[PhilCollins]

During the past 15 years, which Illinois Republicans, if any, ran, statewide, lost, and later ran, statewide, winning the second race? I don’t know of any, but you’ve lived in IL longer than I have.

[BillyBoy]

Jim Ryan ran against Roland Burris for Illinois A.G. in 1990 and lost, then ran for Illinois A.G. again four years later, in 1994, and won. Here are the results:

Illinois Attorney General, 1990
Roland Burris (D), 52%
Jim Ryan (R), 48%

Illinois Attorney General, 1994
Jim Ryan (R), 55%
Al Hofeld (D), 45%

[yongin]

For the past 30 years, none. If a Republican lost in the primary, they usually retire from politics. For example, Jim Ryan teaches political science at College of Du Page and IL Benedictine on part time basis. Oberweis is the only Republican to keep running.

The Dems have the same attitude. When Poshard had thoughts about challenging Ryan again in 2002, Mike Madigan gave thumbs down to the idea. Also a lot of IL Dems didn’t like Burris being appointed. They viewed as a has been looking for the next office to run for.