There have been rumblings that the originally McHenry Township-based coalition nurtured by long-time McHenry County Republican Party Chairman Al Jourdan (who first won that post in 1968) is under severe challenge.
One could tell by looking at all the new names who filed for Republican Precinct Committeeman. (See “Many Vacancies for McHenry County Republican Precinct Committeeman.”)
Members of the new coalition recruited almost one hundred to run or re-run for GOP Precinct Committeeman.
From both factions, 134 people filed.
There were a large number of vacancies–78 out of 212.
Of those who filed and were uncontested, it appeared that the coalition supporting State Rep. Mike Tryon, now GOP Chairman and one of the lineal descendents of Jourdan, would not be able to retain control.
Sandy Salgado
That viewpoint was confirmed by the number of write-in candidacies for Precinct Committeeman which are easily identified as connected to the “Establishment.” (Not all can be so identified, however.)
Some were “Establishment” Party members who had gotten used to being appointed by the Party Chairman or, knowing the practice, thought they didn’t need to spend the time gathering ten signatures to get on the ballot.
Proposed replacements for the current McHenry County Republican Party offices follow:
- Sandra Salgado – Chairman
- Andrew Gasser – Vice Chairman
- Diane Evertsen – Secretary
- Charles Wheeler – Treasurer
If elected at the Party Convention, Salgado would become the first female head of the local GOP.
This “story” is actually quite humorous.
The reality is: 99% of voting Republicans in this county don’t know the “establishment” Republicans NOR the “new coalition” Republicans.
Each group has no more than 150 supporters. Most of the “establishment” types are democrats in their heart and too many of the “new coalition” types are loon-birds.
Neither group has enough political might to carry their own households, let alone have an effect on local Republican voting.
“Neither group has enough political might to carry their own households, let alone have an effect on local Republican voting.”
Taking control of the Central Committee enables one faction or the other to dole out a lot of campaign cash to their favored sons.
A lot of campaign cash?
Give me a break.
The Party is broke.
There’s less than $30,000 in the bank with an almost exclusively volunteer staff.
The McHenry County Republican Party is a misfit social club, not a political entity.
Believe it or not, the Democrats are worse, though.