By Illinois Review
After more than 24 years in the Illinois legislature, House Republican Minority Leader Jim Durkin is resigning his seat. In November, the day after the election, Durkin announced that he was resigning as House Minority Leader.
During the midterm election, Durkin suffered embarrassing losses, giving House Democrats once again, supermajority control in the Illinois House.
In media interviews after announcing his resignation as House GOP leader, State Rep. Jim Durkin attempted to place all of the blame on the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump.
“As long as we continue to say that we are the party of Trump and that we have to abide by the party principles in the platform, 100% we’re gonna continue down this path of losing,” said Durkin.
But pointing fingers and blaming others is exactly why Illinois House Republicans are in the super minority – and Durkin has no one else to blame but himself. And blaming the former President does nothing but distract from his own leadership failures.
In announcing his resignation on Sunday, Durkin once again began pointing fingers, saying,
“I hope that at some point in the near future, and I think we’re getting there, that the party breaks its fever of Donald Trump and understands and learns from the past. Some people will never get there.”
But Durkin didn’t just stop there.
“So I would just say the sooner that the public realizes that he’s not value added to the Republican Party, we can start looking at what this party used to be about. A party that didn’t insist upon this purity test. A party that is a fiscally conservative first of all, certainly, but we can have a fair and respectful debate within the party on issues related to the Second Amendment, to life and these other social issues, that have been dragging us down in areas that we have to compete in — mainly the suburbs and the collar counties.”
To suggest that Second Amendment and pro-life issues are “dragging” the Republican party down is an insult – they are issues that make us Republicans in the first place.
In the last week, Illinois Review has published several articles about Durkin using his political influence to target conservative grassroots candidates during the Illinois Primary.
Sources also confirmed to Illinois Review that the IL GOP is blaming Durkin for the party’s postage discount abuse, where mailers “Paid for by the Republican Party of Illinois” were sent during the primary to viciously attack conservative Republican grassroots candidates that were challenging Durkin’s friends and political allies.
Just a few days ago, Durkin was the only Republican to join the Democrats, voting in favor of the assault weapons ban.
The legislation “immediately prohibits the manufacturing, possession, delivery, sales, and purchase of assault weapons” with a few exceptions – if you are a police officer or you are in the military.
The Illinois Freedom Caucus sent a late night email urging conservatives to call Democrats and urge them to vote “No,” arguing that the Democrats admitted in committee that they did not consult with gun groups while drafting the legislation – including the Illinois State Rifle Association, who plans on filing a lawsuit when the bill becomes law.
Durkin remains a close ally and best friend of IL GOP chairman Don Tracy. During the primary, Durkin was a supporter of Richard Irvin’s Republican campaign for governor, despite Irvin pulling Democratic Primary ballots in 2014, 2016 and 2020.
As this story continues to develop, stay tuned to Illinois Review for more information.
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