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* I’m not sure how this is a “major upset” since the party’s chairman was recently kicked out of state GOP headquarters because of his strong support for Jeanne Ives’ campaign. Chairman Chris Cleveland countered by saying: “I ask that you prevail upon Bruce Rauner to stop the petty retribution. This is the Republican Party, not the mob.”
But, anyway, from a press release…
In a major upset, the Central Committee of the Chicago Republican Party voted 17 to 3 with 2 abstentions to back conservative challenger Jeanne Ives over incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner. The vote took place Wednesday evening at a general meeting of the city’s Republican ward committeemen.
Ives spoke to the group for nearly an hour before the vote. Governor Rauner had been invited to speak, but declined to do so. Rauner has avoided large gatherings of Republicans since signing a bill to create taxpayer-funded abortions earlier in the year.
“Jeanne impressed everyone with her determination to hit the state’s problems head-on. She also showed a command of policy details,” said Chris Cleveland, chairman of the Chicago Republican Party.
“It’s almost unheard of for a regular Republican organization to fail to endorse an incumbent governor,” said Cleveland. “The people in the room felt that Rauner had betrayed them.”
The vote kicks off a season of endorsement sessions by county and township Republican organizations in the run-up to the March primary. So far, two suburban organizations have announced endorsements, both for Ives.
The decision by the Chicago Republican Party to back Ives is significant because of the sheer number of votes produced by the City of Chicago. Republicans in the city produce 5% of the Republican primary vote, and 7.5% of the Republican vote in a general election. The number of Republican votes in the city is larger than the number produced by any county except Cook and DuPage. Primary voters often look to local party organizations for guidance on candidate selection.
* From Rep. Ives…
“I am proud to have won the confidence of the Chicago GOP. They are warriors for transparency and small government reforms in a city run almost exclusively by the Chicago Machine. Their bold advocacy will be critical to stoking the revolt, so that we can deliver the conservative reforms Illinoisans were promised in 2014, before Governor Rauner’s wholesale betrayal of the GOP. “
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
COOK COUNTY GOP CHAIRMAN CALLS OUT ILLEGITIMATE ACTIONS BY CHICAGO GOP CLUB LEADER
Chicago, IL – It has come to the attention of Cook County Republican Central Committee Chairman Sean M. Morrison that the Chicago Republican Party led by Mr. Chris Cleveland recently held a meeting of its club. Mr. Cleveland’s expressed intent for this meeting was to usurp the statutory authority of the Cook County Republican Party and its Chairman by illegitimately claiming the authority to appoint individuals to the position of Ward Committeeman.
Chairman Morrison believes that it’s imperative to publicly clarify that the Chicago Republican Party is a private club and holds no statutory authority within the Cook County Republican Central Committee. Thus, Mr. Cleveland has no authority to make any appointments to the position of Ward Committeeman and to indicate otherwise is pure deception.
“I recognize that Mr. Cleveland plays a very prominent role as Campaign Chair for the Jeanne Ives campaign for governor and he has a right to support the candidate of his choice. But, that does not mean that he can manipulate the use and influence of his role as Chairman of the Chicago Republican Club to mislead individuals into the belief that he can appoint them to the position of Ward Committeeman. His sole intent was to manufacture some sort of perceived endorsement for his candidate Jeanne Ives,” said Chairman Morrison.
Mr. Cleveland’s actions are nothing more than a blatant exploitation of his club and its By-Laws and are eerily reminiscent of the actions taken by former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz when she helped rig the DNC support and primary election in favor of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Mr. Cleveland’s unilateral actions are an attempt to de-legitimize the vote and influence of every single Republican Committeeman in Cook County.
Deputy Chairman Aaron Del Mar added, “Mr. Cleveland’s deceitful actions have raised grave concern from numerous legitimate Republican Committeemen throughout Cook County. These actions appear to indicate a level of desperation on behalf of the Jeanne Ives campaign for governor. I’m hopeful Jeanne Ives had no previous knowledge of this rigged endorsement stunt and I call on her to publicly disavow Chris Cleveland and the devious actions he took on behalf of her campaign. I would also hope that this is not an indication on how she would govern, if elected.”
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:32 am
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Wow, I didn’t even realize there was a Chicago Republican Party.
Comment by SuburbanRepublican Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:37 am
Man, what’s Rauner gonna do without those 6 guys?
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:39 am
===the Chicago Republican Party voted 17 to 3 with 2 abstentions===
They only have 22 out of 50 wards covered? Lol.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:39 am
Madigan, and the Chicago Republicans that he controls….
Comment by IllinoisBoi Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:39 am
Rauner’s polling was the worst among Chicago GOP members, at least based on the CapFax poll from November. Plus, Chris is the chair of Ives campaign, so this shouldn’t be much of a shock. For Ives to act as if this is a major achievement is disingenuous.
Comment by People Over Parties Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:40 am
Chairman of the Chicago GOP is like being an admiral in the Kansas Coast Guard.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:41 am
Just a word of caution to all these Party insiders:
The rest of us are not often one issue voters. I’m not basing my vote against Rauner on HB40. I’m basing it on the fiscal damage he’s done and keeps trying to do to the State.
Ives isn’t going to get my vote based on her opposition to HB40. She needs to remember some of us are fiscally and socially moderate. Right now I wouldn’t vote for either.
Comment by Thoughts Matter Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:45 am
== not the mob ==
Now there is a tag line to drag in Blago and Levine and tie them to Rauner …
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:48 am
“For Ives to act as if this is a major achievement is disingenuous.”
But it looks good on her resume.
Comment by a drop in Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:49 am
Until I see a poll that has Ives within 20 points Rauner is right to not even recognize her as an opponent. Come June we all will be looking forward to not having her as a member of the GA. March 21 your 15 minutes are up Rep Ives.
Comment by Just Visiting Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:53 am
Contrary to what Pritzker says, Rauner does not even acknowledge Trump as president. Rauner seems to be running a duplicate of the 2016 Kirk reelection campaign: move to the left of center, pursue liberal policies like a Democrat and deny being a Republican while expecting Republican and independent voters to continue to support you at the polls.
How well did that strategy work? Ask US Senator Duckworth.
Comment by Errata Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:54 am
Run Jeanne. Run.
Comment by blue dog dem Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:54 am
1.4% is thinking “I bought the GOP, don’t they know that once they are bought, they are supposed to stay bought? I spent millions and what do I have to show for it?”
Comment by Huh? Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:55 am
Since Rauner has inserted himself into the Democratic Primary, is there anything which would prevent JB from forming an entity and sloshing a few million Ives way?
Comment by Al Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:31 am
===How well did that strategy work? Ask US Senator Duckworth.===
His other option is what? Embrace Trump, who lost by 17 points in this state to one of the least liked Democratic candidates in history? Sounds like a plan.
Comment by PJ Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:33 am
To put this endorsement into perspective:
In the last primary, in my ward, there were 16,198 ballots cast, only 757 of them voted for the GOP Committeeman.
Comment by Kyle Hillman Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:46 am
Ives campaign is out of gas already it appears.
Comment by Muffin Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:48 am
Never been much for math, but by my count and the State Board that makes the Chicago GOP ($5,700) a quarter more powerful than say the Pope Co. GOP ($4,300).
Comment by CornfieldCowboy Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:49 am
Ives appeals to a dying breed of american. Just like Trump.
Comment by Ron Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:58 am
5% of the primary voters in the GOP primary will come out of Chicago. That’s a good pick up. She’s also got suburban Townships. I’m sure some downstate endorsements will be coming her way soon.
This is a revolt by the base against a failed Governor. Will he be able to squash it?
Now how does the hardcore base bring everyone else to the tent, by March 20, is the challenge.
More endorsements will help not hurt. The Governor not showing up to these meetings of base voters shows an entire lack of respect.
Comment by DuPage Bard Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 12:00 pm
=Since Rauner has inserted himself into the Democratic Primary, is there anything which would prevent JB from forming an entity and sloshing a few million Ives way?=
Nothing preventing him but little reason to believe that it would be money well spent. Ives is going to need a boat load of money just to get her message out. And if she were to get that message out it would likely only make Rauner seem more moderate. It’s hard to see what benefit JB would get from that. He can run the ads that Ives can’t afford to run and get a better result.
Comment by Pundent Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 12:49 pm
=Since Rauner has inserted himself into the Democratic Primary, is there anything which would prevent JB from forming an entity and sloshing a few million Ives way?=
Effectively, JB is already meddling with the Republican primary just as much as Rauner is with the Dems. They’re both running negative ads against each other.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 1:42 pm
Dupage Board what Suburban Townships in Cook have endorsed her haven’t heard of any yet
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 2:45 pm
I think a lot of Chicago Republicans will he taking Dem ballots to vote against Berrios & Preckwinkle.
Comment by Fax Machine Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 2:46 pm
It’s funny that there is a Chicago GOP when there is no Chicago Dem Party.
Since Mayoral races went nonpartisan, the one potential statutory function of the Chicago GOP (nominating a candidate if no one entered the primary) went away so this is a complete b.s. organization.
Comment by Fax Machine Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 2:49 pm
@Fax Machine: Chicago Alderman Carrie M. Austin (34th) might beg to differ with you since she is also the City Chairman of the Democratic Party. She is also a ward committeeman. The Cook County Democrats have a county chair, a city chair and a suburban chair.
Comment by Errata Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 4:22 pm
@Anonymous - the google works wonders try it. I didn’t say Cook I said suburban but good work.
Comment by DuPage Bard Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 4:53 pm
Errata. Austin is that City Vice Chair of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee. There is no Chicago Democratic Party or Committee. Each ward has a committee but not one Commiittee for whole city exclusively.
Comment by TominChicago Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 7:20 pm
Say what you want, but Ives is gaining support against a candidate who has money to get a message out, but no message. Who among you predicted that Trump
would be President??
Comment by anon Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 9:34 pm
The “Bannon” faction strikes again.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 10:05 pm
Disappointed in Ives’s poor judgment.”Endorsement” arranged at some mtg with 22 people. Total amateur night.
Comment by Chris P. Bacon Thursday, Jan 11, 18 @ 11:37 pm
I kinda ignored this whole thing because in this instance, you have the Raunerites, who are a subsidiary of Rauner, Inc., and the others who were duped by Rauner… and now think their independence with staged endorsements will resonate… somewhere.
What is most fun?
The words, words, words… used to refute a silly staged endorsement that won’t mean much in anything of substance to go after Rauner or win this Primary.
It was overkill by the Raunerites.
Comical overkill too, lol
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jan 12, 18 @ 9:34 am