Editor’s Note:
This opinion piece reflects concerns increasingly voiced by Republican voters, activists, and candidates across Illinois regarding party leadership, turnout, and organizational effectiveness. It draws on public data, firsthand accounts, and widely discussed controversies within Illinois political circles. While opinionated by design, its purpose is not to attack individuals, but to demand accountability and prompt a serious conversation about whether the Illinois Republican Party is structured to compete and win statewide elections. Responses, clarifications, and rebuttals are welcomed.

STOP PRETENDING: THE ILLINOIS GOP ISN’T LOSING — IT’S QUITTING

Why a Party With the Numbers to Win Has Chosen Comfort, Chaos, and Cheerleading Instead of Victory

By Editor
Opinion | March 2026

Illinois is not a lost cause.

It is something far worse.

Illinois is a state where the Republican Party has the votes to win — and the leadership refuses to act like it.

Across the country, conservative momentum is real. Republicans are clawing back ground in states long considered safely blue. Voters are rebelling against progressive governance, rising crime, crushing taxes, runaway spending, and cultural overreach. Even in deep-blue states, conservative values are resurging.

But in Illinois, that momentum stops cold.

Not because Republicans don’t exist.
Not because the math doesn’t work.
But because the Illinois Republican Party has lost its drive, its urgency, and its appetite to win.

A Party With the Numbers — And No Will to Fight

Republican voters in Illinois are not staying home because they support Governor J.B. Pritzker.

They’re staying home because they don’t believe their party wants to win.

Cycle after cycle, they are asked to donate, volunteer, and wait patiently for a promised “red wave.” Cycle after cycle ends the same way: losses, excuses, and another round of fundraising emails.

“If every Republican who voted in 2024 turns out to vote in 2026, we would win every statewide election and break the Democratic supermajorities in the House and Senate.”

That statement is not wishful thinking.
It is mathematically true.

In Illinois, more than 700,000 registered Republicans who vote in presidential years routinely disappear in midterm and off-year elections. Democrats know this. Republican leadership knows it too.

One side plans for it.
The other pretends it isn’t fatal.

History shows Illinois Republicans do not reliably turn out. But this failure does not rest solely with voters.

It rests with party leadership that has normalized defeat.

Illinois Is Failing Under Pritzker — And the GOP Still Can’t Capitalize

Illinois under Governor J.B. Pritzker continues to struggle:

• Ongoing population loss
• Crushing property taxes
• Public safety concerns
• One-party rule with little accountability
• A widening disconnect between government and working families

This should be fertile ground for an opposition party.

Instead, voters see a Republican Party that complains but does not organize, reacts but does not lead, and talks but does not build.

Sangamon County: A Snapshot of Statewide Failure

Sangamon County offers a revealing example of what has gone wrong.

Lincoln Day — historically the GOP’s marquee local event — should energize donors, candidates, and voters. Instead, supporters recently received this notice:

“Sangamon doesn’t have a speaker for our Lincoln Day. We reached out to the Trump administration but have not had an answer.
We also do not have a lot of money for a speaker.
There are few speakers bureau people who will work for what we can afford.”

No speaker.
No funding.
No plan.

That is not grassroots struggle.
That is organizational collapse.

When voters asked whether there would be a countywide Republican candidate forum — a standard practice that allows voters to compare candidates side-by-side — the response was just as troubling:

“Sadly, we have not organized one. I don’t know if we will. Depends on getting someone to take charge of doing it.”

Others reported contacting the GOP office for yard signs, only to be told:

“We don’t have any to give away for free.”

At the same time, Democrats were distributing signs freely, without hesitation.

Multiple activists say they raised concerns about turnout, forums, funding, and basic organization with party leadership. None report receiving a clear plan in response.

What they received instead was silence.

A party that cannot organize a forum cannot organize a victory.

Democrats Organize. Republicans Drift.

While Republicans debate whether they can afford a speaker, Democrats are locking down venues, lining up endorsements, and budgeting field operations months in advance.

Democrats pour tens of thousands of dollars into candidates.
They host forums.
They fund turnout operations.
They show voters they care.

Republican candidates are often left to fight alone, forced to self-fund, self-organize, and self-promote while party leadership watches from the sidelines.

The result is predictable: fatigue, disengagement, and defeat.

Three Candidates, One Reality

There is no speculation.
No “potential field.”

Darren Bailey, Sheriff James Mendrick, and Ted Dabrowski are all officially running in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

Each brings different strengths.
Each faces the same reality.

If you cannot turn out 500,000 unreliable Republican voters, you will lose.

Darren Bailey

Bailey commands strong grassroots loyalty and a motivated base.

But enthusiasm without infrastructure is not enough.

If Bailey is your candidate, where is the concrete plan to re-engage half a million Republicans who stayed home last time?

Sheriff James Mendrick

Mendrick brings credibility on crime and law enforcement — a top concern for Illinois voters.

But credibility does not automatically produce turnout.

If Mendrick is your candidate, how do you mobilize suburban Republicans who have checked out because they feel ignored and defeated?

Ted Dabrowski

Dabrowski offers fiscal seriousness, reform credibility, and policy depth.

But ideas do not knock doors.

If Dabrowski is your candidate, how do you reignite belief among Republicans who no longer trust party leadership?

Without a functioning party infrastructure, even the strongest candidate becomes a lone runner — and lone runners do not beat billionaires backed by a political machine.

Thomas DeVore’s Warning

Attorney Thomas DeVore, a consistent critic of executive overreach and institutional complacency, has been blunt:

Illinois can flip on paper. It won’t flip in reality without turnout — and turnout requires trust.

The numbers say yes.
The enthusiasm says no.

That gap exists because leadership has failed to earn belief.

Leadership, Optics, and the Cost of Complacency

Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi frequently speaks of optimism and momentum. Many Republicans like her personally.

But optimism without results is hollow — and increasingly insulting to voters who have heard it before.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and her leadership circle — including figures closely aligned with party operations such as Norine Hammond — face growing criticism from grassroots Republicans who believe leadership has become disconnected from the realities on the ground.

That frustration intensified after a series of controversies that, fairly or not, damaged credibility.

Among activists, “Pillowgate” became shorthand for what they view as tone-deaf leadership optics at a time when volunteers were being told the party had no money for yard signs, speakers, or voter outreach.

Questions were also raised within Republican circles about appearances of insider benefit, including scrutiny of Norine Hammond’s husband’s interior decorating business, which critics argue deepened distrust among donors already skeptical of transparency.

No formal wrongdoing has been proven.
But in politics, perception is reality.

And the perception for many Illinois Republicans is devastating:
Leadership appears insulated, while candidates and voters are left unsupported.

Losing — Then Governing Like It’s Normal

These failures do not end on Election Day.

Too often, Illinois Republicans:

• Vote with Democrats

• Accept supermajority rule as permanent

• Avoid confrontation

• Choose relevance over resistance

Entire regions of Illinois now feel effectively unrepresented, even when Republicans technically hold seats.

That is not opposition.

That is managed decline.

What Winning Would Actually Look Like

Winning in Illinois would not require miracles.

It would require:

• Precinct-level turnout plans

• Funded county organizations

• Mandatory candidate forums

• Early ballot-chasing strategies

• Leadership willing to be judged by results — not optimism

None of this is radical.
All of it is missing.

The Final Question: Can Illinois Flip Red?

Yes — the numbers say it can.
No — the enthusiasm says it won’t.

The voters exist.
The dissatisfaction exists.
The opportunity exists.

What does not exist is belief that the party will fight to win.

Until Illinois Republicans stop pretending, stop cheerleading, and start organizing — until leadership is held accountable — nothing changes.

Illinois Republicans are not being outvoted.

They are being outworked — by their opponents and by their own indifference to winning.

Democrats know it.

That’s why they’re not worried.

They’re licking their chops.

Sources & Supporting References

• Illinois State Board of Elections — voter registration and turnout data by election cycle

• U.S. Census Bureau — Illinois population and domestic migration trends

• Illinois Policy Institute — analysis of turnout gaps, legislative supermajorities, and election outcomes

• Capitol News Illinois — reporting on Illinois GOP leadership and legislative dynamics

• NPR Illinois, WGLT, Illinois Times — coverage of party organization, elections, and leadership challenges

• Public statements, filings, and interviews by attorney Thomas DeVore

• County-level GOP correspondence and firsthand accounts from Illinois Republican activists