Possible Rauner Lt. Governor Choice Running with Bill Brady Instead, Maria Rodriguez, R.I.P.

In 2013, Maria Rodriguez attended Irene Napier’s Pro-Life Pig Roast. Here she talks with Nancy Cole of Crystal Lake.

When GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Rauer campaigned at the Turnberry Country Club, Marie Rodriguez was in attendance.

She told me she had been approached by Rauner to be his running mate, but was undecided.

Maria Rodriguez chats with U.S. Senator Jim DeMint at the 2010 Family PAC Cruise.

Perhaps the reason was that Rauner was not Pro-Life, although Rauner attended the same Pig Roast, along qith all the other GOP gubernatorial hopefuls.

She obviously decided not to take rauner’s offer, running with Bill Brady instead.

Maria Rodriguez and Bill Brady hold a spirited conversationin 2010 on board while 32nd Ward Republican Committeeman John Curry, now a Cook County Cirtuit Court Judge from the Barrington area, observes.

She now has died at age 62.

In 2010, she ran for the Republican nomination for Congress in thr 8th District, a contest won by Joe Walsh.

Here is her obituary:

Maria Rodriguez

Maria Dolores Rodriguez (nee Rengers), age 62, of Long Grove for 33 years. Beloved wife of Raymond “Ray” Rodriguez for 41 years.

Loving mother of Leah (Ryan) McKeithan, Raymond Rodriguez Jr., and Sophia (Christopher) Dahle.

Dear grandmother of Dean and Dylan.

Cherished daughter of Dolores (nee Geisler) and the late Leo Rengers.

Fond sister of David (Debi) Rengers, Anthony “AJ” (Brenda) Rengers, Alexander (Maria) Rengers, Barbara (Thomas) Labotka, and John Rengers. Aunt, Cousin and Friend of Many.

Maria grew up in Glenview, IL graduated from Marillac High School and University of Illinois, Chicago.

She was the past Village President, Trustee and Clerk of Long Grove.

She served as liturgical coordinator for St. Mary Parish, Buffalo Grove and was active in the Chicago Diocese.

For 23 years, Maria was shepherd to a herd of livestock in Long Grove.

She was proud to be a published author and an esteemed public speaker.

Maria battled cancer and kept her positive spirit until her final breath.

She passed away peacefully surrounded by her adoring family. Maria will be deeply missed by her family, her dog Truman and multitude of friends.

Memorial Visitation Wednesday, 3-8 pm at Kolssak Funeral Home, 189 S. Milwaukee Ave. (2 Blocks South of Dundee Road), Wheeling. Memorial Mass Thursday, 12:30 pm at St. Mary Catholic Church, 10 N. Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove, IL. In lieu of flowers donations to donor’s favorite charity.

To leave a condolence or for more information, visit www.funerals.pro or call 847-537-6600.


Comments

Possible Rauner Lt. Governor Choice Running with Bill Brady Instead, Maria Rodriguez, R.I.P. — 12 Comments

  1. Very sad news indeed. God rest her soul.

    A wonderful person has passed too soon.

  2. Rinos can be ‘officially’ pro-life, but it is rare.

    This Lady was a perfect example.

    Dumps Rauner for Brady.

    Wow.

    Ask Mrs. Ives about her, and why she backed Rauner instead of Ives…. if she was so damn pro life.

  3. There are at least three Brady guys that get talked about in Illinois politics: Bill, Dan, and Pat.

    Some of them may even be related.

    I believe it is Pat Brady who is considered the biggest RINO.

    I’ve also heard not so great things about Dan from some people.

    Dan Brady is in the IL House of Reps.

    I met some guy who said he wanted to run against Dan Brady at a Darren Bailey event one time but don’t remember his name.

    https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-05-14/gop-leaders-say-moderate-governor-candidate-key-in-2022

    “He was joined on the panel by state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington and former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady. The event was moderated by state Sen. Jason Barickman, also of Bloomington.”

    “[Pat] Brady said that Cheney, along with Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, did the right thing in refusing to collude in the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.”

    Pat is the one who pushed for gay marriage and worked with the ACLU.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Brady_(politician)

    Pat Brady hates Donald Trump

    https://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/pat-brady-john-kasich-donald-trump-shot-217073
    Kasich co-chair on Trump: ‘You’ve got to take him out with a head shot’

    https://www.sj-r.com/article/20151222/NEWS/151229898
    “Pat Brady, a former chairman of the Illinois GOP who is now a co-chair of the Kasich campaign in Illinois, was on Chicago’s WGN radio last week discussing how candidates performed in the latest Republican presidential debate. Brady said Tuesday that his comments are being taken out of context by Trump.”

    https://www.tspr.org/post/illinois-republican-seeking-dump-trump-says-movement-done-good

    “Leading up to the Republican National Convention, Pat Brady was actively working to change the party’s rules, so that someone other than Trump could grab the nomination.”

    The Brady who ran for governor in 2010 and 2014 was Bill Brady, a former state senator, and he was very conservative on abortion, so much that it cost him the election in a red wave year against lame duck Pat Quinn who was reeling from the Blago scandal.

    Bill Brady ran with Maria Rodriguez as his running mate in 2014. That same year Mark Kirk managed to win a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. GOP also went from 7 to 11 seats in the U.S. House out of 19. (It’s crazy to think they had 11/19 seats 10 years ago and now they have 5/18 and will soon go down to 3/17.)

    Bill Brady campaigned on no abortion period even for rape.

    He was seen as an extremist.

    Quinn was seen as particularly vulnerable — there wasn’t a whole lot of excitement about him from Democrats.

    Same was true in 2014 when he finally lost to Rauner.

    http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2010/08/25/jack-franks-not-supporting-pat-quinn-for-governor/

    Even though Quinn wasn’t that popular with people in his own party, he still defeated Bill Brady.

    Bill Brady ran for governor in 2010 and lost to Pat Quinn because he was seen as too conservative on abortion.

    Then he ran again in 2014 but Rauner won the primary and Rauner was pro-choice (although I don’t know if primary voters realized that or not).

    Many conservative activists and talking heads definitely knew that about some of Rauner’s liberal stances but concealed the information because they believed he had the best chance of winning due to him being a billionaire.

    They were probably correct — but I also think some of those people like perhaps Carol Davis, Dan Proft, Pat Hughes and others shouldn’t be trusted so much…

    Rauner also had big business backing.

    I think some people may have been paid to keep quiet.

    The other gubernatorial candidates in 2014 in addition to Bill Brady and Bruce Rauner were Kirk Dillard, who was a controlled opposition candidate being overtly supported by a bunch of union and Democrat groups, and Dan Rutherford, the former Treasurer of Illinois from 2011-2015 (he too won a statewide seat in 2010, unlike Bill Brady, and so did Judy Topinka and Mark Kirk).

    A rumor was circulated that Rutherford was homosexual and he finished fourth place in the four way race.

    I’ve never met the guy, but had some people tell me the rumor was credible.

    He was certainly more LGBT friendly than the social conservatives of the party.

    “WCT: Your support for the LGBT has put you in the spotlight. Conservative bloggers have speculated you are gay. How do you define your sexual orientation?

    Dan Rutherford: I’m not gay.”

    https://windycitytimes.com/m/APPredirect.php?AID=43998

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Brady_(politician)#Abortion

    Cuke, given that you think Bill Brady was more liberal than Bruce Rauner on abortion, when the opposite was true, why should I believe you that Rodriguez supported Rauner over Ives?

    Where did you hear that?

    That’s too bad Joe Walsh won the primary 2010.

    I bet Dirk Beveridge or Maria Rodriguez would have had a better chance at defeating Tammy Duckworth.

    Remember that she got her start in federal politics by defeating Walsh in 2012.

    He was a one and done loser in the House of Representatives.

    Now Tammy Duckworth is a U.S. Senator ratifying treaties, voting on impeachments, and approving Supreme Court justices…

    what a shame!

  4. Collecting, Ask Ives if you don’t believe me.

    Good job with compiling the info on these lice.

  5. I know nothing of her or her political intrigues. And I don’t care to know.

    She reminds me of a certain type …. the Topinka Type.

  6. Sweet and generous woman.

    She wasn’t especially effective in her political activism but you’ll never meet a woman who more exemplified her Catholic beliefs.

    Maria is in the arms of her greatest Love now, her Lord.

    May she and her family forever find comfort and rest there.

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