Fellow Republicans, 

 

We are kicking off this week’s memo highlighting some of the headlines showcasing failed Democrat leadership. Illinois Playbook outlined Mayor Johnson’s new plan to deal with the migrant crisis in Chicago – make it someone else’s problem.


As Mayor Johnson plans to foist responsibility for housing migrants onto religious institutions and private organizations, the same responsibility he publicly committed during his campaign and after winning, he has decided to blame Republicans in the House of Representatives for the lack of action on controlling the border crisis. 


You read that right. Despite Democrats controlling the White House and by extension the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Senate, the Illinois Statehouse, both houses of the Illinois legislature AND the Chicago City Council, the inability to deal with migrants at the border is the fault of Republicans. This level of delusion rivals even that of Governor Pritzker, who seems to have forgotten on his early 2028 Presidential campaign tour that the sanctuary city policies he and Mayor Johnson have continued to support are the reason buses continue to arrive.


I released the following statement to the media: “Democrats like JB Pritzker and Brandon Johnson can’t admit to the facts: their sanctuary policies have failed, their party leaders in Washington have failed, and they have failed. Pointing the finger and shifting responsibility is not leadership, and the inability of Democrats to gain control of this crisis despite full control of this state’s government is a sign that they are delusional, incompetent, and ineffective leaders. 


Another headline worth noting is the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that two south side Catholic schools would be closing their doors after a combined 196 years of education due to JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats taking educational opportunity away from under-resourced children. 


The removal of the Invest in Kids policy, a tax credit scholarship program giving low-income children the opportunity to choose the school that works best for them, is already having disastrous impacts. When the bill was not even voted on by the legislature, it became clear that thousands of students, families, and schools would be impacted. 


From the Daily Herald’s coverage of the legislature’s inaction on the bill: “It puts our school and our families in a challenging situation, and worst of all, puts our students at risk of losing the opportunity to attend their best-fit school.”


Choices have consequences, and JB Pritzker’s inaction on scholarships for under-resourced children is having a predictable impact: Illinois schools are closing. Unfortunately, for our families, as I said in our media release on this development:

 

"This is another case of Illinois Democrats choosing the special interest of their teacher union donors over the public interest."

 

Finally, as I shared last week, tickets to our inaugural Bank Your Vote Gala have sold out! We have not, however, sold out on sponsorships. Our gala will encourage, raise awareness, and funds to help Republicans Bank Your Vote and officially launch that initiative in Illinois. To beat Biden and Illinois Democrats, Republicans must Bank Your Vote. When Republicans vote early, we win. ‘Bank Your Vote’ is designed to get Republicans to vote early in person or by mail to Beat Biden and secure Republican victories up and down the ballot. 


U.S. Senator John Kennedy will be the keynote speaker at the Gala, check out his highlight reel here. In addition, Ronna McDaniel Chair of the Republican National Committee and leader of the national Bank Your Vote program will also be in attendance and speak. If you are attending, we are looking forward to seeing you at the Gala.

 
 
 

Efforts are under way for recruiting poll watchers and election judges, sign up today to ensure fair and transparent elections! Want to get involved or have us to do a training in your county? Please reach out to our Election Integrity Director at [email protected]

We also examined the voting records of all of the commissioned Republican election judges in the City of Chicago and in suburban Cook County. It is apparent that far too many Republican election judges actually have a history of voting in Democratic primaries. We simply must do a better job of filling our Republican election judge positions with actual Republicans. If we do not fill these positions, the Democrats will. I encourage any Republican who lives in Cook County to take the extra step in participating in the electoral process by becoming an election judge. We need you! Please contact CJ, our Election Integrity Director for more information. 

In case you have recently moved or just wish to check your registration status go to https://ova.elections.il.gov/RegistrationLookup.aspx to make sure that your voter registration is up to date ahead of the crucial 2024 election cycle.

To find out how you can help save Illinois, go to the Illinois Election Integrity Program website at ieip.org. Volunteer for as little or as much as you are able! Volunteers can help by joining the Illinois Election Integrity Program. Please reach out to CJ, our Election Integrity Director for further assistance.
 
 

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ICYMI, we got some positive press out of the Chicago media this week, which is definitely not a frequent occurrence.

 

The Crains article below is generally accurate except State Party receipts last year were approximately $1 million, not just the $230K cited. The author, Greg Hinz, looked only at our state account. We generally allocate individual contributions first to our federal account up the $10K per individual federal limit and then to our state account.

 

Corporate and union contributions have to to go 100% to our state account. Although unions contribute heavily to the Democrat Party of Illinois, we do not receive any union contributions that I know of.

 

With fundraising up, Illinois GOP may be turning a corner

by Greg Hinz of Crains Chicago Business

 

Just in time for election season, the Illinois Republican Party is showing signs of life.

 

A fundraiser set for next month not only is a sellout, with 740 tickets purchased for the Feb. 9 dinner at a Rosemont hotel, but has garnered more money than the party reported raising all of last year. Combined with an armistice of sorts between often feuding factions on the party’s central committee, the party appears to have taken at least initial steps to pull out of the funk it’s been in since former Gov. Bruce Rauner lost his re-election bid to Democrat J.B. Pritzker in November 2018.

 

Rauner moved to Florida shortly after the 2018 vote, followed soon by Citadel chief Ken Griffin. Both men and a couple of others, such as shipping mogul Dick Uihlein, had almost personally kept the party funded, writing large personal checks. With them gone and Pritzker easily winning a new term in 2022, income dried up, with the Illinois Republican Party reporting income of only $230,000 in 2023, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.

 

That has changed. The upcoming Rosemont event featuring U.S. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana already has grossed “more than $300,000,” says party Chairman Don Tracy, a Springfield lawyer who took office after Rauner left the state. And with three weeks to go, the party has added as many seats as it can to the Rosemont venue and sold them all.

 

“That’s the biggest event I can remember in many years,” said Tracy in a phone interview. “There’s a lot energy.”

 

“Seven hundred people and $300,000 — that’s quite an accomplishment,” said former party Chair Pat Brady. The event appears to be the largest fundraiser for the state party since a host of presidential candidates showed up at a 2011 Chicago event honoring Ronald Reagan’s birthday, according to Brady.

 

In an odd twist that also indicates some change, Tracy said much of the proceeds from the event will be used to amplify the Illinois GOP’s early- and absentee-vote efforts. Ergo the dinner’s “bank the vote” theme.

 

Former President Donald Trump famously ridiculed such efforts after his 2020 loss, repeatedly charging that any votes not cast in person on Election Day were subject to massive fraud. Many party professionals later concluded that relying strictly on in-person votes ceded too much ground to Democrats, and Tracy said efforts to get the GOP back into the early-vote game this year have the blessing of not just the Republican National Committee but Trump himself.

 

Despite the new money, Illinois Republicans face a daunting task this election cycle. They hold no statewide offices, are in no super-minority positions in the Illinois House and Senate, and likely presidential nominee Trump lost the state by a wide margin to Democratic nominees in 2020 and 2016.

 

Trump heading the 2024 ticket “could be a headwind,” particularly in Chicago, where the party needs to do much better, Tracy said. Tracy has remained neutral in this GOP contest, with Richard Porter, the GOP national committeeman from Illinois, having backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

 

Regardless of who the party nominee is, “We’re going to be broad-based, on a wide range of issues. . . .We have a team,” Tracy said.

 

Jeanne Ives, the former gubernatorial candidate and conservative who serves on the state party’s governing board, confirmed the group is more unified at the moment than it has been in recent years.

 

“There’s a concerted team effort to turn the tide and make things better,” Ives said in a phone interview. Having a plan and the money to fund it “will help,” even in Illinois, she added. 
 
 
 

Thank you for all you do and for supporting the Illinois Republican Party.


Sincerely,


Don Tracy


Please stand with us and consider making a $10 or $25 contribution to our efforts. Your generous donation will fund our fight against the Democrat socialist agenda. Thank you in advance.

Illinois Republican Party | PO Box 64897, Chicago, IL 60664

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