Don Tracy’s often-turbulent three years as head of state GOP was marked by repeated Republican campaign losses and internal party controversies.
Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy speaks at the Bank Your Vote Gala at the Westin hotel, Feb. 9, 2024, in Rosemont. Embattled state GOP Chairman Don Tracy resigned Wednesday, ending his more than three-year run and furthering a chaotic period of leadership for a political organization bordering on irrelevancy just weeks before Republicans gather in nearby Milwaukee to renominate former President Donald Trump at their national convention.
Tracy said his resignation was effective upon the election of a new chairman or “no later than July 19,” which is the day after the Republican National Convention ends. He authorized a three-member committee to search for his replacement.. An attorney from Springfield and a co-owner of his family’s wealthy food distribution business, he was narrowly elected by a moderate coalition of the Republican State Central Committee over Shaw to replace then-GOP Gov.
Tracy failed to find ways to harness the rural populism that was an outgrowth of Trump’s dominance of the party. He also didn’t help party candidates distance themselves from Trump’s unpopularity in the suburbs, the region which has traditionally been the key for Republican success statewide. With various Republican county chairs and state central committee members urging Tracy to remove Shaw from the vice chairmanship, Tracy took no public position and said he was powerless to force Shaw out. Critics said that made Tracy look weak and they also accused him of siding with Shaw by questioning whether he was being treated unfairly.
A state GOP spokesman said Tuesday that Tracy “can’t chat today” to respond to a Tribune inquiry about party leadership moves.
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