Dillard picks up DuPage GOP backing
State Sen. Kirk Dillard Tuesday won support of Republican township chairmen in his home of DuPage County, where the candidate for governor has pinned a lot of his primary election hopes.
Brian Krajewski, vice chairman of the county central committee called a unanimous vote “obvious” in a statement.
“Our township chairmen couldn’t be more thrilled to support Kirk Dillard and Jil Tracy,” Krajewski said. “They are by far the most qualified and prepared to lead our state.”
Tracy, of Quincy, is Dillard’s running mate for lieutenant governor.
Candidates can start filing for the crowded March 18 Republican primary for governor the week of Thanksgiving, making official a race that started in earnest months ago.
Dillard hasn’t been shy about hoping support in DuPage County can help carry him to victory. In his 2010 bid, a handful of candidates from DuPage County were in the primary race that Dillard lost by fewer than 300 votes to state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington.
All of the candidates for governor have talked about Illinois’ political geography this year after Brady won the last primary on the strength of his showing downstate. He is running again in 2014.
Over the weekend, businessman Bruce Rauner won the Lake County Republican central committee’s straw poll for the nomination for governor. Rauner lives in Winnetka in Cook County.
And Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa, also in the Republican race for governor, has been traveling the state extensively.