As Quad Cities politicos well know, Illinois has been dominated by the Democratic Party for decades. Under former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his skillful mapmakers, Democratic veto-proof supermajorities have been the norm.
Routinely, the GOP has suffered its biggest losses in the House, including five more seats on Nov. 8, 2022. As a result, when the 103rd Illinois General Assembly convenes Wednesday, Jan. 11, the House will have a record super-minority with 40 Republicans vs. 78 Democrats.
Remarkably the latest losses came on the heels of a lengthy investigation by federal authorities that led to the federal indictment of Mr. Madigan — the Democrat who had ruled the House for 36 years — on racketeering, conspiracy and bribery charges.
The disappointing election-night results led incumbent Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin to announce that he would not seek reelection to the leadership post. Rep. Tony McCombie, the former Savanna mayor who has represented a district that included a large chunk of the Illinois Quad Cities since 2016, quickly stepped in to fill the breach.
She began marshaling support and on Tuesday, Nov. 15, made history when she was chosen as the first woman to lead the Illinois House GOP. The divided caucus she takes over this Wednesday includes members who remain critical of the new leader who is more conservative than Mr. Durkin but not conservative enough for members on the far right.
Finding ways to bring the party’s various factions together and growing a GOP caucus fresh from some of its bloodiest primaries is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Ms. McCombie. Complicating the new leader’s task further is that when she is inaugurated Wednesday she will be the first GOP House leader in generations from outside of the party’s large suburban Chicago base.
Ms. McCombie is well aware of what she’s up against and in her typical straight-shooting style she told the QCBJ that House Republicans will attack the challenge “head on.”
“The Republican Party is no different than Democrats when it comes to having differences from within,” she said. “What Democrats have learned and practiced is that they come together around their leader regardless of said differences.”
And she believes the GOP has plenty of ammunition for the battle ahead.
“The Democrats did not win this cycle because they solved the problems they created. Just look at the economy, increasing crime and corruption,” she said. “We are determined to change that and will overcome the gerrymandered map handed to Illinois for the next decade by Democrat politicians.”
We wish Ms. McCombie good luck with her efforts to grow the House GOP in what these days is a solid blue Illinois and we urge readers to do so, too, regardless of their political persuasion.
The Land of Lincoln, with its long and sordid history of political corruption, is ill-served by one-party domination. And Illinois voters need and deserve real, competitive elections that boast a free exchange of political ideologies and ideas.
