Outgoing Illinois House Minority Leader resigns amid accusations of being too far to the left

[January 11, 2023] 

By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Just as Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, leaves the Illinois General Assembly, some are excited about new leadership for the Republican party.

After 24 years in the legislature, Durkin said it is time to leave, claiming the Republican Party in Illinois has lost its way.

“We’re not, nor should we be a party that subscribes to extremists, and that if you do not pass the purity test for Republicans, you're not worthy of running for office. I don’t believe in that,” Durkin said.

A former Cook County prosecutor, Durkin was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1995. He has served as the House Minority Leader since 2013.

State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, said Durkin had a lack of commitment to GOP principles.

“Whenever you have Republicans voting to double the gas tax, voting for CEJA (Clean Energy Jobs Act), voting for Amendment 1 [to codify collective bargaining in the Illinois Constitution], it doesn't give folks a reason to vote Republican,” Niemerg told The Center Square. “We have to have that differentiation between Republican and Democrat and Jim failed on that.”

Durkin responded to accusations that he was “Democrat lite.”

Outgoing Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, talks with reporters on his last day in the Illinois General Assembly
Greg Bishop / The Center Square

“They can say what they want. I’ve been called a RINO [Republican in name only]. That's fine, I wear that as a badge of honor, it's kind of funny, but if they really looked at my voting record it doesn't reflect that,” Durkin said.

The Illinois Freedom Caucus, which Niemerg is a member of, released a scathing statement regarding Durkin’s departure, saying “we are in a mess not because of our principles but because of our leadership’s lack of commitment to our principles.”

Durkin will be replaced as minority leader by state Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savannah, when the new General Assembly is sworn in on Wednesday.

“I’d like to see Tony be very aggressive against the Democrats,” Niemerg said. “I think she has a track record of being very aggressive, but I also would like to see Tony bring in the conservatives more.”

Republican party leaders in Durkin's district will pick his successor for the new two-year term in the House that begins Wednesday.

Greg Bishop contributed to this report.

Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.