In a surprise move, Republican state chairman Tim Schneider and his challenger, Mark Shaw, chairman of the Lake County Republicans, struck a deal just a few days before party elections to serve as state co-chairmen.

The latest skirmish in the campaign victims rights activist Denise Rotheimer is waging, nearly single-handedly, to give rights to accusers in sexual harassment charges within the General Assembly erupted before the House Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination recently.

John McGlasson can empathize with Bob Winchester and his ongoing fight in the 15th congressional district to get a true counting of the votes in his contentious battle with state Sen. Chapin Rose (Mahomet) for State Central Committee.

Two Republican state senators, Jason Barickman (Bloomington) and Chris Nybo (Elmhurst), voted for legislation that would require lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lessons in the Illinois public schools, and the head of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) promises their constituents are going to hear about it. Repeatedly.

An attorney representing Bob Winchester, who is challenging the Illinois Republican Party (IRP) over alleged improper voting procedures in the race for State Central Committeeman in the 15th congressional district, said that the announced race results were determined by a “group of unelected and merely appointed staff members” who have “personal and financial interests” in the re-election of current state GOP Chairman Tim Schneider.

Legislation the House approved late last week that establishes a state-managed workers’ compensation insurer of last resort is little more than a political stunt by Springfield Democrats to turn attention away from the need for real reform in the system, Eugene Keefe, law school professor and editor of the Workers’ Compensation Law Update, said.

Sources tell Prairie State Wire that a dispute in the April 18 election for Republican State Central Committeemen in the 15th congressional district is almost certain to wind up in court with the Illinois State Board of Election’s insistence that it has no authority to investigate intra-party elections.

Mark Shaw, Lake County Republican chairman, is running for state chairman of a party crippled by infighting with a warning that Illinois is on its way to becoming a ghost state if the Democrats regain complete power in Springfield.

Sources have told Prairie State Wire that Bob Winchester has retained counsel to challenge the voting procedures used in his race for Republican State Central Committee in the 15th Congressional District, which the Illinois Republican Party claims was won by Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet).

Democratic legislators are taking a huge political risk citing the Village of Deerfield as a model in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s April 17 approval of legislation giving local governments the right to regulate firearms, Second Amendment advocates say.

A statewide government watchdog group is compiling evidence to mount a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Gov. Bruce Rauner and his administration for numerous violations of the law enacted to bring more transparency to government operations.

State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) works for a hospital, and used to lobby for one. So when considering a bill in Springfeld last week that would have allowed Illinois surgeons to set up their own independent facilities, effectively competing with hospitals like his employer, Demmer was emphatically opposed.

With Republican help, legislation that would deliver more competition to the health care industry remained bottled up in the House Human Services Committee after an April 10 hearing on the bill.

Dustin Peterson, chair of the DeWitt County Republican Party who is challenging Springfield’s Fred Floreth for his Central Committee post in the 13th congressional district, has a colorful past.

Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider is in for the fight of his life when the members of the Republican State Central Committee choose a state chairman in May, conservative members of the party say.

Elementary and high school textbooks would need to include a study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people under proposed legislation, SB3249, which was recently discussed by the Senate Education Committee.

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s last-minute campaign ads linking his primary opponent Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) to House Speaker Michael Madigan were so “egregiously dishonest” that Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) hopes they lead to changes in voter behavior in the general election and beyond.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is misleading the public by claiming that having a state budget in place has allowed Illinois to reduce its backlog of bills, fiscal experts say.

For Gov. Bruce Rauner to have any chance in November, he needs the support -- any level of support he can get -- of Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), who nearly sent him packing in the March primary.

More than three weeks after the March 20 primary, a political website attacking the Republican primary candidate for the 56th House District, Jillian Rose Bernas, is still up.