North Cook News

If Palatine Township Republicans alone determined the winner in the primary race for governor, Bruce Rauner could save an awful lot of his own money he’s reportedly planning to spend on his re-election bid.

A straw poll held during a Christmas party at the headquarters of the Palatine Township Republican Organization on Dec. 5 had at most four hands of 40 go up for Rauner.

“I saw at most three or four, but some people say there may have been only one or two,” Vicki Wilson, an organization member who attended that night, told North Cook News.

Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner

She said a few attendees did not vote at all and the rest of the hands, the vast majority, went up for State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), who is challenging Rauner in the primary. Ives spoke to the group in November.

Wilson echoed what Ives has said about Rauner’s three years in office.

“He betrayed us by claiming he wasn’t running on a social agenda and then signs HB 40 (the law that publicly funds abortions) and the sanctuary state law,” Wilson said. “He’s a complete failure.”

Wilson helped Ives in her petition drive and said she had no trouble getting signatures.

“I even had a lot of people asking me for blanks because they knew people who wanted to sign them,” she said.

Rauner is unlikely to fare much better in neighboring Wheeling Township where the Republicans of Wheeling Township have scheduled an endorsement vote on Jan. 13.

Dan Patlak, president of the group and Cook County Board of Review Commissioner,  said that he expects 60 to 90 precinct captains to turn out and the majority of them to go with the “more conservative candidate.”

“There’s a lot of unhappiness with Rauner not just in Wheeling but anecdotally I’m hearing it from all over,” Patlak said.

Ives has called Rauner a “social justice warrior” for signing HB 40 and the sanctuary state bill.

His signing of the abortion legislation, moreover, lost him the support of 20 anti-abortion and pro-family groups throughout the state. In early October, the groups, led by Illinois Family Action, signed a “Bill of Particulars” stating Rauner would not have their support in the primary or general elections.

Rauner has lost support among elected officials in his own party as well.