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  'Epic failure': Inside the Illinois GOP's $50 million primary 'debacle'
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ContributorIndyGeorgia 
Last EditedIndyGeorgia  Jul 04, 2022 09:21pm
CategoryNews
News DateJun 28, 2022 03:20am
DescriptionCHICAGO — Illinois Republicans have descended into infighting and finger-pointing on the eve of the state’s primaries as a MAGA-aligned candidate for governor appears poised to claim the nomination over the GOP establishment favorite who spent $50 million only to see his prospects collapse.

Richard Irvin, the mayor of Aurora, not only is expected to lose Tuesday, but he could end up in third place or worse, according to recent polls. That’s despite the tens of millions in dollars that a hedge fund billionaire poured into his candidacy — all part of an effort to propel a candidate who party leaders believed could give Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker a tough race in a state where Republicans have typically had to position themselves as moderates to win statewide.

Interviews with more than a dozen Illinois Republicans point to external and internal forces driving Irvin’s flagging levels of support, which have exposed sharp splits within the party between moderates and MAGA conservatives that mirror divides playing out in other states and nationally.

Meanwhile, the GOP establishment, long frustrated by the state’s Democratic Party dominance, is experiencing its own rift. It’s angry over how the Irvin campaign was run, about how he was drafted in the first place and, most significantly, that the best chance Republicans had to defeat Pritzker may have already slipped through their fingers.
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