By Illinois Review
At the Illinois State Fair last Thursday, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ted Dabrowski steered clear of President Donald Trump – sticking to a strategy favored by party insiders.
“Illinois’ problems have nothing to do with Donald Trump,” Dabrowski told a Republican crowd at the state fair. “He can’t fix the property taxes. He can’t fix the gas tax. He can’t fix our out-migration. We have to fix it.”
For years, Dabrowski has maintained his distance from Trump, carefully avoiding any hint of an endorsement.
Dabrowski, a close ally of state central committee member Jeanne Ives and Naples-based Chicago radio host Dan Proft, is president of Wirepoints, an organization that offers commentary on Illinois’ finances and economy.
The Wirepoints president frequently appears on Proft and Ives’ radio shows. In March, he joined Ives and former Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau – who lost his re-election bid in a landslide – for a pension-focused town hall.
During the 2024 Republican presidential primary, Pekau endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was trailing former President Trump by more than 30 points, and served as a DeSantis delegate at the Republican National Convention.
As mayor, Pekau frequently attacked his constituents online, harassed female candidates for the Orland Fire District – following them in his car as they campaigned and knocked on doors in local neighborhoods – labeled Chicago firefighters “an embarrassment to their profession,” and even presented a community appreciation award to progressive liberal Marie Newman, who advocated for vaccinating children during the pandemic.
In the same election cycle, Ives also endorsed DeSantis in an interview with Crain’s Chicago, when asked whether she supported Trump or DeSantis for president.
“I’m a DeSantis fan…I like a strong governor with a proven record of accomplishments…Florida has, what, a $21 billion budget surplus…” Ives said.
In 2023, Ives slammed an Illinois book event featuring Donald Trump, Jr., falsely claiming that the event couldn’t sell tickets.
Meanwhile, Wirepoints has seen a steady decline in revenue since 2020. At its peak that year, the organization reported $1.12 million. By 2022, revenue had dropped to $709,000, and in 2023, it fell further to just $294,000. With expenses totaling $688,601 that year, Wirepoints faced a deficit of $394,000.
Dabrowski is now facing DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick in the Republican primary for governor. Additional candidates are expected to file in the coming months.
The primary is scheduled for March 17, 2026.
