Mike Koolidge, filling in for Dan Proft, spoke by phone with Bob Grogan, the newly installed chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, following Grogan’s recent trip to Washington, D.C. for a White House gathering of state party chairs. Grogan said he was among the county and state chairmen who heard directly from President Trump at the event, describing a day spent with the Republican National Committee discussing strategy for the midterm elections. Grogan argued that despite the historical tendency for the party in power to lose ground in midterms, Republicans are entering the cycle in strong financial shape, pointing to what he described as depleted cash reserves on the Democratic side and a costly special election loss in Virginia.
Turning to Illinois specifically, Grogan said he expects Republicans to successfully defend their three congressional seats and suggested the party’s legislative candidates are outperforming expectations in fundraising and grassroots organizing, despite what he characterized as an aggressive Democratic gerrymander of the state’s congressional map. He argued that in drawing districts to disadvantage Republicans as much as possible, mapmakers were forced to create seats that leave some Democratic-held districts more competitive than intended.
Grogan pointed to several Illinois House and Senate races he sees as in play heading into the fall, while acknowledging that turnout, not persuasion alone, will determine the outcome in many of them. He singled out the case of State Representative Carol Ammons of Champaign, who was recently indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges related to allegations that she funneled state grant funds toward payments benefiting her daughter. Grogan said Illinois election rules left Republicans unable to field a candidate against Ammons after no one filed to run in the primary, meaning the party cannot slate a replacement candidate even with the indictment pending. He also noted that Ammons’s husband, a convicted felon, serves as Champaign County clerk and would be responsible for overseeing the county’s vote count, calling the situation emblematic of a broader pattern of self-dealing within the state’s Democratic establishment.
Grogan also discussed a recent trip to Chicago, where conversations with international visitors following the World Cup led him to reflect on the city’s decision not to pursue hosting matches, which he attributed to a lack of cooperation from Democratic officials with FIFA representatives. He argued that Illinois’s reputation abroad continues to be shaped by stories of corruption and high-profile crime, citing a recent case involving a repeat offender who removed a court-ordered ankle monitor and was later found near the governor’s residence, and drew from his own extensive international travel to describe how perceptions of Chicago have shifted over the years.
On statewide races, Grogan discussed a recent meeting with gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey to coordinate campaign strategy and volunteer efforts, and expressed enthusiasm about Don Tracy’s Senate campaign against Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, whom Grogan described as emerging from a divisive and still-unhealed Democratic primary. He argued that Republicans cannot win statewide in Illinois on party turnout alone, given that independents make up a large share of the electorate, and said the party’s strategy depends on persuading those voters that its candidates are simply more qualified. Grogan closed by urging listeners to get involved locally, encouraging them to consider becoming precinct committeemen and to talk with neighbors who may not follow political news closely, framing voter engagement beyond the party’s existing base as essential to the fall campaign.