By Illinois Review
Embattled Illinois House Republican Minority Leader Tony McCombie is acting like a tyrant and punishing conservative House GOP members who remain critical of her and did not attend the swearing-in ceremony at the state capitol where she was lauded as the House GOP leader – threatening to have capitol police remove them from a caucus meeting if they don’t play by her rules.
McCombie, who is facing mounting criticism from Republican voters after her recent vote in favor of expanding transgender patients rights was revealed – has removed constituent services and legislative assistants from five House GOP members who decided to have their own swearing-in ceremony on inauguration day.
The move prohibits elected representatives from providing service to their constituents. The five members affected include State Representatives Chris Miller, Blaine Wilhour, Brad Halbrook, Adam Niemerg and Martin McLaughlin.
The controversy continues – leading up too, and after voting in favor of the bill, McCombie received an influx of campaign donations from a progressive hospital association that’s been advocating for ‘woke’ policies.
Donation records with the state board of election indicate that McCombie accepted $47,500 in campaign donations from the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, which advocates, among other things – improving patient care for transgender and non-binary individuals.
Just recently, former Republican nominee for Illinois Attorney General Thomas DeVore filed a federal lawsuit against McCombie for violating his First Amendment rights after he made “critical comments” of the GOP leader’s vote to support expanding transgender patient rights.
In an exclusive with Politico, DeVore said, “I’ve criticized her decisions as an elected official: Things that she’s doing, things that she’s voting on, people she takes money from. They’re perfectly politically appropriate issues to be debating, and she doesn’t want people to see, so she blocks me from being able to access her platform.”
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that official Facebook pages of public office holders are protected by the First Amendment – and unless the comments are obscene, or present a danger – they cannot be censored, deleted or blocked.
In Chicago, 25th Ward Alderman Jim Gardiner agreed to pay $157,500 in damages to settle a lawsuit filed by individuals whom he had blocked for being critical on his Facebook page. The move was a violation of First Amendment rights and he quickly agreed to settle the case.
Earlier this month, McCombie was sworn in for another term as the representative of the 89th District for the 104th General Assembly, where she continues her role as Minority Leader of the House Republican Caucus.
