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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Republican Dennis Reboletti is trying something different in a state legislative race: Stake out a “moderate” position on abortion in a party that completely rejects that stance and in a race against a solidly pro-choice Democrat.
Reboletti, the Addison Township supervisor, has no GOP primary opposition, so he’s essentially free to be the first Republican legislative candidate in recent memory to attempt to thread this needle. No other House GOP candidates are known to have this position, which makes the race worth watching. It’s not going to be easy, to say the least, and a similar tactic came up short in another major DuPage County race in 2022.
Two years ago, the Senate Democrats spent millions of dollars to defeat Reboletti, then a state representative from Elmhurst, when he tried to challenge state Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). The Democrats focused heavily on abortion rights, and Reboletti lost by almost 10 points.
This year, Reboletti is once again trying to make his way back to the General Assembly, challenging Marti Deuter in an open seat race created when freshman Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglass (D-Elmhurst) abruptly announced in September that she wouldn’t run again.
Douglass just barely defeated incumbent Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) by 364 votes in a 2022 race that leaned heavily on Mazzochi’s full-throated opposition to abortion. Mazzochi also tied herself closely to seemingly every possible right-wing group imaginable during that election and refused to cooperate with the House Republican Organization. She had decent name recognition, which probably kept it close, but Democratic money and the abortion issue did her in at the end of the day.
Douglass ran a good suburban race and Mazzochi ran a bad one, but that was then, and now Deuter, a longtime Elmhurst alderperson, is the one to beat. The district leans strongly Democratic at the top. Joe Biden won it in 2020 by nine points. No statewide Republican has won the district since Bruce Rauner took it by 5 points in 2018. But the district map was drawn so heavily Democratic that it’s one of the better chances the Republicans have.
Reboletti appeared on WIND Radio several days ago and told host John Anthony that developments since the overturning of Roe v. Wade have “really bothered me.”
Reboletti said he would support allowing voters to decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment on abortion rights. “I think that my belief is women have that right to choose,” he said. “I don’t think we should be in the middle of that.”
Reboletti quoted former Democratic President Bill Clinton’s oft-repeated statement that abortions should be “safe, legal and rare,” and said he opposed public funding of abortions and that he opposes “partial-birth abortion.”
The pro-choice Personal PAC has already endorsed Deuter in the race, and it’s highly doubtful that Reboletti’s recent comments would have made much of a difference. Personal PAC demands 100% support for its legislation, so a middle ground would not be met with approval.
Compromise candidates have not done well nationally, and a pro-choice middle ground came up short in another DuPage County race in 2022. Republican Greg Hart ran ads featuring his spouse vouching for his pro-choice stances, but Hart himself wasn’t as forceful on the issue. He lost to then-Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Elmhurst) by 2.5 percentage points. Conroy received about 18,000 fewer votes than Gov. J.B. Pritzker in DuPage while Hart received about 24,000 more votes than anti-abortion Darren Bailey. That may have been more about local politics, but still.
Another important point here is that the Illinois AFL-CIO has not endorsed either candidate so far. Unions seem to be split. The Chicago Laborers’ District Council PAC gave Reboletti a $750 contribution last October and the state firefighters union contributed $1,000 last month, while the Carpenters Union gave Deuter $2,000.
Reboletti reported raising just $12,600 in the fourth quarter. He spent $7,000, including a $1,000 contribution to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in his primary against far-right Republican Darren Bailey. Reboletti’s Bost contribution appeared to be making a statement about the divide in his party between the purists and everyone else, but that can also be easily twisted by the other side as him supporting the 100% anti-abortion, pro-Trump Republican Bost. Reboletti ended the quarter with just $16,000 in the bank and has reported no large contributions since.
Deuter loaned her campaign $5,000 last quarter, raised another $16,000, spent only $1,000 and ended with just under $20,000 in the bank. Deuter was endorsed by DuPage County Board Chair Conroy last month.
…Adding… From Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) in comments…
When I first started working in this space, there were pro-choice Republicans in both chambers, working in partnership with advocates and the Democrats to hold the line against efforts to roll back rights in Illinois. Some of those folks were supportive of restrictions that pro-choice advocates disagreed with, but there was respectful space to discuss those issues. I’ve always known there were members of the Republican caucus who are not comfortable with the party’s obsessive focus on stripping away reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, but were afraid to draw a primary. I look forward to more of his colleagues coming to their senses.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 10:33 am
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“Personal PAC demands 100% support for its legislation, so a middle ground would not be met with approval.”
What is the middle ground we are speaking of here?
Respectfully, I think it is a figment of journalists’ imaginations. I have no idea why it would be expected of Personal PAC to pursue some imaginary “middle ground” that doesn’t exist in the real world.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 10:43 am
===why it would be expected of Personal PAC to pursue===
I don’t.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 10:47 am
==Democratic money and the abortion issue did her in at the end of the day.==
And the new district map. She would have won under the old one.
Comment by City Zen Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 10:52 am
===She would have won under the old one. ===
And if the sky was green, grass might be blue. The state has to redistrict every ten years. Stuff happens.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 10:54 am
Opposing “partial-birth abortion” is nonsense GOP jibber-jabber that is an immediate tell that he’s not serious on this issue and he doesn’t know anything about abortion outside of Fox News buzzwords. Not exactly the mark of a moderate or compromise candidate.
Comment by Suburban Mom Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:00 am
Words versus actions. Dennis ‘believes’ in a woman’s right, but stands in the way of public funding for women’s health.
And ‘partial-birth abortion’ is the modern day equivalent of Reagan’s Welfare Queen.
Comment by Jocko Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:01 am
Since ReBo was a pretty complete whack job it is hard to believe this flip (or half flip) but we think once upon a time Durbin did something similar. Hard to trust him the hang em high guy
Comment by Annon'in Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:17 am
I’m curious to know how he feels about public funding of erectile dysfunction meds. Those medications cause abortions.
Comment by Jerry Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:18 am
I have no reason to ever trust a Republican on any meaningful issue where they claim to believe in nuance. This is a party that for most of my life has had no problem putting up “moderate” candidates who happily roll over and vote with their more extreme wing every time it matters. The reason why John McCain was so lauded for his occasionally not-terrible policy position votes was because of how rare it was. People like Susan Collins are way more common in the GOP.
Comment by Homebody Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:26 am
The Hyde Amendment has not been repealed since it was passed in 1976 because the majority do not support taxpayer funded abortions
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:37 am
I get that the Republican Party has a history of bad faith on this issue and many others. I get that there’s no reason to take Reboletti at his word on this. And if I lived in that district, I still wouldn’t vote for him.
But… this is still a step in the right direction, both morally and strategically. He really is taking a substantive step in the right direction by declaring himself affirmatively “pro-choice,” even though his caveats leave a lot to be desired. But it’s closer to what the voters want than most other Republicans running in the suburbs this year.
As for “compromise candidates have not done well nationally,” I disagree. Republicans have had a lot of success electing moderate governors in deep blue states like Vermont, Maryland, and Massachusetts. The last Republican governor of Illinois was affirmatively pro-choice, which wasn’t the only factor in his election but it did matter.
The flip side is also very clear: extreme/Trumpish candidates are losing winnable races. Kari Lake, Tim Michels, Blake Masters, Herschel Walker, and Donald Trump himself all lost winnable races for being too far outside the mainstream. The pattern is very clear that, in blue/moderate electorates, moderation is a better strategy than extremism.
Comment by vern Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:48 am
===last Republican governor of Illinois was affirmatively pro-choice===
Yeah, and he signed the Medicaid funding of abortions bill https://news.wttw.com/2017/09/28/rauner-signs-controversial-abortion-bill
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:51 am
=Opposing “partial-birth abortion” is nonsense GOP jibber-jabber that is an immediate tell that he’s not serious on this issue and he doesn’t know anything about abortion outside of Fox News buzzwords. =
Ditto, especially the jibber-jabber part.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:53 am
@ Suburbam Mom/Jocko/et. al.
With respect, please feel free to elucidate upon any restrictions on any type of abortion that you support. Barbarous partial-birth abortions happen and are documented in the public record, though NARAL/PP/etc are loathe to admit it. Too often, when folks say moderate, they tend to mean “someone who holds liberal positions from 3 years ago”.
Comment by Former ILSIP Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:55 am
Reboletti’s contribution to Bost could also be because when they served together in the house they were practically seat mates.
Comment by Dupage Dem Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 11:58 am
Gov JUnk did that, but we don’t think anyone really thought he was a true GOPpie
Comment by Annon'in Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 12:01 pm
=== Gov JUnk did that, but we don’t think anyone really thought he was a true GOPpie ===
Are Chris Sununu, Phil Scott, Charlie Baker, and Larry Hogan “true GOPpie?” Because that’s what Republican electoral success looks like in blue states. It doesn’t look like Kari Lake, Darren Bailey, or Donald Trump.
Comment by vern Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 12:19 pm
== Barbarous partial-birth abortions happen and are documented in the public record, though NARAL/PP/etc are loathe to admit it. ==
Sure, except they’re not, because there is no definition of a so-called “partial-birth abortion” outside of anti-choice circles calling anything they don’t like a “partial-birth abortion”, and those laws get rejected almost every time in court because when it’s described for what it actually is, the public overwhelmingly supports it.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12294330/
Comment by Leap Day William Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 12:21 pm
When I first started working in this space, there were pro-choice Republicans in both chambers, working in partnership with advocates and the Democrats to hold the line against efforts to roll back rights in Illinois. Some of those folks were supportive of restrictions that pro-choice advocates disagreed with, but there was respectful space to discuss those issues. I’ve always known there were members of the Republican caucus who are not comfortable with the party’s obsessive focus on stripping away reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, but were afraid to draw a primary. I look forward to more of his colleagues coming to their senses.
Comment by Kelly Cassidy Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 12:45 pm
Will Dennis resign from addison township supervisor post if he goes to Springfield? He should.
Comment by Macon Bakin Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 12:59 pm
And since there is nothing in the Constitution about Women having bodily autonomy, Men certainly dont either.
Comment by Jerry Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 1:11 pm
- I look forward to more of his colleagues coming to their senses. -
Better bring lunch…and dinner.
Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 1:29 pm
===any type of abortion that you support===
I “support” women making medical decisions about their bodies and their pregnancies in cooperation with their licensed medical professional of choice who operates under a variety of rules, regulations, and ethical canons, as well as malpractice insurance requirements that make sure a whole lot of boxes are ticked before a late-term abortion is performed. There is nothing else for me to support or oppose. Either you support people making medical decisions with the licensed medical professional of their choice, or you don’t.
Also, because I am an adult woman in the world, I am well-aware that virtually all late-term abortions are absolute tragedies that are performed when a fetus has defects incompatible with life and the expectant parents are left with a HORRIBLE choice of carrying a wanted child to term only to watch it die in excruciating pain shortly after birth, at increased risk to the mother’s health and life, or of aborting a very wanted child in a way that is safer for the mother (and potentially less painful for the fetus). If you think for some God-forsaken reason that politicians need to insert themselves in that kind of tragedy to score political points, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s hard to imagine anything more cruel.
Comment by Suburban Mom Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 1:49 pm
===he opposes “partial-birth abortion.”===
Bless his heart.
Late-term abortions are always for medical reasons (unviable fetus; life of the mother), never something one chooses on a whim. No one carries a baby to the third trimester and suddenly decides they don’t want to be pregnant any more. Insurance won’t even cover elective late term abortions.
“GOP jibber-jabber” is exactly right. Same with the detestable pro-life lie, “abortion right up to the moment of delivery.” No, no, and no. There is no such thing. Once a woman goes into labor, the only thing on everyone’s mind in the delivery room is delivering that baby.
Comment by Nick Name Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 3:20 pm
“I’ve always known there were members of the Republican caucus who are not comfortable with the party’s obsessive focus”
Republican voters finally have the party they want without “in name only” politicians who repeatedly sell them out. That would include those who complain privately but lack courage to tell voters the truth of where they stand. That’s priority number one for the base, finding out who is true and who isn’t.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 3:53 pm
==That’s priority number one for the base, finding out who is true and who isn’t.==
And that’s why Republicans will maintain their minority status in Illinois.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 4:03 pm
Denying abortion care to women who are low-income, young, rural or have health challenges is not a middle ground. It is cruel and unconscionable. Let’s just be honest about what it means to deny this health care. No excuses and no exceptions either.
Comment by Cosgrove Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 9:15 pm
It’s an interesting play and someone had to try for the suburban GOP to see if there’s a path.
Dennis loses, he loses nothing but a race, he’s lost those before. If he wins he will show a path that can be used in ‘26 during a non-Presidential year.
Comment by Frida's boss Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 9:44 pm
Dennis Reboletti is anything but a whack job. He was a key player for many years on Criminal Justice issues and was highly respected and knowledgeable on the matter on by both sides of the isle.
Comment by Um, no Monday, Feb 5, 24 @ 10:36 pm