Just six weeks remain before candidates will be able to start passing their petitions around- but there are a couple of big holes in the Illinois GOP. Nonetheless, the Democratic side seems to be quite set, and unless a big surprise comes their way, it ought to be a completely incumbent slate of Governor J.B. Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Mike Frerichs- the Treasurer, and Susana Mendoza.
The only competition that they might face would be the question of succeeding Jesse White, the Secretary of State- where a brawl has turned up between Alexi Giannoulias, Anna Valencia, Pat Dowell, and David Moore.
The Race Is Getting Dirty In Illinois GOP
On the other hand, the Illinois GOP Republicans have been quite late to the party. Except the competition that has been thrown towards succeeding Pritzker, currently, it is just a single candidate per office at the moment. Even the race for Governor is not set yet. With Rep. Rodney Davis out of the pool and seeking reelection to Congress, the official field comprises Gary Rabine, Jesse Sullivan, Darren Bailey, and Paul Schimpf.
Adam Kinzinger might also make a comeback, but being a harsh critic of Donald Trump, it might be tough for him.
The Illinois GOP also harbors major doubts as to whether Kinzinger would really want to spend his time parsing reimbursement rates of Medicaid, and similar operations in Springfield when he has gotten acclimatized to the spotlight on a far more national stage. But on the other side of the coin, none of the declared candidates haven’t exactly set the world on fire. This is precisely why most of the top party insiders, such as Ron Gidwitz, have been searching far and wide for a reform-minded business person for the job.
If the Republicans have a candidate for attorney general or comptroller, they have been keeping it under wraps. Don Tracy, the Chairman of the Illinois GOP has failed to respond to any requests for comments.