From a Friend of McHenry County Blog:
GOP Outreach Chair gets primary while Democrats whoop Republicans on recruitment
There were 69 people who filed to be committeeperson in 67 precincts (with two contested races) on the Republican side and 90 people who filed in 89 precincts (with one contested race) on the Democratic side.
That’s a difference of 22 precincts.
Looked at another way, Democrats have about 33 percent more than Republicans; or looked at another way, Republicans have about 75 percent as many as Democrats.
If I recall, in 2024, Republicans had fewer PC filings but then with write-in candidates they pulled ahead, but they weren’t outnumbered by that much to begin with — it might have been something like 65 to 70 (I don’t recall the exact number but it was something close to that).
They definitely weren’t in the hole 22 precincts.
2024 was anomalous with Republicans being behind at all.
Never before had I seen that. Republicans always used to get more than Democrats.
Then things changed and now it has gotten much worse for Republicans.
Democrats have done a better job recruiting people.
Their numbers increased dramatically compared to 2024 while Republicans stagnated.
I think you get the point.
Here are the three contested elections for PC throughout the county.
Democrat Marc Sparber faces Democrat Walter Moist in Algonquin 6.
On the Republican side, Jeanne Caifano takes on Jacqueline Garretson (who happens to be Vice Chair of Education & Outreach) in McHenry 13.
Also, there is Kirk Donald versus Jason R. Blumenthal in McHenry 21.
I find this interesting because Jacqueline Garretson and Kirk Donald, who are both incumbent Republican PCs who now have primary opponents, appear to not like each other.
I guess the factional dispute of McHenry County Republican politics is Garretson vs. the ‘establishment’ although presumably it was leadership who appointed her in the first place.
In fact, Garretson is part of leadership.
So, she is not an outsider, she is an insider herself.
It’s just that other insiders don’t like her.
Senator Craig Wilcox is the one who intervened to beg the party to not discipline Garretson.
They acquiesced to his request but I wonder if they still think that was a good idea now with Garretson writing hit pieces about them online.
This should serve as a lesson to future leadership: never tolerate disrespect. It will only embolden the rebel.
Instead, when people cross a line, you must crush them.
This was not some minor disagreement.
This was Garretson trashing the party, and Wilcox thought singing kumbaya would fix the situation. It only made things worse.
If there are any factional battles within the local Democratic Party, send an email to explain.
I admittedly understand local Republican politics more than Democratic politics although with new characters like Garretson arriving on the scene and fighting her own allies about who-knows-what, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make sense out of the Republican side too.
In the good ol’ days, we didn’t have middle-aged moms making Tik Toks of themselves arguing with coffee shop employees, but I guess some call that “progress.”
Jacqueline Garretson
The number of PC filings — the Republicans getting shellacked by the Democrats — suggests otherwise.
