Recap of the vote on the Presidential Delegate selection process for the IL GOP

I drove the 5 hour round trip from Osco to Bolingbrook to participate in the Republican State Central Committee (SCC) meeting. The main part of the meeting revolved around whether Illinois Republicans should change from electing delegates and alternates directly by the voters, or eliminate that opportunity for the grassroots and instead have the winning , with sign-off from the SCC, hand pick who they want to reward with the delegate slots after the votes are counted. I wrote on why this change would be terrible for our grassroots democracy yesterday on this blog. A NO vote supports our current system and respects amd encourages grassroots democracy.
1 CD – Steve Daglas – NO
2 CD – Judy Diekelman (by proxy) – NO
3 CD – Angel Garcia – NO
4 CD – VACANT (Cicero area)
5 CD – Skip Saviano – PASS then YES
6 CD – Chris Kachiroubas – NO
7 CD – Carol Smith Donovan – YES
8 CD – Gene Dawson – NO
9 CD – Jack Dorgan – NO
10 CD – Tolbert Chishum – NO
11 CD – Bobbie Peterson (by proxy) – NO
12 CD – Deb Detmers Fansler – YES
13 CD – Roger Claar – NO
14 CD – Jim Oberweis – YES
15 CD – Jerry Clarke -YES
16 CD – Dave Syverson – YES
17 CD – Judy Dudek – NO
18 CD – Mike Bigger – YES
19 CD – Bob Winchester – NO

Let me present who I think the winners were in this important battle for the heart of the Republican Party.

1) State Treasurer Dan Rutherford who first notified the grassroots and County Chairs of this pending power grab and presented intelligent rationale for voting NO. He came to the meeting and led the opposition speakers with convincing arguments.
2) Steve Daglas from District 1. The youngest member of the State Central Committee had clearly done his homework and made cogent points. His predecessor on the SCC, the late, great Maureen Murphy, is surely smiling down upon Steve for his
principled position on this.
3) Elosie Gerson, the 42nd Ward Committeeman, who presides over the strongest Republican Ward in the city, gave a passionate statement on how the Presidential petition process builds the grassroots and gets new people rooted in the party.
4) The Tea Party in Illinois which was represented by stalwarts like Chris Arndt of Bureau County, Art Havenhill of LaSalle County, and Rick Newton of Bartlett and the Tri-County Tea Party. All Tea Party leaders in attendance who spoke voiced NO positions. Grassroots Republican and Tea Party leader Adam Andrzejewski weighed in on the NO side on his Facebook page.
5) Roger Claar, the Mayor of Bolingbrook, had the foresight to reserve the Bolingbrook Country Club and have an open and transparent meeting that allowed all sides to comment and participate. He voted NO.

Let’s hope for more meetings like this in the future where all business of the party is open and inviting to the grassroots.