Illinois GOP looks to the future
DECATUR — Barry Welbers, Bureau County’s Republican Party chairman, was one of nearly 1,400 Republicans who attended the Illinois Republican Convention in Decatur earlier this month.
Welbers, who attended with his wife, Beth, and Ron Ahrens of Spring Valley, said Bureau County is allotted three delegates to the convention, based on the number of Republican primary voters in the county.
Welbers said the conventions are held every presidential election year and give Illinois Republicans the opportunity to vote on certain leadership positions, including the two representatives from Illinois to the national Republican party. That election was one of the highlights of the convention for Welbers. He said that this year, delegates chose Demetra DeMonte, a downstate woman from Tazewell County.
“I think that’s significant, that she was elected as opposed to someone from Chicago,” Welbers said. “She won it outright; she won it fair and square. It wasn’t handed to her. She wasn’t the chosen successor of her predecessor, who’s done a good job, but it’s a fresh perspective, and I think that looks good.”
It wouldn’t be a convention without speeches, and one of the last ones was given by Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Peoria), a candidate for the seat being vacated by the retiring Rep. Ray LaHood.
“It was a tremendous speech, a tremendous vision for where the Republican Party should go and how it should communicate with its voters,” Welbers said.
Welbers said the state of the Illinois Republican Party is strong.
“They’re not by any means delusional,” he said. “We’re in the minority in Illinois government and very sensitive to that.”
Welbers said Republicans don’t believe the people of Illinois are being adequately serviced by the all Democratic government.
“We think that Springfield is in bad shape, and we believe that we need to become more competitive for the good of the people of Illinois,” he said.
Welbers said another objective of the conventions is to build unity among Illinois Republicans. He believed most of the delegates left satisfied.
“Of course there’s always going to be a few that just never really are going to agree with you no matter what you do,” he said.
Since Gov. Rod Blagojevich is not up for re-election this year, Welbers said the focus will be on the legislators in Springfield.
“Where there may be competitive districts, obviously the Republicans intend to concentrate to try to win a few of those to better their numbers in the legislature,” he said.
Oh, and there was a telephone call from the top candidate on the national Republican ticket, presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.
“John McCain promised that he would compete in Illinois, which was important to us,” Welbers said. “Rather than write Illinois off as Barack Obama country, he said he would come here and compete. That’s important to help us build energy and enthusiasm, and it helps all the way on down the ticket. We hope he keeps that commitment.”
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