Wheeling Township GOP Offices don't include a sign for the sitting GOP Governor. Cook County's largest Republican organization endorsed his opponent, Jeanne Ives. | Facebook
Wheeling Township GOP Offices don't include a sign for the sitting GOP Governor. Cook County's largest Republican organization endorsed his opponent, Jeanne Ives. | Facebook
The longtime chief of Wheeling Township Republicans is crying foul, slamming Gov. Bruce Rauner-funded mail brochures that falsely claim her organization and others have endorsed him for re-election.
Ruth O'Connell, a Wheeling Township Trustee who has run the local GOP since 2006, told Illinois Review that the brochures "seek to undermine my authority" as elected committeeman.
"This is the first time I've seen anything like this," she said. "We endorsed Jeanne Ives for governor."
Cook County GOP Chairman Sean Morrison supports Rauner.
| Cook County
The brochures say they are a "message" from Cook County GOP Chairman Sean M. Morrison of Palos Park, whose organization is bankrolled by Rauner. It received a $25,000 check from the Rauner campaign via the Illinois Republican Party, one of 41 county organizations that have received funding from the governor's campaign.
Morrison has been under fire for spending that money on Rauner's re-election campaign at the expense of the local races for which he is responsible.
Morrison's Cook County GOP failed to recruit candidates to run in any of the countywide elections this year; Cook GOP voters will have no option come November when voting for county board president, county assessor, county clerk, county sheriff and county treasurer.
The Cook GOP also failed to field candidates for ten open spots on the Cook County judiciary, two spots on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board and an open spot on the Cook County Board of Review, which handles property tax appeals.
Most controversial: Morrison opted not to slate a Republican candidate to run for a seat in Congress representing the competitive third district, which covers Chicago's Southwest Suburbs and his own community of Palos Park.
Republicans will have one choice there -- former American Nazi Party leader Arthur Jones, who managed to get on the ballot without Morrison noticing.
No play, so Rauner pays
Rauner has sought to use his prodigious checkbook to boost lagging enthusiasm for him among local GOP organizations. Even his hometown, local New Trier Township GOP refused to endorse him over Ives.
Of all 30 suburban Cook County townships, Rauner performed best in New Trier in a hotly-contested 2014 primary, carrying 77 percent of the vote in a four-way race against state senators Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard and then Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford.
Rauner received a winning 47 percent-- 5,222 votes-- in Wheeling Township in 2014. He won 52 percent of the overall vote in suburban Cook County.
Wheeling Township saw 11,142 GOP primary votes in 2014, more than every other Cook County township and all but 12 Illinois counties.
Wheeling Township includes the communities of Wheeling, Arlington Heights, Prospect Heights, Mt. Prospect and Buffalo Grove.
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2014 GOP Primary- Which Suburban Cook County Townships voted the most?
| Township | Reg. Voters | GOP ballots | % of GOP ballots |
| Wheeling | 88,201 | 11,142 | 8.7% |
| Maine | 77,695 | 8,879 | 7.0% |
| Worth | 88,992 | 8,413 | 6.6% |
| Palatine | 63,189 | 8,351 | 6.5% |
| Orland | 66,543 | 7,892 | 6.2% |
| Lyons | 63,612 | 7,584 | 5.9% |
| Schaumburg | 72,497 | 7,345 | 5.8% |
| Northfield | 58,338 | 6,702 | 5.3% |
| New Trier | 40,357 | 6,185 | 4.9% |
| Elk Grove | 46,540 | 5,580 | 4.4% |
| Proviso | 89,123 | 4,836 | 3.8% |
| Palos | 33,575 | 4,373 | 3.4% |
| Bremen | 68,254 | 4,327 | 3.4% |
| Niles | 65,024 | 4,202 | 3.3% |
| Leyden | 45,566 | 4,129 | 3.2% |
| Hanover | 46,151 | 3,912 | 3.1% |
| Thornton | 106,643 | 2,895 | 2.3% |
| Bloom | 54,592 | 2,822 | 2.2% |
| Evanston | 45,473 | 2,258 | 1.8% |
| Lemont | 14,104 | 2,178 | 1.7% |
| Rich | 51,514 | 2,136 | 1.7% |
| Oak Park | 35,141 | 2,016 | 1.6% |
| Berwyn | 25,615 | 1,681 | 1.3% |
| Norwood Park | 15,505 | 1,576 | 1.2% |
| Barrington | 10,630 | 1,453 | 1.1% |
| Riverside | 10,524 | 1,343 | 1.1% |
| Cicero | 29,166 | 1,224 | 1.0% |
| Stickney | 19,792 | 1,075 | 0.8% |
| River Forest | 7,737 | 838 | 0.7% |
| Calumet | 11,500 | 176 | 0.1% |
| TOTAL | 1,451,593 | 127,523 | 100% |
Source: Cook County Clerk
2014 GOP Primary- Where did Gov. Rauner do best?
The two top GOP vote-getting townships in Cook County refused to endorse Gov. Bruce Rauner for re-election. How did he fare in suburban Cook County in 2014?
| Township | Other Candidates | Rauner | Rauner % | Total Votes |
| Wheeling | 5,862 | 5,222 | 47% | 11,084 |
| New Trier | 1,408 | 4,712 | 77% | 6,120 |
| Maine | 4,179 | 4,595 | 52% | 8,774 |
| Palatine | 3,742 | 4,552 | 55% | 8,294 |
| Northfield | 2,276 | 4,382 | 66% | 6,658 |
| Orland | 3,529 | 4,317 | 55% | 7,846 |
| Worth | 4,341 | 4,013 | 48% | 8,354 |
| Lyons | 3,603 | 3,908 | 52% | 7,511 |
| Schaumburg | 3,442 | 3,800 | 52% | 7,242 |
| Elk Grove | 2,663 | 2,855 | 52% | 5,518 |
| Palos | 1,900 | 2,431 | 56% | 4,331 |
| Proviso | 2,629 | 2,153 | 45% | 4,782 |
| Niles | 2,049 | 2,127 | 51% | 4,176 |
| Hanover | 1,796 | 2,073 | 54% | 3,869 |
| Bremen | 2,291 | 2,010 | 47% | 4,301 |
| Leyden | 2,233 | 1,792 | 45% | 4,025 |
| Bloom | 1,508 | 1,294 | 46% | 2,802 |
| Thornton | 1,631 | 1,236 | 43% | 2,867 |
| Lemont | 955 | 1,206 | 56% | 2,161 |
| Evanston | 1,105 | 1,122 | 50% | 2,227 |
| Barrington | 464 | 979 | 68% | 1,443 |
| Rich | 1,161 | 963 | 45% | 2,124 |
| Oak Park | 1,115 | 887 | 44% | 2,002 |
| Norwood Park | 761 | 772 | 50% | 1,533 |
| Berwyn | 950 | 686 | 42% | 1,636 |
| Riverside | 668 | 659 | 50% | 1,327 |
| Stickney | 549 | 522 | 49% | 1,071 |
| River Forest | 355 | 479 | 57% | 834 |
| Cicero | 732 | 459 | 39% | 1,191 |
| Calumet | 102 | 73 | 42% | 175 |
| TOTAL | 59,999 | 66,279 | 52% | 126,278 |
Source: Cook County Clerk
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