By Illinois Review
Illinois House Republican Deputy Minority Leader Norine “No Show” Hammond didn’t just skip a Republican event Tuesday night – she skipped her own hometown.
Hammond was expected to appear at a GOP State Central Committee candidate forum hosted right in her backyard. Local Republicans, activists, and taxpayers filled the room, ready to hear from the leaders asking for their trust. Instead, they got an empty chair.
Meanwhile, candidates Josh Higgins and Bailey Templeton not only attended the forum — they stood before the community, answered every question, and engaged directly with the voters Hammond chose to avoid. Their presence made Hammond’s absence even more glaring.
Attorney Tom DeVore didn’t hold back, saying Hammond “failed to attend the candidate forum in her own county, where 120 concerned Republicans gathered to hear from the candidates,” and instead chose to “hobnob with special-interest groups because if she doesn’t show up for them, she doesn’t get her checks.” DeVore added bluntly, “We have to cut the proverbial head off the snake. She needs to go. She only cares about special interests and not the hardworking Republicans of her district.”
Why did Hammond skip the forum everyone expected her to attend? Because she chose instead to drive 3.5 hours one way to a banquet hosted by groups that bankroll Democratic candidates – including the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150, a major video poker company, and most notably ComEd, the utility giant at the center of the corruption scheme that sent longtime Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan to federal prison.
As DeVore put it: “I hope you are all seeing who Norine Hammond really is.”
For a Republican leader to blow off her own party’s grassroots for a banquet backed by ComEd – the same company whose bribery operation helped Democrats maintain their stranglehold over Illinois politics for decades – left supporters stunned.
Hammond’s decision wasn’t just tone-deaf. It sent a clear message about priorities. At a time when the Illinois GOP is fighting for survival – shrinking legislative numbers, donor revolts, and a base that feels ignored – the Deputy Minority Leader chose to spend her evening with Democrat-aligned power brokers rather than with her own voters.
And this wasn’t some distant event hours away. This was a forum in her own hometown, hosted by people who know her personally, who have supported her for years, and who expected her to show up and answer questions.
Instead, she gave them the political version of a cold shoulder. The irony is impossible to ignore: Republicans across Illinois are working overtime to rebuild credibility after years of Democratic corruption, including the Madigan–ComEd bribery machine that dominated Springfield. Yet one of the GOP’s top leaders spent the night celebrating with the very organizations that fueled that corruption.
This is exactly the kind of behavior that frustrates the Republican grassroots – leaders who talk tough about reform but spend their nights rubbing elbows with the same insiders who created the mess Illinois is in.
And the truth is, this isn’t the first controversy surrounding Norine Hammond. Voters are beginning to see the pattern – the real Norine Hammond: a lawmaker who dodges her own constituents, who appears more comfortable with Democrat-funded interests than with Republican voters, and who has been repeatedly tied to internal scandals, including PillowGate, that raised serious ethical questions and embarrassed the caucus she claims to help lead.
For many Illinois Republicans, Tuesday night was simply confirmation. The mask is slipping. The excuses are wearing thin. And voters across the state – especially in her own backyard – are beginning to see exactly who Norine “No Show” Hammond really is.
