Rockford Sun

Concerns that Gov. Bruce Rauner's recent Cook County Republican Central Committee endorsement was a rigged outcome are unfounded, a Rockford lawmaker and Rauner supporter said during a recent interview.

"I certainly don't see any rigging involved," Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) told the Rockford Sun. "You have hundreds of Republican organizations between counties and townships, this is referring to one meeting where the chairman happens to be a supporter of the governor."

Those organization endorsements don't mean much to Republican voters "who are independent minded, do their homework and vote for who they think is best," Syverson said. "Lastly, the endorsement process is a lot different than the appointment process. The rigging of binding primary votes, which was raised during the Clinton-Sanders race, is a totally different issue. One is a binding vote, the other is just a recommendation."

Illinois State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford)

Some Republicans who attended the Palatine Township Republican Organization's endorsement meeting Feb. 6, along with some prominent Illinois Republicans, voiced rigging concerns after Rauner received the Cook County endorsement the previous day. The Cook County endorsement came despite 55 percent of the city vote going for Rauner's strong opponent in the Republican primary, Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton).

Palatine Township Republican Organization Committeewoman Gwozdz Wilson, in a post on that group's Facebook page, called the Cook County endorsement "a sham", claiming a previous Palatine straw poll was in favor of Ives.

Palatine Township ended up endorsing Rauner during its meeting. Previous endorsements of the governor's re-election bid include the Evanston Township Republican Organization and Fremont Township Republican Organization.

Not all Republican organizations in the state who have handed out endorsements so far have gone for Rauner. Last month, Ives won the Wheeling Township Republican Organization endorsement with 90 percent of that group's precinct captains voting for Ives and a subsequent Ives press release indicated that the Wheeling endorsement could be key in next month's primary. "In 2014, more Republican primary votes were cast in Wheeling Township than in 89 of Illinois' 102 counties," the release said.

Ives also has the endorsements of the Wheatland Township Republican Organization and a number of colleagues in the General Assembly.  

Even if the Cook County endorsement was rigged, there's nothing state level Republicans should do about it, Syverson said. "It is a local issue; the local party can take care of their own rules and regulations," he said. "As a state, we don't get involved in regulating what individual counties or townships want to do as far as rules regarding endorsements."

Rauner still has support going into the primary, Syverson said. "Absolutely, this has nothing to do with Gov. Rauner," he said.

"It's a chairman of one county that supports the governor who is pushing for him," he said. "We have chairmen in other counties pushing just as hard for Ives. Remember this is just recommendations from local counties, nothing binding. People should not be confusing this with binding votes for delegates to presidential elections."