Bailey Republicans won the battle. Can they win the war?
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The wise philosopher Yogi Berra once advised, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Illinois Republicans just took that advice in a big way. Facing a choice between two profoundly different definitions of what it means to be a Republican, they chose the path that leads to the right.
As is always the case with such choices, there will be consequences.
The choice was represented by Darren Bailey and Richard Irvin. Bailey represented the populist, Trumpist, socially conservative, pro-life, pro-gun Republicans, concentrated in rural, central, and southern Illinois. Irvin represented urban and suburban, middle class and professional, more moderate Republicans.
Illinois Republicans constitute not only a minority party, but a deeply divided one. Can they hang together?
We must note, by the way, that this internecine struggle rages all around the country. Republicans everywhere contest the basic identity of their party .
As a footnote to these observations note the primary contest in southern Illinois between Miller and Davis in the gerrymandered 15th District.
The gravity of this dispute is measured in part by both the amount of money spent as well as by who spent it. A conservative donor contributed millions of dollars to support Bailey. A Chicago businessman contributed millions of dollars to support Irvin. Control of the party was clearly at stake.
Many more millions were contributed by Pritzker and the Democratic Governors’ Association to promote Bailey as ultimately the weaker candidate. This crossover intervention has, by the way, been rarer in the past. Everyone recognized the centrality, albeit for different reasons, of the definition of the Illinois Republican party.
What next? For now the Trumpist wing of the party holds sway.
Will the “Irvinists” lick their wounds and then rejoin the fray for the fall? A late primary compresses healing time. Bailey Republicans have won the battle. Can they win the war?
Robert Evans is an associate professor of economics, business and political science at Rockford University.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Bailey Republicans won the battle. Can they win the war?
