North Cook News

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) recently told Politico that he may not support Gov. Bruce Rauner for re-election following Rauner’s decision to sign legislation that expanded taxpayer funding for abortions.

Rauner signed House Bill 40 earlier this year, a move that has alienated him from some conservative allies. The Politico report suggests Roskam may be among those ruffled by the move.

“I’ve got to re-evaluate that and I’ll re-evaluate that in the right time,” Roskam told Politico regarding his support for Rauner. “Signing HB40 was a huge mistake on the policy and it was a huge mistake on the politics.”

Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL 6th District)

Roskam noted that the increase in state abortion funding was sure to anger the core conservative base. He argued that increasing that funding with the current level of political discourse on the subject of abortion was a bad move politically.

“The politics are very challenging, I think,” Roskam said to Politico. "A big part of the coalition that elects Republicans is a pro-life constituency at a core and I think politics and policy make this error more and more glaring over time. … It is a position fundamentally out of step with my constituency.”

Politico noted that Roskam is the first Illinois representative to question his support for Rauner and posited that other representatives may do so as well.