Day 47: Rauner’s Ives Problem Re-Emerges as She Formally Backs Anti-Rauner Party Chairman

Governor Bruce Rauner’s struggling reelection campaign got more bad news this weekend as state Representative Jeanne Ives announced she would back the effort to take down Rauner’s handpicked party chairman. The Illinois GOP Party Chairman election has turned into an ugly affair and threatens to enflame the party’s open wounds.
Rauner recently told a radio station he was “unifying all Republicans,” but the truth is he’s done next-to-nothing to bring disgruntled Republican voters back into the fold. He lied about his interactions with Ives, failed to hold any “unifying” event, and now is using the same attack that infuriated Ives’ supporters on his new Republican opponent, state Senator Sam McCann.
“The last thing Rauner needs right now is another reminder that nearly half the Republican Party wanted to dump him,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Voters of all parties sent Rauner a powerful message that they were sick and tired of his failed leadership — and it’s clear he still hasn’t learned his lesson.”