SPRINGFIELD - Republicans in the Illinois House helped block legislation Friday that would have forced the state Republican Party to change how it elects leaders.

The measure would have given Republican primary voters the power to elect the party's governing body in Illinois, taking the choice away from the party precinct, ward and county leaders who now select the committee. Democrats already elect their central committee members.

The proposal highlights a deep schism in the state GOP, one that House Republican leader Tom Cross said Democrats, who control the Illinois House, were trying to exploit by bringing this plan to a vote.

"This is a distraction, this is a diversion, this is punishment," Cross said. "We are not talking about economic reform, we are not talking about ethical reform, we are talking about the internal workings of one political party."

The vote was 59-47 in the 118-member chamber. A procedural move erased the roll call and no official tally exists.

Cross, who voted against the plan, said how the Republican Party conducts its business is an issue it can handle on its own just as Democrats should resolve their own issues internally.

State Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who sponsored the legislation in the House, disputed the partisan meddling argument.

"This is not a Democratic plot to take over the world," he said, noting that the lawmaker who first filed the proposal was state Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, and that Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno was among the supporters when the plan cleared the Democratic-controlled Senate earlier this year.

Lang said the issue is letting people have a clear voice in the workings of the political party they prefer.

Some Republicans said they already do.

State Rep. David Reis, an Effingham-area Republican, said local voters elect the local Republican officials who then pick the party leaders.

"This is as close to the people as you can get," Reis said, adding that the system had recently been upheld at a state Republican Party convention.