A Republican state senator who had a high profile disagreement with Governor Bruce Rauner says he won’t run for re-election. Senator Sam McCann of Plainview would have faced his second opponent backed by the governor.
Back in late September, McCann took to Facebook expressing anger after learning he’d yet again failed to earn the backing of the local Republican Party for the third time in five years. Still, he asked constituents for their vote.
Now McCann says he’s out of the race, as a Republican anyway, citing a party that he says is “unrecognizable” and “has lost its way under Governor Rauner.”
McCann crossed Rauner as the only Republican to vote down his amendatory veto of the school funding bill and legislation that could have ended a long running dispute with the labor union AFSCME. He’s also criticized the governor for signing a bill allowing tax dollars to fund abortions. Rauner backed primary opponent, Bryce Benton, during the last election, although McCann was able to survive.
McCann has received criticism over back taxes owed, a property foreclosure and for taking large mileage reimbursements from his campaign fund.
When asked if he would consider running as an independent, McCann said he was "abstaining from any further statement at this point."
McCann's full statement:
"While representing the men and women of the 50th District has been one of the great honors and privileges of my life, it is clear that the Illinois Republican Party, including several of the county party organizations, has lost its way under Governor Rauner. I am unable to continue on with a party or a governor who continually attack working people; who support forcing taxpayers to fund abortions; who have turned Illinois into a sanctuary state; who have advanced the most liberal standards in the nation giving transgender individuals the ability to alter their birth certificates; and who have destroyed Illinois’ Right of Conscience Act so as to force pro-life doctors, nurses and other providers to violate their consciences and be denied their Constitutional Rights. This is no longer a Republican Party that is recognizable to me. Until my term expires in 2019, I will continue to represent the constituents of the 50th District with the same vigor and determination as I have since taking office in 2011.”
