From what I've been reading online (see above) it looks like this may evolve rather quickly into a LaThug Jr. vs. Jil Tracy matchup for the Republican nomination. Since it will be a special election, we won't have much time. Tracy is a solid downstate conservative mom with a more experienced track record in the state legislature than Darin "daddy got me this seat" LaThug and should be the obvious choice for grassroots conservatives to support. Dillard tapped her as his running mate in 2014, but that was to shore up his appeal to the GOP base and the pick was widely applauded.
The legions of useful idiot conservatives who praise LaThug redux as a great conservative (sadly you can find them all over cyberspace and at IL Tea Party events) remind me of the birther morons who touted Donald Trump as the Tea Party savior.
Knowing the Combine tactics, they’ll probably try to destroy her if she enters.
Democrat redistricters packed so many Republicans into the IL-18 (Democrat precincts in Peoria were placed in the RAT-leaning IL-17 and Democrat precincts in Springfield, Normal and Bloomington were placed in the marginal IL-13) that whoever wins the GOP nomination will win the special election without breaking a sweat. If Jil Tracy runs against LaHood’s son in the primary, then she’d be the obvious choice for conservatives. Hopefully Jil Tracy runs and no other prominent conservative jumps in, since IL does not have primary run- offs and we can’t let LaHood Jr. sneak in with under 40% because the conservative vote got split.
Two notes:
1. If elected, Jil Tracy would become the first pro-life conservative woman ever elected to Congress from Illinois (or at least the first since Congress started voting on abortion-related issues after Roe v. Wade). The only GOP congresswomen from IL since 1973 were Lynn Martin and Judy Biggert, both of whom were virulently pro-abortion.
2. Always remember that Mrs. Tracy’s first name is spelled “Jil,” with only one L. I mistakenly looked up “Jill Tracy” (with two Ls) and got some weird musician from San Francisco.
Run Jil, run.