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* 9:54 am - Andy McKenna has just announced he will step down as Illinois Republican Party Chairman.
There is word that he might run for a statewide or other office.
* 10:12 am - More…
[McKenna] said he was leaving in advance of the end of his term next year to give Republicans a chance to pick a new leader before the Feb. 2 primary election.
The move, he said, also will give him “the freedom to be involved in primaries”—something he said he has avoided as state Republican chairman. McKenna also will run a newly formed “victory fund” for state and federal candidates under the auspices of the state GOP.
***UPDATE***
[posted by Mike Murray]
* 2 pm - Here is some video Rich shot at the fair…
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 9:57 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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The rougeish IL GOP is in such chaos with all of the internal bickering. I hope that McKenna’s stepping down was simply because he had enough of nonsense from the recalitrants.
Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:03 am
“I leave this role secure in the fact that the Party has raised more than $16 million throughout the last four years and is building solid cash flow which will support our efforts leading into the next election.”
I just got an e-mail from the Republican Party. Seems kinda of palty for four years of fundraising.
Comment by Levois Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:05 am
Nothing like going out on top….be like if the Cubs decided to close up shop and celebrate their glory!
Comment by Vote Quimby! Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:07 am
Maybe Jack Roeser can bring Alan Keyes back to run things. That’ll bring credibility to the GOP for sure.
Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:07 am
Andy Who???
Comment by fedup dem Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:07 am
The IL State GOP is saved. Now the conservatives need to step up and steer the party back in the right direction so they can win elections again.
Comment by Segatari Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:23 am
Sorry, but who is patrick Hughes and why has he just announced for U.S. Senate on the IL GOP side,as the conservative answer to mark kirk?
See, it’s stuff like this that no doubt gave andy mckenna a lot of unnecessary headaches and heartburn.
Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:30 am
Anyone see the Chicago Young Republicans on Chicago Tonight yesterday? All three of them?
There’s some new blood…
Comment by Anonymous45 Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:32 am
Running for 10th CD, perhaps? He looks like the very model of a modern North Shore GOP Congressman: He has that common touch: At home on the fairways, in the boardroom, and…..
That’s about all you need, I think. A great Channel 11 candidate — you know, WTTW, Wilmette Talks to Winnetka.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:37 am
==See, it’s stuff like this that no doubt gave andy mckenna a lot of unnecessary headaches and heartburn.==
Or it’s the kind of move that excites Illinois Republicans.
Comment by Brennan Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:40 am
So where is Steve Rauschenberger?
Comment by memsaab Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:40 am
Brennan,
the primary is one thing, but can Hughes win the general, which is all that should matter to a party chair? no. probably not. So, I stand by what I wrote about mckenna’s headaches and heartburn.
Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:44 am
===the conservatives need to step up===
Either that, or the conservatives need to sit down and let the moderates step up. They need to find a common identity pronto.
Comment by Obamarama Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:45 am
Steve who?
Comment by SangamoGOP Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:46 am
It is about time. Who in their right mind believes the Illinois republican party is even close to being in good shape. The Democrats have put together the worst 5 years in the history of the state and the Republican party thoroughly illustrated they had nothing better to offer.
McKenna’s leadership has been the biggest asset to the democrat party over the past 4 years. In short, this is not a good day for Mike Madigan.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:46 am
Pat Hughes is a cubs broadcaster. I don’t know what Ronnie will do without him when he’s in the senate.
McKenna goes down in history as the best state party chair the dems ever had. He was Kirk’s finance dude in 2002, I’m guessing that’s where he’s headed.
Brave but dissapointing performance by the chicago young republicans last night. Give them points for trying but it’s hard when your party has abandoned you.
Comment by Shore Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:50 am
IL republicans are lucky Mckenna stepped down, he’s a fool and a blowhard. This is the best thing to happen for IL republicans since Blago was impeached.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 10:58 am
It’s about frickin’ time. But it remains to be seen whether the IL GOP can recover enough by 2010 from all the problems caused by McKenna’s years of mismanagement and ineptitude.
Comment by Just sayin Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:15 am
The ILGOP does need to rally behind strong likely candidates and support them even if they don’t agree with every position the candidate has. That may mean that some “purists” may have to tone things down a bit. Otherwise, they risk being marginalilzed. The other risk is another implosion with an Alan Keyes type crushing all hope.
Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:19 am
@ just saying, patriot and small town liberal,
actually the person or people who really sank the IL GOP were those who decided to run alan keyes and push jack ryan aside. that’s really hurt the IL GOP brand and y’all haven’t recovered since–despite blago. so no, McKenna was not the cause of the IL GOP downfall.
Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:27 am
Will County Woman, please note that it was the committee chaired by then State Chairman Judy Baar Topinka who imported Keyes, after they threw the duly nominated Jack Ryan under the bus. Only that central committee had any say at all in slating Keyes. Not only did regular Republicans not pick Keyes, they don’t even get to vote for the central committee that picked Keyes.
That’s the same committee that chose Andy McKenna as party chairman, and the same one that kept him around so long.
Comment by Just sayin Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:32 am
So the GOP is rebuilding by increasing its own internal chaos…. Illinois GOP puts the P in entropy
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:36 am
[…] Though the state party has been wracked by internal divisions and electoral losses, Mckenna’s announcement was still seen as a surprise. Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller reports that McKenna, a 2004 candidate in the Republican U.S. Senate primary who abandoned plans for another run in 2010 when U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk declared, could be considering running for elected office. […]
Pingback by Andy McKenna Abruptly Resigns As Illinois GOP Chairman | DoisPontoZero Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:40 am
Could we maybe just all take a pledge for the future to make this an Alan Keyes-free zone? I think we all readily accept that slating him was one of the most boneheaded moves in Illinois history.
Comment by Responsa Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:43 am
yes, fine. responsa i only bring up keyes to counter those who always want to lay blame for all that is wrong with the IL GOP at the feet of andy mckenna or when his chairmenship started. how convenient of them, and how selective their memories. that’s all i’m sayin’.
Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 11:57 am
Newsflash: Andy Mckenna was not heading the GOP when Alan Keyes was thrust upon us. The timeline that is stuck in some people’s heads is astounding.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 12:23 pm
Here is a list of Illinois GOP electoral accomplishments while Mr. McKenna was it’s chairman.
1.) Increased name recognition of Andy McKenna.
2.) Raised funds for future Andy McKenna campaigns.
3.) Answered phones.
4.) Drove Illinois GOP car.
5.) Greeted people still interested in GOP.
6.) Wore nametag.
7.) Swung golf clubs.
8.) Smiled when necessary.
9.) Put gas into Illinois GOP car.
10) Became historical footnote in Illinois politics.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 12:24 pm
WCW - I never said Mckenna was responsible for the downfall of the IL GOP, but he sure didn’t accomplish any rebuilding.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 12:27 pm
McKenna may not have accomplished much in his tenure but he sure was better than having some jack Roeser todie like this guy: http://dougibendahl.blogspot.com/
Comment by sweaty freddy Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 12:39 pm
No worries, WCW, my AK comment was not directed at you. It was just a general plea since his name came up several times today (as it frequently does).
Comment by Responsa Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 12:48 pm
The only thing thing Andy McKenna accomplished was gutting any field organization that the IL GOP had.
No slate piece, no field work, no early vote program, no absentee chase program, no field training, hiring staff that had little to no experience winning races, etc.
He did raise enough money to pay $7,500 a month for an office full of staff from out of state that no volunteers, or anyone else other than Andy, visited.
Other than what I mentioned above, VanillaMan pretty much has the grand total of McKenna’s tenure.
Comment by Broadsword Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:06 pm
>Either that, or the conservatives need to sit down and let the moderates step up. They need to find a common identity pronto.
Ahem, the moderates have been running the party all this time…that’s why they’ve gotten their clocks cleaned because they’ve alienated their base pushing pretend Democrats and people don’t have a conservative to vote for.
11.) Elected more Democrats.
Comment by Segatari Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:14 pm
I love a literate insult
Comment by Ghost fan Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:23 pm
The Trib is reporting that Pat Brady has been named to serve out the remaining term.
Comment by Distant Observer Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:23 pm
My only thought on McKenna and his legacy is that in a day and age when the Democrats have handed the GOP the keys to the castle in 2010, why has the GOP failed to capitalize on it?
You’d have thought that in light of Blagojevich and his upcoming trial, the budget dysfunction, and the general economic mess the state is in, the GOP would be screaming from the rooftops offering great candidates and even better ideas. However, we are seeing tired familiar faces (Topinka, I’m looking at you!) coming in and running for office again. We have Dan Proft as the only governor candidate offering up a detailed plan of action and not quick soundbites, but everyone knows Proft is a long shot.
I guess the best I can say about McKenna is that we at least have a GOP party at the end of his tenure, albeit a very small one. The GOP should be riding high right now, but instead we’re treading water at the surface hoping the Democrats just sink lower…
Comment by Nikoli Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:29 pm
Willie Sutton, why do you rob banks?
That’s where the money is
For any sort of GOP rebirth in this state, they have to start fighting in Cook County. That was the Thompson, Edgar, Ryan key to success.
Not just the suburbs, but the city as well. The Northwest and Southwest Sides should have never been ceded to the Dems. And Edgar spent a lot of time on the South and West Sides. He didn’t win there, but he made the Dems play defense.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:40 pm
small town liberal,
from the looks of it, the IL GOP really didn’t let him. the IL GOP civil war makes no sense at all. when Obama won the senate seat, and especially now that he is president, the IL GOP needed to be more moderate in order to stand a chance or be truly relevant. The slash and burn politics of the hard right won’t and doesn’t work in this state. Too many in the IL GOP act as if this is alabama or some such place, when it isn’t.
Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:44 pm
Definitely a good thing for IL GOP…the question now is who will get the post once McKenna steps down? I agree with Will County Woman, to actually compete in the state it has to be someone willing to support mod candidates.
Comment by Red Hawk Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 1:51 pm
I can’t believe someone would make a fake Doug Ibehdahl page. If he’s that irrelevant why waste your time doing that? I’m not in agreement with what he does, for I think conservatives and moderates need to stick together here. However, a fake Doug Ibehdahl page? LOL
Comment by Southern Illinois iPhone Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 2:04 pm
WCW - I agree with you about IL GOP being far to the right, but if you think mckenna was a moderate I’d have to disagree.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 2:10 pm
==the primary is one thing, but can Hughes win the general, which is all that should matter to a party chair? no. probably not. So, I stand by what I wrote about mckenna’s headaches and heartburn.==
Not the point. The point here is made repeatedly by the other CapFax readers. Andy wasn’t getting Republicans elected statewide and he wasn’t getting Republicans to where they have to go to get elected statewide.
Comment by Brennan Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 2:40 pm
On the other maybe McKenna will run for governor. He’d pull some votes from Dillard and then maybe one of the righties would be the nominee.
That would save us all a lot of time and effort.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 4:08 pm
How McKenna can say with a straight face that he is proud of the grassroots organization he built is beyond belief. The party has one “field” guy based in Springfield and the rest of the “staff” has cowered in Chicago for the past several years. The County Chairs have not had any assistance from the State Party; there was one round of “training” in three locations a couple of years back; and affiliate groups have been left to fend for themselves. Additionally, McKenna and his lot have spent more time deriding conservative voices and groups than actually trying to sit with them and find some semblance of common ground.
McKenna might have raised some money but never put it where parties need to put it - building and organizing.
If it is Pat Brady as the new chair, ILGOP will suffer the same fate. Pretty face & Empty suit.
Comment by SangamoGOP Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 5:09 pm
Does Mckenna reside in Cook County??
Maybe he could run for county board prez…or maybe not.
Comment by scoot Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 8:21 pm
wasted opportunity, andy. wasted opportunity…
Comment by colt 45 Thursday, Aug 20, 09 @ 8:27 pm
I thought it was Kjellander we had to get rid of to save the party. Now it’s McKenna? Thank God the party is saved. There will be great rejoicing in the GOP when we re-take the state on election day. Or, we’ll have to come up with someone else we need to get rid of to save the party. Guess which is more likely.
Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 12:19 am
Schorf, you know successful politics is an exercise in subtraction. Or is it division? I never was very good at math.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Aug 21, 09 @ 6:18 am