State Republicans choose suburbanite Grogan to lead the party

For the third time in five years, Illinois Republican Party officials on Monday picked a new leader to navigate the choppy waters of Prairie State politics.

Downers Grove resident Bob Grogan, whose experience includes serving as former DuPage County auditor, grass-roots organizer and State Central Committee member, is the new GOP chair.

“I am honored and humbled to be elected as the next chair of the Illinois Republican Party. Illinois Republicans are united and I’m excited to get to work electing Republicans up and down the ballot in November,” Grogan said in a statement.

He recognized outgoing Chair Kathy Salvi, who had sought reelection.

“I’m grateful to my good friend, Chair Salvi, for her dedication to the party and her work to build a brighter future for Illinois families,” Grogan said.

Mundelein attorney Salvi took over the leadership of the party in July 2024 just before the Republican National Convention convened in Milwaukee.

“When you cross the border into Illinois, don’t you sorta feel a blue funk sometimes?” Salvi told state delegates at a RNC gathering July 17, 2024 . “Well I’ll tell ya, that blue funk is over.”

She succeeded Springfield attorney Don Tracy, who was selected in February 2021 and resigned in June 2024, blaming infighting in the ranks.

“Unfortunately, however, I have had to spend far too much time dealing with intraparty power struggles, and local intraparty animosities that continued after primaries and county chair elections,” Tracy said at the time.

Tracy and Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton are running for the U.S. Senate seat held by outgoing Sen. Dick Durbin in the November election.

Inspiring Republicans and raising funds in a blue state is a challenge, however party officials say Grogan is up to the task.

As DuPage auditor, “Grogan focused on transparency, radically transforming the office to make the county checkbook publicly available, create a transparency portal and create a fraud hotline,” the Illinois Republican Party said in a statement.

“His work rooted out waste, fraud and abuse, saving Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars.”