193 Votes! Brady Is GOP Nominee for Illinois Governor

FINALLY, IT'S OFFICIAL: Bill Brady is the Illinois GOP nominee. Kurt Erickson reports: March 5, 2010 - With little fanfare, the Illinois State Board of Elections said the Bloomington real estate developer beat his closest rival, state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, by 193 votes. The results have been in question since the Feb. 2 primary saw Brady leading by 420 votes in unofficial returns. Dillard is slated to make an announcement in Chicago at 1:30 p.m. He has said he would concede the race if the gap between he and Brady was more than 100 votes. According to the state board's tally, Brady received 155,527 votes in the seven-way GOP race. Full Article at Pantagraph.com... MORE: Bill Brady wins Republican nomination for governor by 193 votes Chicago Daily Herald Brady wins Official Vote for GOP Nomination WIFR Bill Brady wins Primary WCIA-3 News Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

McKenna Slammed in Party Ethics Investigation

by Warner Todd Huston Early this month Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady revealed that the state party decided to officially reprimand former GOP Chairman Andy McKenna for misuse of party funds and ethics violations. Despite his ethics violations as chairman, McKenna went ahead and launched his bid to become our next Illinois Governor anyway. Should McKenna win office we'll have gone from one ethically ignorant Governor (George Ryan), to a second (Rod Blagojevich) to a third (McKenna). Illinois is already a laughing stock of corruption, why vote for McKenna and make it worse? Anyway, today the State Journal-Register in Springfield (the State Capitol) released some more information about Andy McKenna's ethics violations and the party's reaction to it.

“The Chairman’s office never informed the Illinois Republican State Central Committee of intent to commission this poll, nor did Andrew McKenna ever request approval to conduct this poll from the … Committee,” the report by the ethics committee of the state party said of the poll, which was done by The Tarrance Group at a cost of $28,300. “At no point before, during or after this poll was taken did the ... Committee receive disclosure from Andrew McKenna pursuant to provisions of the … Committee’s Code of Ethics concerning potential personal benefit, appearance of potential personal benefit or appearance of impropriety.”

How can any Republican support Andy McKenna? With the regrettable political climate that the Democrats have foisted on us here in Illinois why continue that mess under a Republican administration as McKenna will surely do? With this 2010 election we have a chance for real, substantive change in Illinois. Let's not throw it all away by voting for your Judy Baar Topinkas, Jim Ryans and Andy McKennas. Let's not stay with the good old boy network that destroyed the Illinois GOP, shall we? RELATED: Pollgate: McKenna "compounded one ethical misstep with another" Marathon Pundit Pollgate update: Andy "Me"Kenna ducking debates Marathon Pundit Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

Media Alert: Pat Brady Statement on Scott Brown's Victory

For Immediate Release - Jan. 19, 2010 8:23 PM CST / 9:23 PM EST Statement from Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady on Scott Brown's Victory in the Massachusetts Senate Special Election "Today, the citizens of Massachusetts repudiated the first year of President Obama's term by electing their first Republican Senator since 1972. Republicans, Independents and even a substantial segment of Democrat voters turned out to soundly reject the Obama Administration's uncontrolled spending and attempt to nationalize healthcare. Tonight's victory for Republicans reflects a trend that started last November in New Jersey and Virginia. Republicans won Governor's races in these two states, which were won by President Obama in 2008. Since the Democrats took control of Washington last January, Republicans have won 27 of 36 special elections, including gaining a majority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court." "Illinois is next. Like Massachusetts, Illinois is under control of the single-party rule Democrats who have had unbridled control of the State of Illinois for the last eight years and have brought us to the brink of financial collapse. The eyes of the nation will be upon Illinois as we seek to regain the United States Senate seat formerly held by President Obama and retake the Governor’s mansion." Contact 312-201-9000 info@ilgop.org Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

Illinois GOP on Quinn's State of the State Address

For Immediate Release - Jan. 13, 2010 Statement from Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady on Gov. Quinn’s State of the State Address "Governor Quinn’s State of the State address today exemplifies the Illinois Democratic Party’s disconnect from reality. We are a state on the verge of financial collapse. A laundry list of government created jobs, government programs and a bail-out from the Federal Government is not a serious approach to economic and fiscal recovery. We can’t wish away a $90 billion unfunded pension liability." "The People of the State of Illinois will have a clear choice in November between the failed policies of the Quinn/Blagojevich/Madigan single-party rule Democrats and the fiscally responsible approach to running this state articulated by each of our Republican Gubernatorial candidates." Contact 312-201-9000 info@ilgop.org RELATED NEWS: Quinn calls for tax increase in State of the State speech Chicago Tribune Hynes, Quinn Release Dueling Early Release Ads Progress Illinois Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

Special Pulido Bulletin From John Curry

Tells Republicans to vote for "Abraham Lincoln" in 5th Congressional District special election April 7 RELATED UPDATE: "Quigley assured of victory in 5th District—almost" (Chicago Tribune, 03 April 2009) Another un-endorsement of Rosanna Pulido. 32nd Ward Republican Committeeman John Curry alerted me to his April 2nd "special bulletin" regarding Rosanna Pulido. Although Curry has made anti-Pulido statement before, he has not done so in such a public way prior to yesterday's "special bulletin" on his website. Pulido is running as a Republican for in the Illinois 5th Congressional District special election, but the Illinois GOP has done back flips to ignore her. The election is on Tuesday, April 7. Curry encourages Republican voters to protest Pulido by writing in "Abraham Lincoln" on their ballots on April 7: "....I do not endorse Rosanna Pulido or recommend that any Republican vote for her for Congress in the upcoming Special Election. Instead, I encourage all Republican voters who wish to show their support for the true principles of the Republican Party and protest the absence of a worthy candidate on this ballot to cast a write in vote for "Abraham Lincoln" as their candidate. You may ask for assistance from the election judges on how to write in "Abraham Lincoln", and they are required to provide you with that assistance." Pulido has been controversial for a long time, but after she won the primary on March 3 she further ruined her already bad relations with the Illinois GOP by taking on Tom Hoefling as her campaign chair. Hoefling is the National Chairman of America’s Independent Party (AIP), a competing political party that is far to the right of the Republican Party. (See "Encouraging Words from Illinois 5th Congressional District" and "About Rosanna Pulido's Troubled Campaign") More recently, Pulido was exposed for making offensive comments on conservative website Free Republic. I have criticized Mr. Curry previously, but he deserves credit for publicly taking a stand. The IL GOP has not endorsed, and will not endorse Pulido. Nor will the party's state leadership muster up the nerve to do what Mr. Curry has done with his "bulletin." Shame on the IL GOP. Kudos to Mr. Curry, who posted his Pulido bulletin on the 32nd Ward Committeman website. The full text of is reproduced below. (Also see related post "Abe for Congress" at The Abraham Lincoln Observer.) SPECIAL ELECTION FOR UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN - 5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT SPECIAL ELECTION, TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2009 SPECIAL BULLETIN FROM WARD COMMITTEEMAN JOHN CURRY "I DO NOT ENDORSE ROSANNA PULIDO" "I wish to report to Republicans in the 32nd Ward and in the 5th Congressional District that I do not endorse Rosanna Pulido. Since the primary election and more particularly over the last two weeks, I have become aware of extremely disturbing information relating to Ms. Pulido. That information can be summarized as follows: Pulido has an established relationship with another political party, America's Independent Party. Pulido has not dispelled concerns that she is running as a "Trojan Horse" candidate, one who exploits the name of the Republican Party to her personal advantage only to promote a non-Republican or anti-Republican, fringe agenda. Pulido is on record as making groundless and reprehensible remarks, unworthy of a good citizen, disparaging the Cardinal of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, gays, Mexicans, African Americans, and others. Little, if anything, is known about Pulido's personal and professional background. Pulido has refused to respond to reasonable requests from the Republican Party to account for her actions and the actions of her campaign or to cooperate with the Republican Party in any professional or reasonable way. Based on the above, I do not endorse Rosanna Pulido or recommend that any Republican vote for her for Congress in the upcoming Special Election. Instead, I encourage all Republican voters who wish to show their support for the true principles of the Republican Party and protest the absence of a worthy candidate on this ballot to cast a write in vote for "Abraham Lincoln" as their candidate. You may ask for assistance from the election judges on how to write in "Abraham Lincoln", and they are required to provide you with that assistance. I take this action in order to uphold the integrity of the name of the Republican Party." /s/ Hon. John J. Curry, 32nd Ward Republican Committeeman and Vice Chairman at Large of the Cook County Republican Central Committee. Chicago News Bench RSS Feed CommieBama Hats and More

IL GOP Chair on New RNC Chair

Andy McKenna is the Illinois GOP Chairman. His comments about Michael Steele's election as the new chair of the Republican National Committee: ILGOP Chairman Statement on Steele election to RNC ChairmanshipShare Today at 3:13pm "Today, Republicans sent a message to Americans that our party is ready for a new generation of leaders focused on the future. Michael Steele will lead a Republican Party that reaches out to every citizen, regardless of political persuasion, in every city, county and town in America. ”In Illinois, Republicans share that message because Blagojevich Democrats have embarrassed our state and the people of Illinois are hungry for change. ”The same message of lower taxes, less government, higher ethical standards and reform we are talking about in Illinois are the principles embodied by Michael Steele and embraced by the overwhelming majority of our country. ”Pat Brady and I are proud to be a part of the leadership team involved in Michael Steele's historic election as are the thousands of grassroots supporters in Illinois who are eager for Chairman Steele's first visit to our state.” ---Andy McKenna ILGOP Chairman CNB RSS Feed

"Friends of Blago" Group Push For Special Election

Andy McKenna is a busy guy, even in normal times. With the Blagojevich scandal still fresh and still developing, he's especially busy. As Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, McKenna is suddenly adjusting his schedule to respond to widespread corruption charges of Democrat governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich. McKenna has formed a new online group called "Friends of Blago" (www.friendsofblago.com), which features a petition that urges asks Illinois lawmakers to authorize a special election to fill the US Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. McKenna says it would be better to allow the people to decide who should fill that seat rather than allow "Blagojevich Democrats" to make the decision. "How can Blagojevich Democrats appoint the nest U.S. Senator," the web site asks, "when they are part of the problem?" McKenna, through the web site, says that the Democrat-dominated political system that empowered Blagojevich, who has been charged with trying to "sell" the Senate seat, should not be allowed to name another of their own to fill it. The site also says, "Governor Rod Blagojevich has put a 'For Sale' sign on the Illinois state capitol for years. Now he has put a 'For Sale' sign on the important job of filling the seat currently held by President-Elect Barack Obama." Republicans are not the only ones calling for a special election. Democrats like Barack Obama and US Senator Dick Durbin favor a special election, too. For that matter, even Blagojevich is toying with the idea of a special election; since he can no longer sell the seat, he's got nothing to lose by giving it back to the people. The Sun-Times has an editorial today that also calls for a special election: "It is time to go beyond partisan politics," says the editorial, "to let the voters select who they believe can best represent Illinois in the Senate -- with diligence, competency and, above all, honesty. A special election will be costly, but it is absolutely necessary now to lift the confidence of voters in their government." According to Rasmussen Reports, most Illinoisans favor a special election: Sixty-six percent (66%) of all Illinois voters say the state should hold a special election to fill Obama’s Senate seat rather than let Governor Rod Blagojevich or his successor appoint a replacement. Twenty-one percent (21%) disagree, and 13% are undecided," says the December 11 report. (Source) Friends of Blago urges people to sign their petition for a special election "giving the power back to the people" and "We can't let more Blagojevich Democrats make this decision for the people of Illinois. Join the fight - Bring change to Illinois." RELATED: Quinn a good man, but voters should pick senator Blago warms up to idea of special election for US Senate seat Illinois GOP hopes to regain some power Ill. Lawmakers to Consider Impeachment Chicago Tribune - About that Senate seat 66% of Illinois Voters Support a Special Election Obama Calls for Blagojevich Resignation, Special Election Area legislators, party leaders weigh in on Blagojevich arrest ...