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* Bernie…
Kent Gray, a lawyer and elected member of the Lincoln Land Community College Board, has been named Illinois campaign director for the presidential campaign of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
A news release from the Trump campaign said that Gray, in a 25-year career, has worked on seven national presidential campaigns and many state and local races. As an attorney, Gray has handled ballot access issues for dozens of candidates for offices from president of the country to local school boards.
Gray, 45, lives in Leland Grove. He lost a 2014 GOP primary for circuit judge.
* Several top Illinois Republicans have been gloating lately about how Trump didn’t have an Illinois presence and how he might not get onto the ballot…
“I don’t know that Trump gets on the Illinois ballot,” warns Republican strategist and former Illinois GOP chair Pat Brady. Absent a significant organization, you’re just not going to get it done in this state.” Brady is backing Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. But other top Illinois Republicans are making similar predictions.
IL GOP PARTY CHAIR HAS NO TRUMP CONTACTS: Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider, who is remaining neutral, tells POLITICO that while potential delegates for Bush, Kasich and Rubio have called the state’s GOP HQ raising their hands for those campaigns. “I can’t tell you we know right now, who to contact if someone wants to be a Trump delegate … I’m not sure the Trump campaign understands the complexity of having delegates in every congressional district.” Petitions start circulating Oct. 3 and candidates have until January to get them in. […]
QUOTABLE: “He asked all the usual suspects. They all turned him down.” — Pat Brady on Trump’s attempt to drop roots in Illinois.
* Petition circulation started yesterday. This is not going to be an easy task for Gray because the Trump campaign is so far behind. Even so, he has until early January to find delegates in every district and get their signatures turned in.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:01 am
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The Trump campaign must not do background checks.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:12 am
Kent, I hope you’re doing this for money. A lot of money. Trump is a joke. Electing him to be President would be the nation’s version of Minnesota’s Jesse Ventura. I can understand money, but not an acolyte of his beliefs.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:15 am
“YOU’RE HIRED!”
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:38 am
Good news. Once again Pat Brady doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I see Trump doing very well in Illinois.
God Speed Mr. Gray. The negativity you hear is directly proportional to the level of fear the snoozer candidates have for your employer.
Comment by too obvious Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:49 am
Trump is America’s version of Silvo Berlusconi!
Comment by D.P.Gumby Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:50 am
I absolutely hate the delegate process. It needs to be abolished.
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 10:54 am
Good for you Kent Gray. Not everyone entitled to an opinion is a member of the GOP establishment. The same establishment that will try to push you out of the loop should Trump win the primary.
Comment by Not A Member of the Country Club Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:02 am
Kent is probably a good choice given the circumstances. He knows enough of the party activist base from his statewide advance work and the legal issues are not all that different. The struggle is going to be selecting the slates for each district. Trump (through Gray) has legal control over who can file as Trump delegate candidates, and he has to select a group for each district. From what I see of these folks on television, Kent is going to have some pretty unruly folks demanding to be selected. Normally these to me are vetted before selection, but they probably don’t have time. Finally the GOP campaigns have been filing objections against each other these last few cycles. Good luck, Kent. Better get a $100K retainer on this
Comment by Chad Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:05 am
Kent Gray is foolish to fall for this. Regardless of the promise, there is no way Trump gives him a spot on his next reality TV show.Kent should know better.
Comment by Lil Squeezy Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:08 am
Mr Gray,
Get the money up front.
In cash.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:10 am
Where’s munger’s seat at the table?
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:10 am
After seeing the fiascos in Illinois and in Tennessee, I believe millionaires should stick with raking in profits and let running governments to people who understand the differences between business and government.
If Trump is like Rauner, isn’t Obama like Quinn?
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:14 am
I bet if Trump took the fortune he inherited from his father, invested it in a simple index fund, that he’d have more money today than from all his business ventures combined.
Comment by nixit71 Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:15 am
nixit, I read almost the same claim in the Economist last week.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:17 am
Ask Bob Dole what it’s like to fall through a railing for one of Kent’s “advance” jobs.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:35 am
I’m hoping Mr. Gray can make Trump honest.
Comment by Mama Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:38 am
Finally, some good news on the Trump front! Total snark and sarcasm intended
Comment by Drivin' Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 11:45 am
nix, you have got to be kidding me. Even without the Donald’s aggressive valuation of his assets, he is a multi-billionaire by most accounts. He inherited $20m ballpark in assets from his dad 30-35 years ago. At 10% growth per year, the index fund is worth around $650-700m after 35 years. Not even close.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 12:00 pm
Improving the Illinois economy … one job at a time.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 12:03 pm
Alternate headline: Trump finds chump.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 12:30 pm
Thanks AA, Nix must have been in charge of the state fair attendance counts prior to this year.
Comment by anon Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 1:10 pm
Arthur Anderson, nixit71 is probably closer to being correct than you. Trump inherited double what you claim ($40 million) in 1974 (40 years ago, not 30). I’ve read from reliable sources that his estimated worth would probably be between $2.5-3.5 billion had he simply invested that money in the S&P500 40 years ago. It’s hard to truly estimate with all of the moving variables, but it’d be a heck of a lot more than your $650 million claim.
Comment by Moby Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 1:33 pm
We don’t know what Trump inherited. We do know that MrJM gave some solid advice.It was a very bad decesion if Gray didn’t get enough money upfront to make this worth his time
Comment by Lil Squeezy Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 1:46 pm
Lil Squeezy what Republican do you see beating Trump exactly?
Or maybe I’m missing how the dynamic duo of Ron Gidwitz and Jim Edgar is creating all that excitement for Jeb!
When Kent Gray gets a big job in the Trump Administration you’ll all be eating crow. A Trump win is looking more probable all the time.
Comment by too obvious Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 2:07 pm
Moby, put down the Kool-Aid. With your revised information, the hypothetical index fund number tops out around $2b. Way short of his current position.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 2:41 pm
Too obvious,
Appreciated your take on this.
Will we have to experience the establishment rolling out Jim Edgar (again) on the tube telling us how to vote?
It hasn’t worked the last four times it was attempted.
Comment by Not A Member of the Country Club Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 3:47 pm
Having resources can solve a lot of problems. Like him or not, Trump will be on the ballot statewide. Once he is, he’ll likely tell the nation how corrupt and crazy our state is with regards to getting on the ballot. In this one instance, we’ll just have to sit back and take it. Our system for being on a presidential ballot is purely idiotic.
BTW, he’s not my guy.
Comment by A guy Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 4:15 pm
== the hypothetical index fund number tops out around $2b. Way short of his current position.==
Not really, Bloomberg pegged Trump’s worth at $2.9 billion, right in moby’s range.
Comment by Arsenal Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 4:17 pm
Well this is embarassing to LLCC.
Comment by Dr. X Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 4:28 pm
Trump has MANY supporters here in McLean county and stands to do very well in the IL GOP primary despite what the state GOP “establishment” thinks.
Comment by Mcleaniac Friday, Oct 9, 15 @ 4:53 pm