Halfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party.
Tracy, who鈥檇 held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in a two-page letter that cited intraparty 鈥減ower struggles.鈥� He also said he is concerned about the direction the party is taking under the current membership of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee 鈥� a 17-person body that steers the ILGOP, with one member elected from each congressional district.
鈥淚n better days, Illinois Republicans came together after tough intra party elections,鈥� Tracy wrote. 鈥淣ow however, we have Republicans who would rather fight other Republicans than engage in the harder work of defeating incumbent Democrats by convincing swing voters to vote Republican.鈥�
Tracy was narrowly elected Illinois Republican Party chair in the wake of the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol by those who sought to stop certification of the election for its winner, President Joe Biden, over former President Donald Trump. Even as Republicans publicly reckoned with the events of Jan. 6, hardline conservatives on the state central committee were pushing for a more ardent supporter of Trump and his politics than the previous chair, who was hand-picked by former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Instead, the party got Tracy, another Rauner ally who served as chair of the Illinois Gaming Board during the one-term governor鈥檚 administration. Tracy had unsuccessfully run for lieutenant governor in 2010, and in 2002, he lost a bid for a state Senate seat 鈥� but as a Democrat.
Tracy鈥檚 electoral history, as well as his experience as an attorney and co-owner of his family鈥檚 food distribution business, fit the mold of previous ILGOP chairs in a state where fiscally conservative and socially moderate suburban Republicans for decades were a political powerhouse.
But as Republican politics have changed both nationally and in Illinois, Tracy鈥檚 run as party chair proved tumultuous.
In the 2022 election cycle, Tracy鈥檚 first at the helm, Republicans lost big at the state level despite picking up one seat in the state Senate.
Even so, Tracy survived a no-confidence vote last spring and was holding onto power until this week.
In his letter, Tracy cited 鈥渞ecent events,鈥� including state central committee members earlier this week removing one of their own from his position as state party vice chair 鈥渨ithout due process.鈥� Tracy wrote the move 鈥減ortends a direction of the State Party I am not comfortable with.鈥�
According to , Mark Shaw, a state central committee member from Illinois鈥� 10th Congressional District, was stripped of his title and removed from the party鈥檚 fundraising committee on Monday. The vote was a rebuke of his behavior at a state party convention last month where he allegedly voted as a delegate despite not being one, and challenged another Republican official to a fight, the paper reported.
Additionally, Tracy wrote that he was 鈥渃oncerned about the current infatuation鈥� of some state central committee members 鈥渨ith certain individuals they call 鈥榞rass roots鈥� leaders.鈥�
One such self-proclaimed grassroots Republican, former state Sen. Darren Bailey, celebrated Tracy鈥檚 resignation Wednesday, calling it a 鈥渃leansing鈥� of the state GOP.
鈥淔ake republicans got us into this mess,鈥� wrote Bailey, who earlier this year lost a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost and unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022. 鈥淩eal Republicans standing firm will get us out!!!鈥�
The state鈥檚 Democratic Party 鈥� which had its own leadership fight two years ago 鈥� took the opportunity to gloat about the 鈥渃haos鈥� within the ILGOP, claiming Democrats are a 鈥渦nited party鈥� ahead of the November election.
Democrats panned the state GOP as 鈥渄efined by a litany of electoral disasters, constant infighting, meager fundraising, and a strict adherence to a losing set of anti-choice, anti-worker, pro-Trump policies.鈥�
鈥淲hile we don鈥檛 expect new leadership to change any of that, we do wish the best of luck to the inevitable MAGA extremist who will succeed Don Tracy as Chair,鈥� the party said.
Tracy鈥檚 letter indicated he would resign upon the election of a successor, 鈥減referably no later than鈥� July 19 鈥� the day after the RNC is scheduled to conclude.
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