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Will new GOP ties bind with Shaw, Schneider merger?

After a nasty primary battle Republicans are ready to unify, newly re-elected Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider said Saturday.

Attorney Mark Shaw was chosen as co-chairman and Schneider of Bartlett was re-elected as chairman in a move intended to solidify the fractured party at a meeting in Springfield.

"This has brought all of our factions together," said Schneider. "I look forward to working with Mark to bring victory to Republicans in Illinois this November.

Gov. Bruce Rauner, considered a moderate, won narrowly to conservative state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton in the March primary, a bruising battle that divided Republicans.

Ives had opposed Schneider for state party chairman originally saying Shaw was a "common-sense conservative," and blaming Schneider for alienating the party's base.

But on May 15, Shaw and Schneider announced a reorganization plan that allowed for shared leadership, which Ives endorsed with caveats.

"It's a meeting of the Ives and the Rauner camps," Schneider said, adding Illinois Republicans "agree on 85 percent of the issues."

Schneider is a Cook County commissioner and Shaw of Lake Forest is the Lake County Republican chairman.

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