SPRINGFIELD - On their signature day at the Illinois State Fair, Republicans found themselves scrambling to name a new chairman while their race for governor took an early negative tilt.

Andy McKenna resigned his chairmanship Thursday morning, surprising party leaders. By noon the party had gone through three chairmen, starting with McKenna, whose departure elevated vice chairman Bobbi Peterson to the post where she could have served up to 60 days. But party leaders decided to go ahead and immediately elect Pat Brady of St. Charles the new chairman just before a GOP rally at the State Fairgrounds.

Meanwhile, with Republicans gathered downstate, Palatine Republican Matt Murphy launched his first TV ad in his bid for governor, criticizing Hinsdale Republican and fellow gubernatorial hopeful Kirk Dillard as a "longtime insider" who "joined Todd Stroger" to raise sales taxes in Chicago and the suburbs to help bailout public transportation. The 60-second spot, which never mentions Dillard by name, aired in downstate markets.

Dillard fired back, suggesting Murphy, a Cook County lawmaker, opposed the public transportation plan because it gave more oversight to DuPage and other collar counties at the expense of Chicago.

"He's from Cook County, I understand why he would want Todd Stroger to still be in charge of mass transit," said Dillard. "But for those of us who are not from Cook County like Matt, we don't want Todd Stroger in charge of mass transit. I want good suburban management of the RTA to save taxpayers billions."

The turnover in leadership and tenor of campaigning surprised many Republican faithful, who view this year as the GOP's best shot at finally cracking Democratic control of statewide offices and the General Assembly. The rally crowd was the largest in years, drawn by the multitude of candidates and possibly the free lunch the party offered fairgoers.

"We are now poised to have one of the best years we've had in a long time," said House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego, who said there's a lot of "fear and anger" among the electorate over Democratic policies.

McKenna said his resignation should not be a distraction. After all, he didn't plan to seek another term when his expired in the spring. But his resignation Thursday caught party leaders by surprise as they learned of it at a meeting Thursday morning.

McKenna argued the timing should help the party as the new chairman can now guide efforts headed into the primary rather than come onboard after. Party leaders had up to 60 days to elect a new chairman. "If they bring everybody into it, I think they'll get a good result," McKenna said.

But GOP leaders instead named a replacement the same morning they received McKenna's resignation.

Brady, the new chairman, similarly downplayed the timing, suggesting no one's really paying attention to politics now.

"You know what, it's August. Most people are on vacation. Most of the media is on vacation. The president is on vacation. If you're going to make the switch, this is a good time to do it. I think Andy's timing was good. Let's give Andy a lot of credit. He's cocked the gun and we've got it loaded and we're going to have a great 2010," Brady said.

Brady is an attorney and former federal prosecutor who also serves on the Republican National Committee.

As for the pending campaigns, Republicans offered an early attack on Democrats' attempts to distance themselves from disgraced and ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich. During their annual fair rally Wednesday, Democratic leaders blamed years of turmoil and public perception problems on Blagojevich.

"We're not going to let Democrats forget they enabled Rod Blagojevich," said Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont.

But Radogno joined other party leaders in saying Republicans also need to stress that they offer voters a true alternative.

"It's not good enough to just not be a Democrat," Radogno said. "We must get behind every one of our candidates, else we will squander this opportunity Democrats have handed us on a silver platter."