New chairman of the Illinois Republican Party

Posted on February 15, 2021
Don Tracy, the new chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, says there is much reason for optimism – and some big goals – for 2022. (illinois.gop)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – As a new chairman looks over the Illinois Republican Party, he sees some good and some not-so-good.

Springfield lawyer Don Tracy says with no statewide offices and two superminorities at the statehouse, there are still some glimmers of hope.

“We’re as poor as a church mouse,” Tracy said in assessing the GOP war chest. But the party did get more 2020 victories than predicted, and also defeated the graduated income tax proposal, which Tracy called the “Unfair Tax.”

In addition to raising money, Tracy says he has to unify a party in which an Illinois congressman is outspoken against former President Donald Trump and, at the other end, some state lawmakers want to break off from the Chicago area and make Downstate the nation’s 51st state. He’s optimistic that it can be done, and that the GOP can mount challenges in some of the statewide races.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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