Press "Enter" to skip to content

GOP Divide in Illinois after Rauner’s HB40 Signing

Last week Governor Rauner signed House Bill 40, a bill he had been threatening to veto. The bill is a state assurance that if Roe v. Wade is overturned at the federal level, that the State of Illinois would still have access to abortion.

A significant shoutout must go to Indivisible Illinois and their #Handmaids4HB40 movement. The movement used the imagery of the dystopian The Handmaid’s Tale to raise awareness about the bill’s status after it passed both the house and the senate.

The bill is a success for pro-choice democrats for more reasons than one. It seems that this decision has created a potential split for conservatives in Illinois in the upcoming gubernatorial race.

John Kass, a conservative writer for the Chicago Tribune said as much, while throwing out a few names that the conservatives he knows are thinking of throwing funding behind.

“Some Republicans are already trying to save what’s left of the GOP by finding other conservative candidates to run against Rauner,” Kass writes Among the names being mentioned: state Rep. Jeanne Ives, of Wheaton, a conservative and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Mentioned as a running mate is outgoing state Sen. Kyle McCarter, of downstate Lebanon.”


AP Reports  that the anti-abortion right will have a hard time finding a candidate that can petition enough votes to get on the ballot, but we’ll have to see in the coming weeks.

“It’s the type of issue that galvanizes a segment of the population,” Loyola University political scientist John Frendreis said of the abortion question. “I’m just not sure they could mount a successful insurgency against him. He is the major donor for the entire array of candidates running for the state Legislature next year.”

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply