Illinois GOP rift deepens as former leader backs Pritzker over Bailey | The Chicago Report

Welcome back to Chicago Report.

Illinois Republicans haven't won a statewide race since 2014.

Now, one of their former leaders is backing the Democratic governor.

Jim Durkin is endorsing J.B. Pritzker over Darren Bailey.

Political reporter Brandon Pope is here with what it says about the future of the GOP here in Illinois and the inner turmoil in the party, Brandon.

Yeah, the Republicans are fighting, scrapping back and forth over this, and really the future of the party is what the big topic of discussion is so far.

Republicans are trying to end a 12-year statewide losing streak, but they're heading into this election divided because Jim Durkin, who once led the party in the Illinois House, today he's urging voters to keep a Democrat seat.

in the governor's office.

Now, Durkin tells me he didn't want to sit on the sidelines or waste his vote, and he hopes speaking up might be a wake-up call to the state GOP, which has struggled in the Trump era.

Durkin and Pritzker have been political opponents, going back and forth on many issues, but also They worked together in Springfield on a lot of stuff, too.

Durkin also served alongside Darren Bailey and says he does not trust him to lead Illinois based on a style he likens to subtraction, not addition.

Now, Durkin has blamed Donald Trump for driving away moderate suburban voters, once a foundation of Republican strength in Illinois.

Now he's questioning Bailey's ability to lead it.

I'm speaking as a suburban Republican.

I could have said nothing.

I've been out of this for four years, but I have so much respect for the Republican Party that I could not sit idle.

And as I said in my statements, I'm not going to waste my vote this November like I did last time.

I'm voting for a person who I know who he is.

I know what he can accomplish, which I will disagree with, but a person who I can trust running the state of Illinois, and that's Governor Pritzker.

And Durkin is not alone in his concerns for the state party.

Former Illinois GOP Chair Pat Brady longs for the days of a competitive two-party state back when Governor Jim Edgar won nearly every county in Illinois, not just downstate ones.

I

said this 10 years ago, that Donald Trump would be the destruction of the Illinois Republican Party because MAGA, the reality is, just doesn't work in a state like Illinois, a big economically and otherwise diverse state.

MAGA politics don't work.

It works downstate, it works for Darren Bailey, but it doesn't work for the rest of the party in the highly populated, high voter-rich areas.

Welcome back to Chicago Report.

Illinois Republicans haven't won a statewide race since 2014.

Now, one of their former leaders is backing the Democratic governor.

Jim Durkin is endorsing J.B. Pritzker over Darren Bailey.

Political reporter Brandon Pope is here with what it says about the future of the GOP here in Illinois and the inner turmoil in the party, Brandon.

Yeah, the Republicans are fighting, scrapping back and forth over this, and really the future of the party is what the big topic of discussion is so far.

Republicans are trying to end a 12-year statewide losing streak, but they're heading into this election divided because Jim Durkin, who once led the party in the Illinois House, today he's urging voters to keep a Democrat seat.

in the governor's office.

Now, Durkin tells me he didn't want to sit on the sidelines or waste his vote, and he hopes speaking up might be a wake-up call to the state GOP, which has struggled in the Trump era.

Durkin and Pritzker have been political opponents, going back and forth on many issues, but also They worked together in Springfield on a lot of stuff, too.

Durkin also served alongside Darren Bailey and says he does not trust him to lead Illinois based on a style he likens to subtraction, not addition.

Now, Durkin has blamed Donald Trump for driving away moderate suburban voters, once a foundation of Republican strength in Illinois.

Now he's questioning Bailey's ability to lead it.

I'm speaking as a suburban Republican.

I could have said nothing.

I've been out of this for four years, but I have so much respect for the Republican Party that I could not sit idle.

And as I said in my statements, I'm not going to waste my vote this November like I did last time.

I'm voting for a person who I know who he is.

I know what he can accomplish, which I will disagree with, but a person who I can trust running the state of Illinois, and that's Governor Pritzker.

And Durkin is not alone in his concerns for the state party.

Former Illinois GOP Chair Pat Brady longs for the days of a competitive two-party state back when Governor Jim Edgar won nearly every county in Illinois, not just downstate ones.

I

said this 10 years ago, that Donald Trump would be the destruction of the Illinois Republican Party because MAGA, the reality is, just doesn't work in a state like Illinois, a big economically and otherwise diverse state.

MAGA politics don't work.

It works downstate, it works for Darren Bailey, but it doesn't work for the rest of the party in the highly populated, high voter-rich areas.