* Rep. Jeanne Ives was interviewed by CLTV’s Paul Lisnek yesterday. Audio clip and transcript were not generated by me…

LISNEK: So is this something the state can and should pay for? Durbin [says] we’re going to get federal money. Is it something where we might get the feds? Some have called on the governor to call Trump and say ‘help us.’

IVES: Well that would be me, because I called on the governor months ago to call Donald Trump and ask for assistance immediately and to have that entire structure torn down and rebuilt, and I’m kind of shocked that he has not done that and made that call yet. Maybe he has and it’s being misreported, but I would certainly reach out to the VA [unintelligible] as well.

LISNEK: Before I leave this topic I just wanted to get your reaction to the Darlene Senger— I know you know her well— but that e-mail. Obviously she never intended that to be public, but nevertheless, ‘Hey maybe we can put this back on Tammy Duckworth,’ who you know is a decorated war veteran, served this country. What was your reaction to that?

IVES: Listen, it’s unfortunate that she would ever try to link this Quinn administration that was years before the Rauner administration. Granted, I will give her this though, that for decades both the Democrats and the Republicans have not set aside money to do the maintenance that is required in many of our areas. In fact, I know we’re $21 billion per year behind on infrastructure improvements and much of that goes to our state facilities. So I think there’s some blame to be shared, but you don’t blame-shift when you had 13 deaths and then you failed to actually move those Veterans out of an unsafe condition. Nobody should be blaming that on anybody but the Rauner administration.

* Meanwhile, from that same interview, here’s Politico…

During an interview with CLTV’s Paul Lisnek on Monday, state Rep. Jeanne Ives went on a tear against Gov. Bruce Rauner and Tim Schneider, the Illinois Republican Party chairman the governor is backing. Ives, who narrowly lost to Rauner in the March primary, is supporting Schneider’s opponent Mark Shaw in a heated fight over the GOP throne.

Among the reasons Ives is backing Shaw: she blames Schneider for the Nazi candidate running as a Republican in Illinois’ 3rd congressional district.

“So he’s alienating the base by propping up Schneider again, and Schneider has failed. Look we have 37 state reps, Democrats, unopposed in this coming up election. It is the party chairman’s responsibility to find opponents. We have an avowed Nazi sitting as a Republican in a congressional race, and that’s wrong too. And then on top of it, the entire emphasis from Tim Schneider and Rauner et al over the last campaign cycle is simply to get Rauner elected, and so much of what they did in terms of data collection and everything else did not support our state reps. We need a whole new vision for our party, and a whole new way to attract voters.”

And then there’s this exchange. Ouch: Lisnek: “If polls look close come November and it looks like Pritzker could pull it out, would that be enough of a scare for you to look at your supporters and say it’s ok, vote Rauner?”

Ives: “I can’t predict what the future’s going to look like, umm, in a few months, so we’ll just see what’s going on.”

*** UPDATE *** DGA, with emphasis added by me…

ILGOP Feud Continues - Ives Says Rauner “Never Actually Heard the Message that Was Sent to Him”

While Governor Bruce Rauner claims he’s “unifying” Republicans, state Representative Jeanne Ives blasted the Governor’s lack of rapprochement with the 48% of Republicans that supported her in the primary. Ives went on CLTV and reiterated that they still, a month and a half later, have not spoken:

Reporter: “The Governor says everything is fine between you and him. Let me get your take. Is it all good?”

Ives: “Listen, I have not spoken with the Governor yet. So, he is doing his thing. And I am continuing to do my thing as a state Representative.”

Rauner’s strategy of ignoring Ives is clearly not working as they continue to fight over the party chairman position and the direction of the Republican Party:

Reporter: “…But isn’t supporting somebody besides Tim Schneider an effort to sort of say we still need to shake things up?”

Ives: “No, it’s actually… Governor Rauner supporting Tim Schneider is basically saying he never actually heard the message that was sent to him on March 20th… So, he’s alienating the base by propping up Schneider again, and Schneider has failed.”

Ives finished the interview by refusing to commit to helping Rauner.

Reporter: “If the polls look close come November, and Pritzker could pull it out - will that be enough of a scare for you to look at your supporters and say it is ok to vote Rauner?”

Ives: “I cannot predict what the future is going to look like in a few months. So, we just see what is going on.”

“Bruce Rauner’s sham strategy of claiming that his party was unifying without reaching out to the 48% of Republicans that rejected him is clearly not working,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “It’s been nearly two months since the primary and the only unifying Bruce Rauner has done is getting Independents, Democrats, and Republicans in agreement that he has failed them long enough.”