April 24, 2024
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Will County Republicans try to balance messaging on Trump, pandemic

Candidates keep President at arm's length while employing similar tactics

By Alex Ortiz

Speakers at the event included the president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police. Despite rising COVID-19 cases and a ban on social gatherings of more than 25 people in Will County, dozens of attendees gathered inside a tent for the main show, with only some wearing face coverings. Some Republican candidates greeted visitors as they walked in, handing out literature and asking for votes. At a time of deep political polarization, Will County Republicans have tried to focus on issues they feel can attract voters from across the political spectrum, even those skeptical of President Donald Trump. At the state level, candidates like Tom McCullagh, who is running in the 49th State Senate District, have focused their message on rooting out corruption and lowering the tax burden. But McCullagh acknowledged that the chaotic news cycle of the 2020 election has made it more difficult for that message to cut through the noise and attract the more moderate voters he needs. "It’s obviously a resonance issue," he said. "This year there are 40,000 other things that are out there definitely diluting the issue." (Alex Ortiz)

Speakers at the event included the president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police. Despite rising COVID-19 cases and a ban on social gatherings of more than 25 people in Will County, dozens of attendees gathered inside a tent for the main show, with only some wearing face coverings. Some Republican candidates greeted visitors as they walked in, handing out literature and asking for votes. At a time of deep political polarization, Will County Republicans have tried to focus on issues they feel can attract voters from across the political spectrum, even those skeptical of President Donald Trump. At the state level, candidates like Tom McCullagh, who is running in the 49th State Senate District, have focused their message on rooting out corruption and lowering the tax burden. But McCullagh acknowledged that the chaotic news cycle of the 2020 election has made it more difficult for that message to cut through the noise and attract the more moderate voters he needs. "It’s obviously a resonance issue," he said. "This year there are 40,000 other things that are out there definitely diluting the issue." (Alex Ortiz)

Trump's behavior and rhetoric have made the task more difficult, McCullagh conceded, even though he said he agrees with the president's economic agenda. "I’m definitely a Trump supporter, but his messaging hurts more than helps, especially in a purple district such as mine," he said. Ben Bierly, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran running in the neighboring 43rd State Senate District, also admitted to holding the president at arm's length on the campaign trail. "I don’t necessarily talk about Trump at all," he said. "It’s a very touchy issue for a lot of people." Bierly emphasized it was Trump's style that he distances himself from than his substance. "I’m going to win more votes staying away from that style, than I am copying it," he said. (Eric Ginnard)

Even as candidates like Bierly and McCullagh haven't fully endorsed Trump's at times blustering style, they and their fellow Republicans have employed tactics not terribly different from the president's. McCullagh has held rallies in support of law enforcement agencies around the county and posted political posters of his opponent, Democrat Meg Loughran Cappel, on social media depicting her as a far-left candidate. In one Facebook post decrying the push for a graduate state income tax, Cappel is seen next to Che Guevara, the Argentinian Marxist revolutionary. In the race for the 3rd U.S. Congressional District, Republican Mike Fricilone has portrayed his opponent, Democrat Marie Newman, as a "socialist." He has focused on Newman's more progressive views, like her support for a single payer system. "She doesn’t represent their values," Fricilone said, referring to the moderate voters of the 3rd District. Fricilone also said his opponent supports defunding police departments, citing dubious claims made by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, which endorsed him. "The Chicago police says — believes — that she is about defunding police," he said. Newman said she's never supported defunding police departments and said Fricilone was "misguided" about her views. (Alex Ortiz)

Perhaps no other issue has revealed the divisions within the electorate more than the response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. While Will County GOP candidates largely say they believe the virus does pose a danger, they have blasted measures taken by Gov. JB Pritzker and state health officials to slow the spread. When Will County was under additional mitigations because of its high test positivity rate late in the summer, several Republicans openly questioned why the measures were necessary. McCullagh said he thought state health officials needed to be more transparent about the data they were using. Though he denounced some of the statements made by other Republicans as "outrageous" and said he thought they were made to generate headlines. "In a time of crisis, we shouldn’t be putting fear out there," McCullagh said. Still, candidates like Bierly argued that even moderate voters were tired of the restrictions and wanted a return to normalcy. "Independents don’t give a (expletive) about what the governor says about this virus," Bierly said. "They want to go to work. They want to get back to their lives." (Eric Ginnard)

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Alex Ortiz

Alex Ortiz

Alex Ortiz is a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet. Originally from Romeoville, Ill., he joined The Herald-News in 2017 and mostly covers Will County government, politics, education and more. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master's degree from Northwestern University.