* We talked about this yesterday, but here’s the Tribune’s story…

Republican governor challenger Jeanne Ives abruptly canceled a Thursday night fundraising speech by an internet commentator who has said he believes African-Americans are intellectually inferior to whites and that correlates to higher poverty and crime among blacks.

The move by Ives to pull Bill Whittle from his role as keynote speaker came just hours before her event at Bull Valley Country Club in McHenry County, coming on the first day of Black History Month. It also came after some of Ives’ legislative colleagues, including Senate GOP leader Bill Brady, urged her to cancel Whittle’s appearance or the fundraiser itself.

Ouch.

* There was also some oppo going around today about a January 25th Ives campaign Facebook post that lists her county coordinators. Ives’ Macoupin County coordinator is none other than Christopher Hicks. Remember him?…

No charges have resulted, but Illinois State Police interviewed legislative candidate Christopher Hicks after he made what was reported as an “aggressive” statement at the Litchfield office of state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond.

According to the police report, Hicks told a legislative aide to Bourne that he would be “coming for blood and vengeance” if Bourne did not co-sponsor a bill about parental rights.

And…

But in an email to me about the situation, Hicks also wrote this: “Joe Woodward and the HRO are trying to run the Republican Party like a Nazi cult. If Avery Bourne does not disassociate herself from the HRO and Joe Woodward this election, she might as well start wearing the HRO swastika on her sleeve.”

A Google search of Hicks’ e-mail address produced a result on one of Ives’ campaign pages, but he’s no longer listed on that page.

I asked Ives’ campaign whether Hicks was still with the campaign or if he was removed, or if he had resigned. Here’s the only response I received…

Hi Rich - There was nothing to resign from he was a volunteer helping to arrange an event.

I followed up, but haven’t yet heard back.

…Adding… From the Ives campaign…

He is one of more than one thousand campaign volunteers. The article you sent to make us aware of his previous mistake includes him acknowledging the mistake and being “extremely apologetic” for it, which was appropriate based on the account of his reported comments. And that is the end of story.

Best,

Kathleen

But is he still with the campaign? I’ll let you know.

* Anyway, if you scroll down in that Ives Tribune story you’ll see this…

Controversies about race have swirled around Republicans nationally and in Illinois — including Ives, a three-term state representative from Wheaton, who is challenging first-term Gov. Bruce Rauner in the March 20 primary.

On Wednesday, Rauner’s handpicked state Lottery Control Board chairman resigned after it came out that he had used the term “sh*thole” on social media last month to describe Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s hometown of East St. Louis, which is heavily African-American. President Donald Trump had used the term to describe African nations in a closed-door discussion on immigration last month, a meeting Durbin attended.

On Thursday, the state GOP said the lottery board chairman, Blair Garber of Evanston, also had resigned as a member of the Republican State Central Committee. [Emphasis added.]

I was told by the state party yesterday that they had no details on the process or timeline of his replacement.

* And since we’re talking about Garber again, this press release from yesterday is relevant…

A member of the Illinois Lottery Control Board appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner resigned yesterday after controversial social media posts about East St. Louis were made public.

State Senator James F. Clayborne, Jr. (D-Belleville) issued the following statement:

“I am thankful that the governor understood the seriousness of these comments and I appreciate his quick and decisive actions. It is my hope that we can move forward and find areas of common ground that benefit the entire Metro-East community.”

Clayborne is the Senate’s Majority Leader and represents East St. Louis.

* Related…

* Jeanne Ives Dis-invites Controversial Commentator From Fundraiser

* East St. Louis residents react to tweet posted by Illinois official: Sen. Durbin released a brief statement saying he’s proud to be from East St. Louis and Garber’s resignation was the right thing to do.