I'm not used to being able to pick and choose which is the "best" Republican to nominate for Congress here. I live in a safe RAT district where urban black neighborhoods get to dictate to the rest of the district who our Congressman will be, so for the past 25 years or so, we've just had a SINGLE sacrificial lamb to run against black panther Bobby Rush.
Like most FReepers, I tuned out of this primary and wasn't excited about ANY of the Republicans running, both statewide and locally. It was just annoying background noise. PhilCollins tried to get me to endorse Geno Young months ago, I said "meh" and didn't bother researching the candidates because whoever "wins" the primary will then get crushed in November.
Of course if you DON'T vote in the primary, you can't complain about the crappy choices in November, so a week before the election I decided to research each of 'em and go with the "best" conservative that would have a snowball's chance of hell of hypothetically winning in November.
Even though they've probably redistricted the lines all the way down to Kankakee or whatever by this point, the reality is it still a black majority district, so any white Republican is probably a non-starter and would be lucky to get 12% of black voters to support him/her, even if they are the best candidate in the world. A GOP candidate would probably need to carry at least 1/3rd of black voters in November to somehow 'win' in a district like this, and I don't see a Hurricane Katrina type event where a Joseph Cao type manages to eek in because the black communities in Chicago can't vote or whatever.
Jeff Regnier & Eric Carlson are both white dudes from white suburbs. In an ordinary election, either one would have been perfectly acceptable as the token "sacrificial lamb" so we at least have SOMEONE to vote for in November. But, to quote Shania Twain, "that don't impress me much".
Jeff Regnier sent me some mailers, he seems to be the more "polished" and professional of the two. Says he's a conservative and he most likely is, but I couldn't figure out where he stood on issues like abortion and gun rights, so not nominating anyone unless I'm absolutely sure they're with us on stuff like that.
Eric Carlson is CLEARLY an across-the-board outspoken conservative, sounds like a good guy and I'd be happy to vote for him in November over a commie RAT, but he didn't seem to have any presence on the campaign trail or on social media, and his website suggests "not ready for prime time"
Phil White was the GOP nominee for the district last time, and was running again. Despite the name, I learned a few weeks before the 2020 election that "Phil White" is a black chick. Her previous campaign didn't attract much attention or do better than any white GOP dude, so meh, don't see the point in giving her another shot at it when the first go-around was a dud. Not sure how conservative she is, either. Endorsements from the Log Cabin Republicans and so on. Puke.
That left Geno Young. The guy has been VERY active on social media for months, and had a professional, polish campaign structure (love his campaign logo). I just didn't pay any attention (as I noted, it was just background noise in a "safe" RAT district). He's an UNAPOLOGETIC hardcore conservative, and has some serious street cred as a black musician. Young guy (age 26) with an afro and a beard, I'd LOVE to see the RATS just TRY and accuse him of being an "oreo" because he doesn't agree with their idealogy. He would have been a fun nominee against ANY RAT in the general election. Alas...
Anyway, hope he runs again, maybe for Alderman or something, or as the GOP nominee for this district in 2024 (ideally in a GOP 'wave' election).
