State Rep. Jeanne Ives has thrown her support behind Mark Shaw for Illinois' GOP chair.
State Rep. Jeanne Ives has thrown her support behind Mark Shaw for Illinois' GOP chair.
Committeeman Mark Shaw has bagged the endorsements of state Reps. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) and David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) in his run for chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.
In throwing her support behind Shaw over incumbent chairman Tim Schneider, Ives, who narrowly lost out in her primary run against Gov. Bruce Rauner, touted Shaw’s record as “a commonsense conservative who is unafraid to stand up for our party platform and take on the political ruling class.”
In a press release, she added, “he will work with all members of our party to win races so we can pull this state back from the brink of financial disaster. The current chair has demonstrated neither the willingness nor ability to advance our party in such a direction.”
Mark Shaw
Ives also noted the struggles she said Republican candidates have had gaining statewide office under Schneider’s leadership.
“Simply put, Chairman Schneider has failed as our state party chairman,” she added. “Under his leadership, dozens of Democrats went unchallenged in state legislative seats; he alienated the conservative ILGOP base in the gubernatorial race by choosing sides in a primary; and under Schneider’s leadership a man who proudly associates with the Nazi party is on the ballot as a Republican. His tenure has been an unmitigated disgrace.”
McSweeney added Schneider bares some of the responsibility for 15 legislative Republicans joining forces with Democrats in 2017 to pass the largest permanent tax increase in state history.
“If we cannot agree on no new taxes as Republicans, then we cannot agree on anything,” he added in the release. “Tim Schneider failed to unite our party against a massive tax increase.”
In contrast, McSweeney described Shaw as “a solid conservative who will work to expand the Republican Party,” adding Schneider is "an inept insider who has badly damaged the party of Lincoln and Reagan.”
Ives said she plans to be on hand in Springfield for the ILGOP State Central Committee meeting on May 19, when the election for state party chairman is scheduled to take place.
Alerts Sign-up