ILGOP Unity Breakfast

I want to say good morning and thank you to the many dedicated Republicans for coming here today. The first of many unity rallies and I love to see this in every single congressional district, every single county where we come together and we look at what we are doing together in promoting this president and the America First agenda through the prism of our state and the debacle that we have with J.D. Pritzker over the last eight years. But first of all, I want to start by thanking every candidate who stepped forward to run in this primary cycle. If you were a candidate on the ballot this primary, would you please stand up and be recognized? You are all heroes and we're so grateful for the commitment, the courage and your willingness to Our candidates traveled across Illinois, spoke with voters and brought energy and ideas to the issues that matter most to the families in our state. And I can tell you I've witnessed so many people shaking hands and the promise of Illinois is because of you and every one of us gathered here today. I also want to thank the many thousands of volunteers, priesthood committed men and women, county party leaders, activists and donors who made the primary possible. The Illinois Republican Party is strongest when we work together, connecting with our neighbors, knocking on doors, making phone calls and showing up year after year because we believe Illinois can be better. When anybody asks you, oh, you know, I don't know about this or I don't know about that, you say I am the face of the Illinois Republican Party and each one of us are the people who will make the difference because we know we're going to be outspent by the other guys, right? But their record has really crushed our state in so many ways. We can't even keep the bears here for goodness sake, right? I think we can all do better than that and we will. Illinois will be better because of our leadership. Primaries are a part of a healthy political party. They give voters a choice, sharpen our message and bring new voices into the conversation and once voters have spoken, Republicans know what comes next. We unite. Yesterday, we may have supported different candidates. Today, we are on the same team with our common opponent, the Democrats. This is because the stakes in Illinois are just simply too high. The stakes in America are too high and nothing less but success for our candidates this November. Across our beautiful Illinois, families are feeling the pressure of rising costs, increased taxes, businesses continuing to leave, communities want safer streets, we want stronger schools, not our kids to be indoctrinated and for other government authorities to take the place of a parent in raising a child and we are the party whose leadership actually listens to what people want and this is what will motivate us to come behind our great candidates. Illinois is too great a state to settle for decline. Republicans believe that our state can do better than that. We believe in a responsible government that respects taxpayers and puts families first. Those values unite us more than anything that divides us and this is what we will take through through the weeks and months again as we reach out to voters in our community. Remember, if we get the numbers we had in November of 2024 without one dime of national money being spent but just because of the efforts of each one of us and our families, we will take the state by a landslide because the voters who came out and made their voices heard in 2024 are the voters who want change and the change is through these great candidates that we have and we'll have a moment in a minute hear from them. Okay, so anyway let me stick to the script or we'll be here too long. So anyway, today we congratulate our nominees who earned the trust of the Republican voters across Illinois. They will carry our message into the general election and they will have the full support of the Illinois Republican Party. Winning in November will take more than just our great candidates. It will take each and every one of us. Elections are won by people like us knocking on doors, talking to our neighbors, organizing locally and bringing new voters into our coalition. So I ask you two things. Go to the Illinois Republican Party website and the White House website regularly so that you can be the face and talk over breakfast, coffee or an evening dinner conversation and have your mind to get your possum of voters out to vote this coming November. Elections are won by us and we will bring those new voters to our coalition. Our strength as a party comes from the counties and the grassroots leaders who fight for their communities every day. The primary gave us momentum. Now we will turn our momentum toward victory. The primary being behind us. Our mission is in front of us to defeat every Democrat in the state of Illinois from governor down to dog catcher. When we stay focused and united, there is no limit to what this party can accomplish because the Republican Party here in Illinois is defined by the people in this room. Each one of us who believe that Illinois is worth fighting for. One team, one mission, one goal. Victory in November and defeat J.B. Pritzker.