"Wide Open" Race for Illinois GOP Chair Ahead of Friday Vote
Illinois GOP chair candidates (L-R) Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park), former Cook County GOP Chair Aaron Del Mar, and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Salvi.
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As they tended to a flurry of phone calls and potentially more rumors and accusations, the three candidates for Illinois Republican Party chair made their final pitches to The Illinoize Thursday night.
The 17-member Illinois Republican State Central Committee will choose the replacement for outgoing party chairman Don Tracy at a special meeting at noon today.
Kathy Salvi, the 2022 GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, jumped into the race Wednesday, just hours before the application deadline closed. Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) and former Cook County GOP Chair and State Central Committeeman Aaron Del Mar are also in the race.
Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) said Wednesday he would not seek the post.
Sources close to Del Mar say he has secured commitments from around one third of the weighted vote, which is based on the number of Republican votes in each of the state’s congressional districts this March. Salvi says she has received commitments, but wouldn’t disclose who or how much of the weight they make up.
Cabello did not disclose any commitments, but we’re told at least a couple of state central committeemen are “leaning” in his direction.
Jay Reyes, a State Central Committeeman from suburban Riverside, who says he has not committed to a candidate, is happy with the pitches from all of the candidates.
"We have a great set of options,” Reyes said. “I’m more concerned with ensuring we have a solid pick everyone gets behind, who can unify [the party] and capitalize on growing momentum heading into November."
The race remains a crap shoot, though, as we’ve confirmed the three committeemen with the highest weighted votes, Rhonda Belford in the 12th District (16%), Jason Plummer in the 15th District (12%) and Jan Weber in the 16th District (11%) remain uncommitted as of Thursday night.
Weber, of Geneseo, was an ally of outgoing chairman Tracy and was asked to chair the search committee for a new chairman. She said she’s not backing any candidate yet.
"I used to go to the horse races often. You never bet on a horse until it’s on the track,” Weber said Thursday. “I am waiting to see how the candidates perform before the SCC on Friday."
Another committeeman succinctly described the situation headed into the Friday meeting.
”It’s wide open,” the commiteeman, who asked not to be identified, said. “There is no favorite and there is no telling how messy this may get.”
Here’s the breakdown of the weighted vote for each member:
Cabello, who was one of the earliest elected officials supporting Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, claimed Thursday Trump and his campaign are not involved in the chair race.
“But there’s only one person who has been with the President since 2016, and that’s me,” he said.
Cabello said he does not believe Trump is a negative on his candidacy or on the state party ahead of the November election, even though Trump has lost the state by more than a million votes twice.
“There’s lots of different ways to run campaigns,” he said. “We understand that they are different in the suburbs and downstate. We have to do things that are going to embolden and make our candidates shine. It would be stupid to do anything other than that. I don’t think we’re going to have too much of an issue.”
Cabello also says he believes Trump will do “way better” in Illinois than expected.
Cabello confirmed he is only seeking the position on an interim basis, but did not give a firm date on when he would want to step aside, claiming he would like to exit before January, but definitely by February 1.
Del Mar sent a fiery text message to the 102 GOP county chairmen Thursday, claiming he’ll “bring back the Republican Party in Illinois.”
“We cannot have weak-kneed, nice guys leading the Republican Party in Illinois,” he wrote. “We need a fighter. We need somebody who's going to win or go down trying.”
In a discussion with The Illinoize Thursday night, Del Mar said he’s attempting to speak for the “grassroots” of the GOP.
“My decision to run for chairman has always been centered around giving the Illinois Republican grassroots community a voice,” Del Mar said. “I believe that we have an opportunity now to change the trajectory of the Illinois GOP. We can take a risk and make history, or we can stick to the old playbook of playing it safe and continue down the path of ineffectiveness and losing.”
Salvi, who was the last to enter the race, said she had been thinking about it, and Tuesday night, her husband, former Rep. Al Salvi, “enthusiastically” encouraged her to do it.
“I wanna shake things up and make Illinois red,” she said, claiming her 2022 statewide race gives her an advantage. “I know the state south, central and north. I’m committed to the party and its success and every race up and down the ballot.”
The meeting is being held on Zoom and is not open to the public or media.