Until It's Restructured, Count GOP Out in Ill.

The election results are in. And in Illinois, it wasn’t just a bad night for statewide candidates — it was a bad night for all Republicans in Illinois — up and down the ballot. From the governor’s race down to state House and state Senate races — Republicans in the Land of Lincoln lost big.

Not only do Democrats maintain control of every statewide office, they maintained their supermajorities in the state House and Senate. House Republicans lost four seats and possibly five — prompting Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R, and Illinois Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie, R, to step down from their GOP leadership positions.

On the Senate side, Illinois Democrats had 41 seats to 18 Republicans. Republicans needed to pick up six seats to break the supermajority in the state Senate — and that did not happen. Even more surprising, 34 Democrats went uncontested in their Senate races — no Republican opponent was even on the ballot this November.

So, what happened? Several things.

No. 1: Redistricting.

Since Democrats control the legislature, they drew a map that favored Democrats — making it very difficult for any Republican running for state House or Senate to win this election. And don’t forget, Gov. Pritzker campaigned in 2018 that he would not sign a gerrymandered legislative map — but as governor, that’s exactly what he did, breaking his promise to the people of Illinois.

Second: Mail-in Ballots.

The Democrats have perfected the mail-in ballot program. They executed it flawlessly and by the time Election Day rolled in, they knew they had a tremendous head start in terms of votes. And there would be no way for Republicans to catch up in such a short amount of time.

Third: Voter Integrity.

Very little money, if any, was spent by Republicans on Voter Integrity. We didn’t have teams of lawyers ready to be deployed to hot spots throughout Cook County, we didn’t plan or execute a robust voter integrity plan — we did very little to put Democrats on notice that we were watching them.

And Fourth: Money.

During the Primary, billionaire Ken Griffin — the richest man in Illinois with a net worth of $28 billion, donated $50 million to the Richard Irvin, R, for governor campaign. Records show 95% of that funding went to Irvin. The other 5% went to the other statewide candidates on the “Griffin-Irvin” slate. Leaving no money for anyone else running in the primary.

In the last 10 years, Griffin has given a total of $179 million; $53 million to defeat the graduated income tax amendment in 2020; $36 million to Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2014 and 2018; and $10 million to help turn the Illinois Supreme Court more conservative.

It's $179 million later, and Democrats control every statewide office and a supermajority in the Illinois House and Senate — and the Illinois Supreme Court is not conservative. He gave $50 million to Irvin to come in 3rd place in the primary — who didn’t just lose — he lost badly. It was a total embarrassment.

Now let’s talk about the Darren Bailey campaign for governor: $42 million in total to a pro-Bailey PAC and $10 million directly to Bailey.

One hundred million dollars this Election Cycle to support two men: Irvin and Bailey, while the rest of the Republican field struggled to raise any money at all. Talk to any Republican who ran for office this General Election and they’ll tell you the same thing: We had no money to get our messages out or to defend ourselves from vicious lies and smears by the Democrats.

Fifty million dollars for the governor’s race to be called at 7:06 p.m. — one of the fastest races to be called in modern Illinois election history. And right now, Bailey trails Pritzker by 11 points with 98% of the vote counted.

So now what?

It’s time for the Illinois Political Consulting Class to go. Just like a controlled burn removes old vegetation and makes room for new growth, we need this in Illinois if we are ever to be in a position to win again.

It’s time to hold these so-called “political experts” accountable. They are not experts at winning races — they are experts at losing races. Records speak for themselves. And we are in the superminority because of it.

Think about this in terms of a doctor or a surgeon. If you or a loved one needed surgery, would you call a doctor whose patients have all died? Of course not!

To be out there promoting a single poll that said Bailey was within “striking” distance and only 2 points behind is political malpractice.

To spend $100 million on two candidates who lost badly is political malpractice.

To fool people into thinking that Illinois Republicans could win the governor’s race — only to lose by 11 points and for the race to be called within minutes of the polls closing — is political malpractice.

To spend $100 million and ignore Republican candidates up and down the ballot who needed the funding to survive is political malpractice.

To spend $100 million and not put a voter integrity program in place is political malpractice.

To spend $100 million only to hand Democrats the supermajority in Springfield — again — is political malpractice.

If this were Corporate America, or the real world — where you are judged by your results— the entire Illinois GOP leadership would have been fired on Tuesday night. Security guards would have escorted them out of the building as they carried a box full of their personal belongings.

But not in Illinois politics. You are rewarded for a historically bad night by keeping your jobs and fancy titles.

Think about that.

No one is held accountable. And instead they join the democratic chorus and blame Donald Trump. And it’s wrong.

It’s time for an entirely new Illinois GOP — from top to bottom, including the political consulting class. Until that happens, national Republicans can count Illinois out.