While Kjellander is often a too-convenient scapegoat for both the media and conservative Republicans, this controversy is not going away until he does.
When they gather this weekend near Chicago, leaders of the state GOP may end up confronting the proverbial elephant in the room: the continuing backlash against Republican National Committeeman Bob Kjellander.
The meeting agenda of the Republican State Central Committee does not specifically mention Kjellander, the Springfield consultant who serves as the Illinois GOP’s national representative and RNC treasurer. But state party directors probably will hear about him if Fayette County Republican Chairman Randy Pollard addresses the panel, as he said he intends to do.
Pollard, who oversees the statewide organization for county GOP chairmen, said a group of 30 of his colleagues unanimously passed a resolution in November seeking Kjellander’s resignation. Specifically, he said, the measure urged Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna to ask Kjellander to step down.”It was brought up at our meeting. It was handled. It was over with, and we moved on,” Pollard said this week.
Only 30? Was the vote rigged in advance?
Kjellander also said the county chairmen’s meeting in November was called with two days’ notice, and drew only a fraction of the 102 county GOP leaders in the state.
“I was not given an opportunity to address the group,” Kjellander said, “and I have spoken to Randy Pollard subsequently and offered to meet with the county chairmen’s association at their convenience.”
Have at it.