Chuck Kern, the Supervisor of Wheatland Township in Will County, Illinois, and Republican Precinct Committeeman, lays out the facts in a post over at Republican News Watch. After introducing Mark Batinick and giving a little background about him, Kern writes:
Mark Batinick’s conservative credentials apparently don’t matter to the House Republican Organization (HRO), now captained by the new House Minority Leader Jim Durkin who recently took over that internal leadership post after Tom Cross announced his statewide run.
Amanda Mancke has reportedly been recruited by Durkin’s team to run as a Republican for the 97th District seat. A review of her record reveals that Mancke supported a property tax increase in a past race for Trustee of Oswego. And according to the GOP Data Center, Mancke voted Republican for the first time in the 2012 Primary.
But perhaps of most concern, Ms. Mancke, a teacher, sits on the legislative committee of the Illinois Education Association (IEA). In fact Mancke helped craft the IEA’s 2012-2013 Platform which supports progressive taxation and a financial transaction tax; while opposing school choice (including home schooling) and the ballot initiative process.
Really? Is this how Jim Durkin plans to rebuild the Republican Party in Illinois? If Durkin and his HRO are successful in helping Amanda Mancke win the nomination, we wont have to worry about losing the General Election to a Democrat. We will have already lost to one in the Primary.
