* While doing my occasional skim of Politico Illinois today, I noticed this amazing scoop about an Illinois House candidate accused of Holocaust denialism. I sure wish I had written this story first…

HOUSE RACE OUTRAGE: Republican Ed Lapinski, a candidate for the Illinois House in the 56th District, is facing backlash over text messages in which he questioned the Holocaust by referring to “supposed gas chambers.”

Blunt reproach: The Illinois Republican Party issued a sharp rebuke, saying it “unequivocally condemns Ed Lapinski’s offensive and unacceptable comments regarding the Holocaust. The ILGOP was not involved in his recruitment for House District 56. Holocaust deniers and those who trivialize its atrocities have no place in elected office,” according to a statement.

Illinois Policy, a group that had included Lapinski in its bipartisan ballot access program, said it removed him after learning of the language used in the texts.

What’s next: A person familiar with the situation said the GOP asked Lapinski to drop out. Playbook was unable to reach him for comment.

How it came to light: The messages were flagged by Republican activist Julie Cho, who posted them on Facebook and urged Lapinski to withdraw. Cho did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wait. I did write the story first. Thanks for the credit! Oh, wait. There is no credit.

Anyway, I got a good chuckle out of the whole thing. It’s about what I’d expect. And, I brightened my day by listening to one of my favorite Jane’s Addiction songs. So, I should be thankful.

* However, Isabel asked the House Democratic political operation for a response to our story yesterday. They did not respond at all. They also did not respond to my inquiries, but I eventually noticed that they did post something online. Odd. Unlike the Politico thing, I did not laugh about that.