and without any consultation with the party in the superminority, prohibits local party organizations from appointing a candidate to the ballot if they failed to identify a candidate to run in that primary. For years, Republicans have struggled to recruit candidates to run in primary elections – and this new bill – which Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to sign, eliminates any backup plans that local party officials may have had to get names on the ballot – even if they are appointed.
During the March primary election, Illinois Senate Republican leaders couldn’t find a single candidate to run in 8 districts – leaving Democratic incumbents running for re-election without a single Republican challenger. In the House, Republican leaders left 42 Democrats to run unopposed – as IL GOP leaders failed to find 50 candidates to challenge the party in the supermajority during this upcoming November general election.
After the primary election, embattled IL GOP chairman Don Tracy promised voters Republican victories in November – especially in the legislature, despite failing to run 50 candidates – saying Illinois Republicans will “secure victories in the Statehouse to bring Governor Pritzker to the negotiating table to rework his radical agenda. It’s time for Republicans to unify and move forward to build a brighter future for Illinois. Onward to November!”
As this publication has previously reported, Illinois Democrats also have a major cash advantage, outraising Republicans by $33 million as both parties prepare for the November election. As the financials reveal, Democrat House Speaker Chris Welch has a reported $8.1 million in his account while McCombie is reporting just $1.1 million. Democrats for the Illinois House also report $1.5 million cash-on-hand while the House Republican Organization reports just $632,412. And the Illinois Senate Democratic Fund is reporting $2.7 million in cash while the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee has just $94,439.
The Illinois Republican Party has struggled under Don Tracy’s leadership as Democrats continue to expand their supermajority control in Springfield. Fundraising has also been an issue for Tracy, forcing him to essentially self-finance the state party, as disclosures have revealed. And despite a tsunami wave of support from the powerful grassroots base of the party calling for his resignation and removal as chairman – state party officials continue to express their support in his leadership – believing that he’s the right man to lead the Illinois Republican party out of the wilderness. But after two years, results show he’s only led them deeper into the wilderness – and not out of it, as many have hoped.
The November election is November 5.
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