From the desk of John Lopez: Lauf’s victory is a win, but does not impress me she is nothing more than “sizzle” as her transition to the general election begins
First, I will say I do congratulate Catalina Lauf (R, Woodstock) on her Republican primary victory in the 11th Congressional District where she bested 5 candidates with a plurality of 31.1% of the vote.
The Associated Press (AP) has yet to call the IL-11 Republican primary race, but that is merely a formality which should happen sooner than later, but the AP will take their own time.
As a win is a win, and with Illinois’ winner-take-all primary elections, Lauf will face Congressman Bill Foster (D, Naperville) this fall.
Before Lauf begins sending out emails/letters, the first thing Lauf will need to do, prior to 11:59PM CDT Thursday night, June 30, is to raise as much money as she can, so all of her supporters during the primary can begin helping Lauf prepare for November 8 by helping her raise cash, which will be reported to the FEC two weeks from Friday.
As Lauf continues transitioning for the general election campaign, many of the points brought up back in the June 19 article “Day after Primary and What Happens to Winner” will begin to happen.
Lauf, for the first time will face brutal attacks, through TV ads and other means going forward by either Foster’s campaign, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) or one of the Democratic super PACs like the House Majority PAC.
Nothing Lauf has faced to date has prepared her for the onslaught that is coming. Lauf, going back to 2019, has claimed to be a “fighter”, and now will be when all find out if Lauf really is what she claims.
Here’s an example of what’s coming. This late Tuesday night tweet from the DCCC targeting newly minted Republican nominee Esther Joy King (R, IL-17), transcribed for ease of reading:
“Esther Joy King won the IL-17 GOP primary.
“Before repeatedly calling for and praising SCOTUS’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Esther touted Trump’s Big Lie and oversaw the loss of thousands of jobs in the state under Governor Rauner.
“She has no business serving in Congress.”
DCCC tweet, 6/28/22
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Just think, Esther Joy King never worked within the Trump Administration or for Governor Rauner’s reelection campaign as Lauf has.
As for me, I’ll be writing more about this general election match-up, either here on McHenry County Blog or on Illinois Family Action, and explain fully, in spite of her primary win Tuesday, my opinion of Lauf remains unchanged.
But for the immediate future, I’ll be watching how Lauf begins her transition to a general election campaign, and how she weathers the first of many attacks the Democrats and their allies will throw at her, as soon as today.
