Republicans still searching for statewide candidates as GOP rallies at state fair

SPRINGFIELD — Republicans rallied Thursday at the Illinois State Fair around their disdain for Gov. JB Pritzker and praise for President Donald Trump.

Now the state’s minority party just needs to field more candidates to help them gain any ground in deep-blue Illinois.

With seven months to go until the primary election, GOP candidates for statewide office were few and far between at the unofficial launch of the 2026 campaign season on Republican Day at the state fair.

But with a petition-filing deadline in early November, party leaders say they have plenty of time to recruit office-seekers who will bring about “a lot of good Republican victories in 2026,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi said before her party’s fairground rally.

“I'm really excited about some of the names that I see that are going to come in this election cycle,” said Salvi, who lost her own bid against U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in 2022. “We have a… beauty and brain contest of amazing candidates for state House, Senate, and then our governor and U.S. Senate candidates.”

More than a decade removed from the last time a Republican won a statewide election in Illinois, Salvi said she’s “really thrilled about the Republican Party prospects, because we offer the solutions that work.”

Former Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy became one of the most recognizable GOP names to throw a hat in the 2026 ring on Wednesday when he announced his run for the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by Dick Durbin.

“I'm running to promote working families, not welfare dependency like Democrat politicians do,” Tracy said. “I'm working to promote and defend the American dream, not attack it, like career Democrat politicians often do.”

More prominent Illinois Republicans previously opted against running for Senate or governor against Pritzker in the billionaire Democrat’s bid for a third term, including former Illinois National Republican Committeeman Richard Porter and central Illinois U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood.

LaHood and his two fellow Republican members of the Illinois congressional delegation, Reps. Mary Miller and Mike Bost, weren't at their party’s state fair rally. None of them face major challengers in their deep-red downstate districts.

DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick is the only current elected official to announce a run for governor against Pritzker, whom the sheriff said “has taxed us into the Stone Age.”

Mendrick hammered a familiar GOP message against Illinois sanctuary laws and aid for people in the U.S. without legal status.

“All that money could be used to reduce your taxes to fix our infrastructure, but right now, we're giving it to an outside population, and we're calling them in a direct violation of federal law,” Mendrick said. “I disagreed with JB Pritzker on all of his stances that he had with COVID, with [the Second Amendment], the SAFE-T Act, the Sanctuary state. The guy, to me, is a menace.”

Ted Dabrowski, president of the conservative research website Wirepoints, said he’ll run for governor as “a change agent” against Pritzker.

“This is a change election,” Dabrowski said. “He's been running this place for seven years. Our property taxes are still the highest… We know he's running for president. He's running on the far left. He's not doing the things that Illinois needs. He's running for himself in the primary.”

Former 2nd Ward City Council member-turned-perennial candidate Bob Fioretti was among those passing petitions at the fair to get on the ballot, this time for Fioretti as a Republican candidate for attorney general.

Illinois House Republican Minority Leader Tony McCombie said her party would “have a full slate” for the March 17 primary.

“A midterm's always tough, and so a lot of people think about the opportunity. And also, in Illinois, unfortunately, we have a governor who has spent over $400 million of inherited wealth to win 54% — only 54% — of the voters,” McCombie said.

Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran said “we have candidates all across the state gathering signatures right now. Our campaign apparatus is up and running, and we're going to have a very competitive election cycle.”

Asked if Trump could be a drag on the ticket, Curran said the “enthusiasm that the Republican base has for President Trump is a huge help here in Illinois.”

Texas Republican Party Chair Abraham George, who earlier drew cheers in saying Illinois could flip to red, was asked how the state can do that while struggling to find recognizable candidates to run in statewide contests.

“That’s up to the Illinois Republican Party to do that. But Donald Trump got 43% in Illinois, and I think it is trending towards a Republican state in the last six cycles,” George said. “It seems to be more red every single time. So I think if they put in some work into it, it can become a real challenge for Democrats to win.”