Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Republican Party faces a grim future if significant changes aren't made soon, according to the committeeman who this past weekend asked state GOP Chairman Tim Schneider to resign.

"The Republican voters own the party and the party should be listening to the voters," Illinois Republican Party 16th Congressional District Rep. John McGlasson told Prairie State Wire during a recent email interview. "If the party continues as it is, there will be little left after 2020."

In his letter read into the record during the Republican State Central Committee's meeting over the weekend in which McGlasson called for Schneider to resign, he also described what the GOP should be looking for in its next chairman.

Illinois Republican Party 16th Congressional District Representative John McGlasson | Photo courtesy of John McGlasson

"Someone able to fulfill the mission of serving the county, township and ward organizations with logistics and training," McGlasson said in the letter. "To bring the technology of the party up to date and arrange for on-site training to the organizations."

McGlasson's letter and interview come less than a year after now former Gov. Bruce Rauner allegedly tried to purge him and other Conservatives in the Illinois GOP's central committee. Last April, McGlasson was re-elected 16th Congressional District State Central Committeeman.

Schneider removed McGlasson from the State Central Committee's executive committee over McGlasson's support of now former State Rep. Jeanne Ives' failed primary race against then incumbent Governor Rauner. Despite the consequences he suffered for supporting Ives, McGlasson said he isn't concerned about any retribution over his call for Schneider to resign.

"There is little that they can do to me," he said. "They already tried to win my seat without success. Being involved in the Illinois Republican Party has been personally expensive and I have never earned a dime from it. Unfortunately, the leaders will consider this a victory and will continue to ignore social conservatives."

Notwithstanding, McGlasson said he is certain which direction the party needs to go.

"As I said in my letter, I would like to see someone with administrative skills as the chairman," he said. "I suggested that we take applications from interested Republicans."

And there are interested Republicans, McGlasson said.

"I have heard from some, so I think that there would be a good pool of candidates," he said. "We need someone who can recruit and train a working staff that can, in turn, work with the local organizations to build a 'get out the vote' network. We need person-to-person contact, not analytics. The other party certainly beat us on that last November."