No consensus on Trump alternative among state GOP leaders
Donald Trump is coming to Chicago Friday, renting the 6,958-capacity UIC Pavilion to rally for votes days before Illinois' primary election.
Some Republican leaders had heard only rumors about a Trump visit until the University of Illinois at Chicago confirmed the booking late last week.
Trump's rally is at almost the exact time as an Illinois Republican Party fundraising dinner for Gov. Bruce Rauner in Chicago and Northwest suburban Republicans' Lincoln Day Dinner in Rolling Meadows, with Trump opponent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz scheduled to speak at both.
Trump so far has risen to front-runner status in the Republican race without the party's establishment backing and infrastructure.
Illinois is no exception. It's a “showdown now between Trump and whoever the anti-Trump is,” Schaumburg Township Republican Organization head Ryan Higgins said.
But with a week until the March 15 primary, there's no consensus “anti-Trump” Republican in Illinois.
The state's biggest Republican names — including Rauner, state party chairman Tim Schneider of Barlett and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Highland Park — haven't backed any candidate.
“The GOP nomination is a long and fluid process right now, and we are not going to try to decrypt a very hazy and cloudy crystal ball,” Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl said.
Mirroring his national campaign, Trump has virtually no backing from so-called establishment Republicans in Illinois and is last among the four GOP candidates in money raised in the state for his largely self-funded candidacy. He has raised only $47,847 from Illinois residents, according to the most recent federal data.
By comparison, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio had raised $833,727 from Illinoisans over the same period, and Cruz had raised $676,155. Ohio Gov. John Kasich raised about $274,626, about $6,000 less than Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker raised before he left the race six months ago.
Kasich declined the Lincoln Day Dinner Friday in Rolling Meadows, Higgins said, but will hold town-hall events Wednesday in Palatine and Lisle. Rubio's campaign, focused heavily on Florida's primary also on March 15, told Higgins officials would decide within 48 hours of the event.
Illinois Republican Party Executive Director Nick Klitzing said Trump's decision to hold his own rally isn't a symbol of division in the party, just a reality of how Trump's running his campaign.
“He doesn't typically do party events,” Klitzing said.
Illinois' primary on the Ides of March is part of the homestretch toward a nomination, with Kasich and Rubio seeking boosts from home-state primaries that day in Ohio and Florida, respectively, Cruz hoping to gain or Trump possibly surging closer to victory.
The fluidity among Illinois' top Republicans reflects a race that has changed drastically over its course.
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs made an early push to get behind Walker and pull a lot of big GOP names with him.
But Walker dropped out.
Then former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush drew the support of former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar and others, but he dropped out, too.
Early voting expanded drastically in Illinois last week, and the eventual results could speak volumes about the influence the party has over voters in the state.
“A lot of voters don't want to be told by politicians who to support,” state Sen. Chris Nybo, an Elmhurst Republican and former Bush backer, said shortly after the former governor quit. “Donald Trump is raising the question: ‘Does it even matter?'”
• Daily Herald staff writer Mary Hansen contributed to this report.
Where to see the candidates
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
Northwest Suburban Republican Lincoln Day Dinner, 6:30 p.m. Friday, The Meadows Club, 2950 W. Golf Road, Rolling Meadows. $120. See <a href="www.lincolndd.org/event-details">www.lincolndd.org/event-details</a>.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich
Town-hall meetings at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Navistar Atrium, 2701 Navistar Drive, Lisle, and at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Palatine Park District Community Center, 250 E. Wood St. Both are free and open to the public, with doors opening an hour ahead of each event.
Businessman Donald Trump
6 p.m. Friday at UIC Pavilion, 526 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, with doors opening at 3 p.m. Free. Register <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/donald-j-trump-in-chicago-il-tickets-22576886074">www.eventbrite.com/e/donald-j-trump-in-chicago-il-tickets-22576886074</a>