GOP Candidates for Governor Double Down on Trump
The four major GOP candidates for Governor, businessman Rick Heidner, former Sen. Darren Bailey, DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick, and conservative policy activist Ted Dabrowski at a forum in Tazewell County earlier this month.
Ask any Republican insider or operative, and they’ll tell you for a GOP candidate to be competitive against Gov. JB Pritzker this fall, they have to begin to make inroads with moderate suburban voters that have left the party in droves in the Trump era.
But to get through the March 17 Republican primary for governor, many of the candidates are doubling down on the president unpopular with the general election electorate who remains vastly popular among party faithful who will vote in a primary.
Suburban businessman Rick Heidner, who is attempting to stand up a campaign with just weeks to go before the March primary, has used social media as a place to show his loyalty to Trump over protests against ICE actions in Minneapolis.
“Federal agents are doing heroic work in Minnesota, but they shouldn’t have to,” Heidner’s campaign Twitter account posted less than 24 hours after Customs and Border Patrol agents caused widespread outrage after shooting and killing a protestor. “Sanctuary policies from [Minnesota Gov. Tim] Walz, [Minnesota Attorney General Keith] Ellison, and [Minneapolis Mayor Jacob] Frey created the problem. I’ll always back law enforcement and leaders like [Attorney General Pam] Bondi who tell the truth.”
Heidner has gone out of his way to refer to himself as a “Trump Republican” in ads.
Former Sen. Darren Bailey, seen as the frontrunner in the race, has often made public statements in support of Trump and has criticized Gov. JB Pritzker’s responses to Trump.
Ted Dabrowski, the former Illinois Policy Institute staffer who most recently ran the conservative Wirepoints website, has gone out of his way not to mention Trump’s name.
But one of his top campaign operatives, former Rep. Jeannie Ives, tweeted a statement attacking the protester killed by CBP agents Saturday. Another operative, radio host Dan Proft, posted a similar comment but later deleted it.
“They know what works with Republican voters,” said one GOP operative, who is not affiliated with any campaign. “They are prepared to set themselves up to guarantee a loss in the general election to pander enough to win the primary. It’s throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
