The job of Lake County’s Republican Party chairman these days is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Lusitania. That British ocean liner with 128 Americans aboard was torpedoed by a German U-boat in May 1915, one of the reasons the U.S. entered World War I two years later.
Like regrouping those on-deck spots on the ship, Keith Brin, re-elected last week to a second term as the county GOP leader, has a thankless task ahead: Filling large gaps in the party’s lineup for the Nov. 5 general election.
Currently, no Republicans are seeking the Circuit Court clerk’s post; or to represent the U.S. House 9th Congressional District; the 31st state Senate District; or the 51st, 57th, 60th and 62nd state House districts. The GOP also is lacking candidates in the 8th and 9th County Board districts.
A decade ago, such a predicament would have been unheard of in what was then deep-red Lake County. The loyal opposition back then was county Democrats, as Republicans ruled the political roost. It’s a calamity for the party.
Brin, of Highland Park, has until June 3 to place missing candidates on the fall ballot. “We would like to have a full slate of candidates so voters have a choice to make,” he told Steve Sadin the other day in a front-page story in the News-Sun. “We want good candidates, not just a choice between political parties.”
The dwindling number of Republican officeholders not only in Lake County, but across Illinois, can be traced to the unpopular — at least in the Land of Lincoln — candidacy of former President Donald Trump. The party’s presumptive presidential nominee is in the midst of a historic criminal trial, the first of a former president.
Trump is accused of fraud related to paying hush money to keep voters in 2016 from learning about his alleged affair with a porn star. Beginning with Trump’s election in 2016, Republican fortunes have been sinking — like the Lusitania — every election cycle.
That and embracing some policies of which suburban voters are none too fond: Opposition to reproductive freedom and gun rights.
Gun rights, especially, are a touchy subject in a county that in 2022 saw bystanders at the annual Highland Park Fourth of July parade become casualties. Seven people died, and another 48 were wounded by a lone gunman, allegedly wielding a military, assault-style weapon.
Yet, county Republicans continue to support using weapons as fundraising tools. The party in late March promoted on its social media pages a gun raffle in Gurnee sponsored by a group called Friends of the NRA.
That brought out a response from Lauren Beth Gash of Highland Park, Lake County Democratic Party chair: “The reason more people in Lake County are supporting Democrats is because they know Democrats represent their values and the Republican Party is increasingly becoming dangerously out of touch.”
She added in a statement: “While Democrats organize to prevent gun violence, extremist Lake County Republicans simply refuse to take the issue seriously. Democrats are going to win again in Lake County in 2024 because of sharp contrasts like this.”
In 2022, Lake Villa Republicans faced backlash for a decision to hold a gun raffle a few weeks after the Uvalde, Texas school shooting. In 2017, soon after the mass shooting during a Las Vegas country music festival, they threw a fundraiser with guns as raffle prizes for attendees.
Of course, not all Republicans agree with Trump and the party’s increasingly fringe leaders, of which U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is one. A few of her GOP colleagues have branded her “Moscow Marjorie” for her rabid opposition to the $95 billion weapons bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Indeed, Texas Republican Tony Gonzales has described a few of his GOP caucus members as “real scumbags.” This, as the far-right faction of the GOP has frequently battled moderate members since Republicans took control of the House in the 2022 midterms.
With several Republican congressmen bailing from the House and not seeking re-election, the party now has a razor-thin margin of two votes. A split GOP has the real possibility of losing the House after the November election.
So Brin not only has the political tides in Lake County rolling against him, but he also sees a simmering antagonism across and within the Republican spectrum. The party should field a full slate of candidates, but who will step up to make sure voters have ballot choices this November?
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
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