By Illinois Review
The Illinois Republican Party is once again proving that corruption in Springfield is not confined to Democrats. As conservative voters demand accountability and transparency, party insiders are quietly abusing nonprofit privileges to protect failed incumbents and crush grassroots challengers.
This time, the beneficiary is State Rep. Norine Hammond, a career politician facing a serious primary challenge from Josh Higgins, a conservative, pro-Trump grassroots candidate and U.S. Air Force veteran.
Rather than allow a fair contest, the state party is accused of illegally using its nonprofit postage discount to influence a contested Republican primary – a direct violation of federal postal regulations.
The Illinois GOP is registered as a not-for-profit organization, giving it access to discounted USPS mailing rates. Those discounts are strictly limited to neutral party communications. They cannot be used to aid or attack candidates in contested primaries.
At least one mailer sent in connection with Hammond’s campaign includes the disclaimer, “Paid for by the Illinois Republican Party,” indicating the state party’s direct financial involvement in the race.
Yet multiple Illinois Review investigations have documented the party repeatedly “weaponizing” this discount to protect insiders and target conservative challengers.
Behind the scenes, the hypocrisy runs even deeper.
During the April 2023 election cycle, the Illinois Republican Party publicly claimed neutrality – issuing only two generic “go vote” social media posts. But Illinois Review previously reported that while then Chairman Don Tracy insisted the party would stay out of the election, his general counsel and top advisor was actively working as a paid legal advisor to an anti-grassroots slate of candidates – and approving mailers using the IL GOP postage discount.
That advisor, John Fogarty, remained on the state party payroll while simultaneously advising anti-grassroots candidate slates during the same election cycle.In other words, the party publicly claimed neutrality while privately engaging in internal primary activity.
This pattern is nothing new.
During the 2022 primary, senior IL GOP officials openly backed establishment candidate Richard Irvin – a politician who pulled Democratic primary ballots in 2014, 2016, and 2020 – while working to undermine grassroots conservatives.
In the general election, the party effectively abandoned the grassroots-preferred nominees for governor and attorney general, even omitting them from social media posts except for perfunctory congratulations.
The message became unmistakable at the December 2022 Republican State Central Committee meeting, where more than 200 grassroots activists were shown that “only rich, donor voices matter.”
Now that same leadership is circling the wagons around Norine Hammond – a lawmaker who earned an “F” grade from CPAC, sided with Democrats to expand transgender patient rights, and became embroiled in “Pillowgate,” where her own company received taxpayer money to decorate her taxpayer-funded Capitol office.
Hammond even skipped a local candidate meet-and-greet to collect checks from liberal-aligned interest groups – yet party insiders are still willing to bend or break the law to protect her.
The Illinois GOP has faced similar scrutiny before. In 1993, the party was required to reimburse the U.S. Postal Service more than $100,000 for improperly using bulk mailing permits during previous election cycles.
The renewed allegations raise fresh questions about the state party’s compliance with federal postal regulations and its role in contested primary elections. Party officials have not publicly addressed whether discounted postage has been used in current primaries or whether any internal review is underway.
As the primary election approaches, the issue is expected to draw increased attention from grassroots activists and voters who have raised concerns about transparency, neutrality, and adherence to the law within party leadership.
