CHICAGO — More than just picking nominees for governor and other offices, Illinois Republicans’ choices this June 28 primary also will determine the GOP’s future and whether the state party’s gradual move to the right in recent years will accelerate.
“I think if we move too far to the right, we run the risk of being a permanent minority party in Illinois,” said former Gov. Jim Edgar, Illinois’ last two-term Republican governor, who served from 1991 to 1999. “Long term, and even short term, I don’t think that (far-right) positioning of the party is going to mean positive results for us because I just don’t think that’s where the vast majority of Illinoisans are today.”
Much of the party’s future direction will be determined by the GOP’s nominee for governor. The candidates are six men who say that they, to varying degrees, oppose abortion, additional gun regulation, tax-supported services for immigrants living in the country without legal permission and government “handouts.”
