Illinois Republican Party chair resigns weeks before RNC over infighting

Illinois Republican Party chair Don Tracy has resigned — citing GOP infighting — just weeks before the Republican National Convention is set to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tracy, who had assumed the position in 2021, announced the decision to the party's state central committee airing grievances about warring amongst fellow Republicans instead of focusing on issues and besting the left.

“When I took on this full-time volunteer job in February, 2021, I thought I would be spending most of my time fighting Democrats, helping elect Republicans, raising money to pay for more Party infrastructure, and advocating for Party unity," according to the letter. "Unfortunately, however, I have had to spend far too much time dealing with intra party power struggles, and local intra party animosities that continued after primaries and County Chair elections."

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In a subsequent statement, Tracy blamed the bleak state of politics.

"In better days, Illinois Republicans came together after tough intra party elections," he said. "Now however, we have Republicans who would rather fight other Republicans than engage in the harder work of defeating incumbent Democrats by convincing swing voters to vote Republican."

The decision comes weeks before the GOP will gather in Milwaukee to formally renominate former President Donald Trump at their national convention.

He said he would like a replacement to be named no later than July 19, the day after the convention.

Tracy is an attorney from Springfield, Illinois who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 2014. He was also the first state Republican to hold the position coming from outside Chicago since 1988.