Cruz, Kasich, Trump plan local speeches as Illinois primary nears
Republican candidates for president are swinging through the area next week to try to pick up Illinois votes on what could be a decision March 15 primary night.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is scheduled to visit Palatine Wednesday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has committed to the Northwest Suburban Lincoln Day Dinner in Rolling Meadows on Friday, and real estate mogul Donald Trump is set to appear Friday in Chicago. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has not committed to events here.
Candidates have to weigh their limited time to campaign before Illinois' primary, keeping in mind the importance of home-state contests for Kasich and Rubio in Ohio and Florida. Those primaries, and their winner-take-all delegates, are the same day as Illinois' election.
Kasich will hold a town-hall meeting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Palatine Park District Community Center at 250 E. Wood St. It's free and open to the public.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has committed to the Northwest Suburban Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday at The Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows. Kasich declined that invitation and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio hadn't committed either way, Schaumburg Township Republican leader Ryan Higgins said Friday.
Trump is scheduled to speak Friday and has rented the UIC Pavilion in Chicago for a 6 p.m. rally. Doors open at 3 p.m., the campaign said, and tickets are free.
Trump told the Chicago Sun-Times he'll stay in his downtown tower.
"I love Chicago. I love Mike Ditka. I love my hotel ... the Trump Tower, which is No. 1," he was quoted as saying.
The March 15 primaries - also in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Northern Mariana Islands (Republicans only) - could be decisive in the race to garner the 1,237 delegates needed for the Republican nomination. Voters in Illinois will choose 69 delegates to the GOP National Convention in July in Cleveland.
Palatine Township Republican leader Aaron Del Mar said the Kasich campaign had been looking to make a suburban stop.
"I jumped at the chance to have them come to Palatine," he said.
The visit will come just after Michigan's Tuesday primary election. Kasich hopes to gain momentum in Midwest primaries including the March 15 contest where his home state Ohio is at stake. Rubio, Higgins said, may be looking to keep his focus on his home state of Florida, where winning might be "existential" to his campaign.