Exclusive coverage this week on decisions made by IL GOP leadership during the primary, and the calls by Illinois Review for Chair Don Tracy to go.

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Sources: IL GOP Blames Jim Durkin for Postage Discount Abuse as GOP Faces Potential Postal Audit ([link removed])
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Sources have confirmed that the Illinois Republican Party was caught off guard earlier this week after Illinois Review ([link removed]) exposed deliberate and widespread abuse of the IL GOP postage discount during the Primary. Sources also confirmed a new strategy by party insiders to sidestep any responsibility for the humiliating revelation: blame former House GOP leader Jim Durkin, an ally and best friend to IL GOP chairman Don Tracy.

It’s clear that the IL GOP is in total panic mode and pointing fingers at everybody – including Durkin and John Fogarty, general counsel for the IL GOP.

In
July ([link removed]) , during a meeting with conservative leaders, IL GOP chairman Don Tracy deflected any responsibility after admitting that the Richard Irvin for governor campaign received the IL GOP postage discount in the primary – a perk not afforded to any other campaign for governor.

Tracy went on to say that usage of the postage discount was decided by the “House Caucus and the Senate Caucus” – again, placing the blame on Durkin, who at that time was leader of the House Caucus.

But Fogarty, who works directly with Tracy as the party’s attorney, played a role in this as well. And while Durkin could decide which campaign received the postage discount, ultimately, Tracy and Fogarty would have the final approval since the postage discount belongs to the IL GOP and no one else, including Durkin.

The Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service ([link removed]) is quite clear on use of the non-profit charity postage rate. It’s also quite clear that Tracy and the IL GOP were in direct violation of those standards and they now risk hefty fines and a suspension of the postage discount if audited by the US Postal Service.

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In the past, the IL GOP used the postage discount for positive mail pieces, but made worse under Tracy’s leadership, the discount was weaponized ([link removed]) to target conservative grassroots primary candidates.

And while Tracy deflects the blame for overseeing widespread and humiliating losses during the November election, the US Postal Service, should they conduct an audit, will be looking for the one ultimately in charge of the postal discount – and that’s Don Tracy.

Pointing fingers and deflecting blame only goes so far. And Don Tracy and the IL GOP are about to find that out.

IL GOP, Durkin use Citizens to Change Illinois PAC to Support GOP Spokesman During Primary Against Conservative Candidate ([link removed])

During the 2022 Illinois Primary, Joe Hackler wore two hats simultaneously: communications director for the Republican Party of Illinois and candidate for Illinois State Representative, Dist. 112.

A setup that represents a clear conflict of interest and gives Hackler a significant competitive advantage against his Republican conservative grassroots opponent Jennifer Korte, who was endorsed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey.

Not only did Hackler have access to sensitive donor information, email lists and voter data, but as an employee and spokesman for the Republican Party of Illinois, he had the automatic support of senior IL GOP leaders and the establishment.

Hackler also had the support of a political organization called Citizens to Change Illinois. Although not officially affiliated with his campaign, the organization sent out mailers attacking Korte with lies, and trying to link her to disgraced former Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan.
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IL GOP Weaponized Postage Discount to Attack Conservative Candidates During Primary ([link removed])
In addition to undeniable evidence of the IL GOP colluding with the Richard Irvin for Governor campaign during the primary, Illinois Review has learned some other disturbing information: the IL GOP was weaponizing their postage discount to attack conservative candidates during the primary.

And in some cases, the IL GOP was taking sides in open primaries and mailing vicious mailers attacking conservative Republican grassroots opponents on behalf of their preferred establishment-backed candidates.

Illinois Review recently reported that the IL GOP’s postage discount was applied to a mailer sent out on behalf of IL Republican State Rep. Tim Butler’s campaign, attacking his fellow Republican grassroots primary opponent Kent Gray. But since the publication of that article, many more candidates have come forward with similar stories of the IL GOP abusing the postage discount in favor of their preferred candidates in the primary.

Illinois Review also has reason to believe that Bailey’s endorsement list became a “hit list” for the IL GOP, where they targeted 7 of the 10 candidates that he endorsed during the primary with negative mailers “Paid for by the Illinois Republican Party” on behalf of their preferred, GOP establishment-backed candidates.
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Exclusive: IL GOP Postage Discount on Mailer Attacking Trump Republican Candidate During Primary ([link removed])
In exclusive audio recently obtained by Illinois Review, IL GOP chairman Don Tracy, during a meeting with conservative leaders in July, admits that the Richard Irvin for Governor campaign was allowed to use the IL GOP Postage discount for mailers – a perk not afforded to other candidates in the governor’s race.

Tracy acknowledges use of the postage discount in the recording, but says the IL GOP was taking its “direction from the House Caucus and the Senate Caucus.”

Former Republican candidate for governor Gary Rabine, who ran against Irvin in the primary, recently published ([link removed]) an article in Illinois Review after learning of this new information in a previous Illinois Review article – demanding that the IL GOP reimburse every gubernatorial candidate for postage – including his campaign.

And just recently, Illinois Review has learned that the IL GOP’s “non-profit” postage discount was applied to a mailer sent out on behalf of IL Republican State Rep. Tim Butler’s campaign, attacking his fellow Republican primary opponent Kent Gray – who was challenging Butler in the IL House Dist. 95 Republican primary race.
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** IL GOP Violates Party Platform,
Pays for and Endorses Pro-Choice Mailer
During 2022 Midterm Election ([link removed])

In a mailer that went out to DuPage County residents just a month before the November election, the wife of Greg Hart, Republican candidate for DuPage County Board Chairman, reiterated that her husband,

“will always protect women’s rights and never restrict our right to choose.”

The problem with the mailer? The mailer was “Paid for by the Illinois Republican Party.”

That’s right, the Illinois Republican Party not only endorsed Hart’s pro-choice mailer, they even attached their name to it and paid for it.
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ILLINOIS REVIEW
Mark A. Vargas, Editor-in-Chief
Scott R. Kaspar, Publisher

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