Category: Post

Chicago, IL – Yesterday, Brandon Johnson took over as Chicago’s 57th Mayor. After years of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s failures, the bar is set low. Nevertheless, Chicago government is likely to get worse. Many residents and business owners are concerned that under Mayor Johnson, Chicago’s troubles of violent crime, infrastructure, failing schools, and cost of living will only get worse.  

“Now that Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union have taken over City Hall, the nation may have to witness damaging progressive utopia politics that will complete the push of this great city to financial ruin. Democrat Socialist Mayor Johnson will be soft on crime and pursue the political agenda of the CTU, instead of the will of the people.  As warm weather and Memorial Day weekend arrives, will we have another ‘Summer of Joy’ in Chicago with anti-police rhetoric and mob takeovers of downtown Chicago?

We wish the great people of Chicago good luck and hope we are wrong about Mayor Johnson,” said Illinois Republican Chairman Don Tracy. 

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Chicago, IL – Last week, the “ComEd Four” were found guilty on all charges related to a conspiracy to bribe Former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, and while this guilty verdict is a reflection on every House Democrat who enabled Former Speaker Madigan and the pervasive culture of corruption in Springfield over the past few decades, more questions remain.

At present, one very large question is why – in December 2020 – now House Speaker Chris Welch, Democratic Party of Illinois Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez, and State Rep. Natalie Manley voted along party lines to shut down the Special Investigating Committee tasked with looking into alleged misconduct by then House Speaker Michael Madigan. This was a clear abdication of their responsibility and duty to taxpayers, and they should have to explain this to their constituents.

“Speaker Chris Welch, Democratic Party of Illinois Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez, and other Democrats on the Special Investigating Committee failed the people of Illinois, and it is no surprise they continue to cover up the truth. Why did Welch and Hernandez refer to the special investigation committee on Madigan a ‘political show’ and ‘sham investigation’? They had the opportunity to uphold their oaths of office and end the culture of corruption but chose not to,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “This guilty verdict only proved what we already knew – that Illinois Democrat corruption is not a Republican talking point but something that is unfortunately real, pervasive, and a serious threat to honest government,” added Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. 

Instead of promoting accountability, and ending the pervasive corruption that has plagued our state, Speaker Welch, Chairwoman Hernandez, and other House Democrats chose to protect the politicians and political insiders by covering for Mike Madigan, and they were rewarded handsomely for their loyalty with major leadership positions in the Democratic Party. In light of last week’s guilty verdict, Welch and Herandez should have to explain this decision to their constituents and all Illinois voters.

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Chicago, IL – Earlier this week, the “ComEd Four” were found guilty on all charges related to a conspiracy to bribe Former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

“Finally, we are starting to see Illinois Democrats held accountable for their corrupt actions. After decades of Democratic insiders putting their personal interests ahead of Illinois residents, it’s now clear that the Madigan Democrat machine corrupted Illinois State government,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.

“Former Speaker Madigan may be gone, but we can’t forget that Illinois Democrats across the state – from Gov. JB Pritzker on down – supported, enabled and kissed the ring of Speaker Madigan,” added Chairman Don Tracy.

In 2020, a special investigation committee was created in the Illinois General Assembly, but then quickly shut down by now House Speaker Chris Welch and Illinois Democratic Party Chairwoman Lisa Hernandez. They abdicated their responsibility to the people of Illinois to cover for Mike Madigan and were rewarded for their loyalty by obtaining major leadership positions in the Democratic Party that they currently hold. Speaker Welch even called the investigation a “political show that was concocted” by Republicans as a “power grab” for the minority party,” but this week’s verdict proved what we already knew – that Illinois Democrat corruption is not a Republican talking point but something that is unfortunately real, pervasive, and a serious threat to honest government.

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Chicago, IL – President Joe Biden announced his re-election campaign through a digital ad, according to a statement released yesterday morning. However, regardless of how many takes, cuts, edits, and sound effects are added, President Biden cannot erase his Administration’s disastrous record over the last four years.

“Americans are deeply concerned about four more years of inflation, out-of-control spending, massive amounts of fentanyl coming across the open border, and rising crime rates as nine major cities recorded record homicide numbers in 2022. In addition to inadequate platforms at home, his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan projected weakness abroad.”

“Families are hurting under Biden’s America as real wages have fallen every month since Biden and Democrats passed their wasteful and inflationary stimulus, and under Biden’s leadership, all 50 states have recorded their highest average gas prices ever,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.

“The simple question every voter across the country should be asking themselves right now is: are you safer, more secure, and more prosperous than you were four years ago? The simple answer is no,” added Chairman Don Tracy.

The President’s re-election announcement further reinforced just how out of touch he is with reality. In the 2024 Presidential Election, voters will choose between two paths for America: a bright future filled with safety, security, and economic prosperity for all Americans; or more of the same from Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

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Chicago, IL – Earlier today, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Kim Foxx announced at the Chicago City Club that she is not seeking re-election. This comes as no surprise to those who have closely followed her two terms in office.

“It’s clear that Kim Foxx sees the writing on the wall and is not seeking re-election because she failed in every aspect as State’s Attorney. Cook County residents are sick and tired of watching her abdicate her basic responsibility to simply enforce the laws on the books and keep violent criminals off the streets,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.

“There’s one thing that Republicans, Democrats and Independent voters can all agree on – her last day can’t come soon enough,” added Chairman Tracy.

Under Kim Foxx’s tenure, we’ve seen the highest number of Assistant State’s Attorney resignations in a decade, a record number of felony cases dropped – including the high-profile Jussie Smolett case – and her adamant refusal to prosecute criminals and promote accountability.

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Chicago, IL – In response to the chaos, violence, and destruction caused by the so-called ‘Chicago Teen Takeover’ last weekend, Chicago Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson sent a clear message to Chicago residents and business owners: ‘don’t demonize criminal behavior by juveniles.’

We hate to break it to Mayor-Elect Johnson, but the residents, businesses and the media aren’t ‘demonizing’ juveniles or the kids as he calls them. Chicago residents are reacting to what can only be described as mass destructive and reckless criminal activity that occurred this past weekend. Not surprisingly, business and community leaders have already begun to question the Mayor-Elect’s leadership.

“It is no surprise that a self-avowed ‘defund the police’ Democrat like Chicago Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson refuses to hold individuals accountable for their violent behavior or clearly condemn their criminal conduct,” said Illinois Republican Chairman Don Tracy. “With warmer weather arriving soon, Chicago residents are worried this will be a ‘Summer of Joy 2.0’ and with an incoming Mayor who will do little or nothing to protect them and their families from mass lawlessness and disorder,” added Chairman Tracy.

Is this the image of Chicago that residents and business owners want to see portrayed nationally and globally at the 2024 DNC Convention next year, an out of control City? If the DNC wanted to showcase rising crime, high taxes, political corruption, declining population and fleeing businesses, they chose well.

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Chicago, IL – This past weekend, hundreds of unsupervised teenagers recklessly swarmed and disrupted Downtown Chicago, prompting a police response and lighting up social media.

“Last weekend’s chaotic and violent scenes came just a few days after the DNC chose Chicago for their convention, and less than two weeks after Chicago elected a mayor who has explicitly expressed his support for defunding the police,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “Unfortunately, Mayor-elect Johnson chose to minimize this violent and disruptive behavior, and refused to hold these unsupervised juveniles accountable for their actions,” added Chairman Tracy.

Will Mayor-elect Johnson take questions today, and will he continue to minimize the chaos and violence we saw take place this weekend?

When Chicago hosts the DNC Convention, the nation will get a primetime look at the harmful Progressive policies that have allowed events like this to become the norm for Chicago residents and businesses.

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Today, the Democratic National Committee announced that they will host their national convention in Chicago. This comes only one week after the city chose to elect Cook County Commissioner, CTU Organizer, and radical socialist Brandon Johnson for Mayor over Paul Vallas.

“It should come as no surprise that the DNC wants to hold their convention in Chicago, where they can put the city’s failed far-left policies on display for the world to see,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.

This past weekend, Chicago experienced yet another violent weekend as 20 people were shot, 3 fatal. The weekend before that another 21 shot, 4 fatal. Crime continues to skyrocket across the City, as the number of carjackings grew by 102% and theft by 56% from 2021 to 2022. Meanwhile, it was reported recently that Cook County lost more than 68,000 residents in 2022, second only to L.A. County.

“Rampant violent crime, out of control taxes, residents and businesses fleeing in droves, and Chicago elects a mayor who wants to defund the police and raise Chicago’s already too high taxes. If this is the type of dangerous and socialistic governance the DNC wants to showcase as a model for the country as a whole, they chose well,” added Chairman Tracy.

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Chicago, IL – The Illinois Republican Party announced today the release of a series of robocalls and text messages over the last week reminding Republicans of the importance of this year’s municipal election and encouraging them to vote early or on Election Day, April 4th. 

The upcoming election is crucial in fighting back against Pritzker and the Democrats nearly $1M in spending to influence local elections. The series of messages from the Illinois Republican Party stress the need for Republicans to show up and vote for local leaders who are not tied to Democrat special interest groups and their pay-to-play politics.

“Every vote counts, especially in lower turnout elections like school board elections,” said Chairman Don Tracy. “Make your plan to vote this Tuesday and help us elect responsible leaders who will uphold our conservative values.”

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Governor Pritzker’s use of his inherited wealth and status to disrupt the democratic process in Illinois knows no limits.

In 2018, Pritzker pledged to the Illinois people that he would veto any partisan drawn legislative redistricting map and said the General Assembly should “amend the constitution to create an independent commission to draw legislative maps.” Instead, Pritzker broke his commitment to vetoing a gerrymandered map by signing the current, hyper-partisan legislative map making no efforts to create a non-partisan remapping process.

In 2022, Pritzker believed he was entitled to choose his preferred GOP candidate in the general election, spending $30M meddling in the Republican Primary.

This year,  Pritzker and the Illinois Democrats are, again, using his inherited wealth to disrupt the democratic process and insert partisan politics into Illinois’ historically, non-partisan municipal elections. This time, under false pretenses, Illinois Democrats are spending hundreds of thousands of Pritzker dollars in paid advertising to try to stack our local governments with leftist, hyper-partisan elected officials.

“Pritzker’s track record is clear. He misleads the people of Illinois with claims of bipartisanship while using his inherited wealth to actively undermine non-partisan local government,” said Chairman Don Tracy. “These local races are focused on the non-partisan local workings of municipal government and ensuring parents have a voice in their children’s education. Pritzker is bankrolling hyper-partisan politics into our local government and communities.”

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