Republicans expressed hope they will gain ground in the coming election at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night at 17th Street Warehouse.
Amid recent Democratic scandals and a failing economy, party leaders said Illinoisans will be looking for change this November.  Republicans repeatedly cited the resignation of Democratic Lt. Gov. Candidate Scott Lee Cohen after prostitution and domestic violence allegations as a sign the party is becoming more corrupt.  However, State Senator Dave Luechtefeld made a distinction between Chicago Democrats and southern Democrats.
“I have a lot of friends who are Democrats and I know many of you do too,” Luechtefeld said.  “The people that run this state, they have nothing in common with the southern Illinois Democrat.”
Luechtefeld said the Republicans chances are better than they’ve been in years.  He said he doesn’t care if the party is Republican or Democrat, when they do a bad job they deserve to lose.  Although the Chicago area is very Democrat, he said, he believes Republicans can win votes from the surrounding suburbs.
Republicans acknowledged the times are hard and issues are complex, but still expressed their frustrations with the current government.  State Representative Mike Bost said Illinois needs to find better ways to tighten its belt on the budget.  He said Illinois needs to locate “duplicate programs,” or multiple programs that serve the same purpose, and consolidate them in to one. Consolidating the programs can cut costs while still being just as effective.
“We need to find these programs, narrow them down and then make sure that they’re getting the most federally matched dollars that they possibly can,” Bost said.
Bost said  the education system also needs some work.  He said money needs to be distributed the way it was before 2001, when a fixed amount for higher education and a fixed amount for primary and secondary schools were set every year.  Schools receive mandates from the state and federal governments but aren’t given the resources to act on those laws and that is another reason the education system is having trouble, he said.