Kane GOP chief steps aside, for now

Facing mounting pressure to resign, Kane County GOP chief Dennis Wiggins announced Wednesday he will temporarily step aside as the party's local leader while remaining on a campaign payroll.

The announcement came two days after the Kane County Republican Central Committee's executive committee voted 5-3 to ask Wiggins to vacate the post because of his paid position on state Sen. Chris Lauzen's congressional campaign.

In a statement, Wiggins vowed to take a leave of absence until Feb. 6, one day after the election.

Despite previously saying he was "leaning toward stepping down" altogether, Wiggins said resigning was not an option.

"For me to step down now would be perceived as an admission that I had done something wrong in this situation, and nothing could be further from the truth," he said in the statement.

Wiggins blamed controversy over his campaign job on "hard feelings and sour grapes" on the part of Jim Oberweis, one of Lauzen's opponents and a failed contender in 2006 for the county GOP chairmanship.

Calls to Oberweis' Batavia campaign office were not answered after regular business hours Wednesday.

Wiggins did not say whether anyone had been appointed to temporarily replace him as GOP chairman.