* Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar announced in 2016 that he wasn’t voting for Donald Trump….
Former Illinois governor Jim Edgar turning heads after making a somewhat shocking announcement Tuesday.
“I’ve always voted for the Republican candidate. This will be the first time I will not vote for the Republican candidate for president. And I say that, it kind of bothers me as a Republican, but the presidency is too important to let a partisan identification to keep you from making the correct vote,” said Edgar.
* Edgar said he’d vote for Joe Biden in 2020…
Former GOP Gov. Jim Edgar said Monday that he is voting for Democrat Joe Biden for president this year.
“The biggest thing … was the issue of character,” Edgar said in an interview. “I just think Joe Biden is a very decent person.”
And he said that while he thought GOP President Donald Trump “might grow into the job” after the 2016 campaign, “I don’t think he’s done that.”
“I have been very disappointed,” Edgar said. “We’ve had chaos for four years we didn’t need to have. I mean, there’s always going to be some turmoil, but he stirs it up. He bullies. You can’t believe what he says because he’ll do the different thing the next day. … He’s bungled the virus, there’s no doubt about that. He continued to stir up division in the country, (when) a president should be trying to bring people together. I mean, the list goes on and on.”
* Two weeks ago…
Former two-term Republican Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar points out that state Republicans are losing elections and influence as the party follows Trump to the right.
“In Illinois, it hurts us to have a party that really is pretty much controlled by a faction that doesn’t appeal to the majority in the state,” he said.
* So, it should be no surprise that he’s voting for Kamala Harris this year…
…Adding… From Personal PAC…
Leading abortion advocacy organizations urged Vice President Kamala Harris to choose Gov. Pritzker as her running mate in her 2024 presidential campaign in a letter sent Wednesday night.
The letter, signed by Personal PAC CEO Sarah Garza Resnick and Men4Choice Advocacy Executive Director and Founder Oren Jacobson, highlights Pritzker’s work as a champion for abortion access, and says a Harris-Pritzker ticket would be a “force to be reckoned with.”
The full letter is here.
- OneMan - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 12:35 pm:
Trump is the antithesis of every Republican governor from Illinois before Rauner.
- H-W - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 12:37 pm:
When I first moved to Illinois in 1995, I was surprised to find a moderate republican governor. I came from the South, where republicans were supposed to be arch-conservatives (Virginia, NC, and SC). Then I noticed a conservative democrat named Glen Poshard. I truly thought Illinois was backwards at first.
I am glad we straightened that out later. As an aside, I also met Mr. Edgar at the state fair once. He seemed a very nice and genuinely warm person.
- Steve - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 12:42 pm:
Sweet, the only republican governor I ever voted for (v Hartigan)
- Annonin' - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 12:57 pm:
Maybe he and Kathy Salvi can get together after the GOPies get buried in November and chart a path for the reasonable. But then that might be too soon.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:01 pm:
I always liked Edgar, I talked to him a couple of times and he always struck me as a decent person.
One that that struck me about presidents is how they treated one another as part of the former presidents “club”. It seemed that no matter what the policy differences were they always were very cordial and even warm with one another. In my lifetime trump is the one exception to that. It says something to me.
- Annon - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:10 pm:
Appealing to the majority is only important if your goal is winning elections.
- TJ - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:22 pm:
It sure does seem like the only Republicans that have the courage to stand up and say that they don’t like Trump are the ones that aren’t running for any kind of office, with only fleeting counter examples against.
Gee, I wonder why….?
Note, this is not a knock against Edgar, but a knock against Trump’s many, many, many elected enablers.
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:27 pm:
===Sweet, the only republican governor I ever voted for (v Hartigan)
Same.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:32 pm:
Could be that Darren Bailey is suffering from “the vapors” since former Gov. Edgar announced that he is voting for VP Harris? From the article, former Gov.Edgar states that the GOP are losing elections following Trump. Darren, are you listening?
- Gravitas - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:47 pm:
So Edgar is fine voting for candidates who stayed in the basement rather than hitting the campaign trail, never received a single delegate in the primaries, and routinely decline to hold press conferences. Edgar ought to be seated with Kinzinger and Cheney.
- An Idea - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:49 pm:
In other news, water is wet…
- levivotedforjudy - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 1:56 pm:
If you have a sense of who Jim Edgar is and what he believes in, you would know this is not a surprise.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 2:10 pm:
Jim Edgar put principle before party…like every other truly patriotic American.
- Dotnonymous x - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 2:32 pm:
- Edgar ought to be seated with Kinzinger and Cheney. -
At least Edgar would be in the company of actual Republicans who support freedom and democracy.
- Dirty Red - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 2:37 pm:
= Edgar ought to be seated with Kinzinger and Cheney. =
In some ways, he is. Like them, Edgar would have a terrible time winning an Illinois Republican primary. It’s not impossible, but it would be an uphill climb. Even still, anyone still unable to grasp what Kinzinger was doing five years ago through today have put partisan victory before principle. That wing of the party got another taste yesterday at the NABJ conference of where that leads.
I’m with Edgar.
- Bruce( no not him) - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 2:52 pm:
For the third time, I as well, will not be voting for trump.
- Norseman - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 2:56 pm:
Edgar = decency and integrity.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 3:02 pm:
=voting for candidates who stayed in the basement rather than hitting the campaign trail=
LOl. So you are fine voting for convicted felon (and the list of disqualifications goes on and on)? Lol.
- A Tree Falling in a Forest - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 4:13 pm:
1998 called. It wants it’s Illinois general election endorsement value back.
- illinifan - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 4:20 pm:
Makes me like Edgar more. Now more Republicans need to continue to stand up and begin to take back the party from the Trumplicans.
- Original Rambler - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 4:35 pm:
Reading Gravitas post (how could KH have received delegate votes when not on the ballot or a candidate at the time), so many of these MAGA-ites are ignorant of how party candidates had been selected for offices for most of the last 235 years.
- Captain Obvious - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 8:58 pm:
Who cares who Jim Edgar is voting for. He has not been relevant for 20 years.
- former Edgar Staffer - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 9:05 pm:
I liked Edgar better when he was a Republican.
- Give Us Barabbas - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 9:21 pm:
Edgar is from the Eisenhower Republican mold, I know a small number of Republicans like him and can be friends and colleagues with them based on shared values and legitimate mutual respect and trust.
But that’s not his party anymore. It’s my hope Trump gets defeated soundly enough that the extremists running the party fall away. But are there enough of the Eisenhower type around to rebuild the party? I think they’ve aged-out and I don’t see many like them coming up .
- low level - Thursday, Aug 1, 24 @ 10:50 pm:
== I liked Edgar better when he was a Republican==
Oh. Thanks for sharing.
- The Dude - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 5:11 am:
Edgar is far from high ranking.
And voting for Harris just set his legacy in the party.
- Proud Papa Bear - Friday, Aug 2, 24 @ 9:10 am:
“ Edgar is far from high ranking.”
Perhaps, but he’s the only Republican governor in +30 years who didn’t end up in prison or purposely try to bankrupt the state.
- RealReublican - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:07 pm:
Edgar is the Father of the pension mess in Illinois. We can all thank him for that. His recent comment about the upcoming election does not surprise me. His actions and behavior are not reflective of high intellect.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 3:45 pm:
===Edgar is the Father of the pension mess in Illinois===
The pensions have been a problem for a century. He put us on a path to pay off the debt. Not the greatest path, of course, but it was a path that nobody else created.
So, go take a nap or something.