Rauner to skip GOP convention

Gov.+Bruce+Rauner+listens+to+President+Barack+Obama+speak+in+Chicago.+Rauner+will+not+attend+the+Republican+National+Convention+this+year.

Source: Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Gov. Bruce Rauner listens to President Barack Obama speak in Chicago. Rauner will not attend the Republican National Convention this year.

Nora Shelly, Assistant City Editor

Gov. Bruce Rauner will not attend the Republican National Convention and is not endorsing the likely Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, multiple news sources reported Thursday.

The convention is set to take place in Cleveland from July 18 to 21. With Trump looking like the next GOP nominee, other Republican leaders have said they too will not endorse the real estate mogul and reality TV star.

Rauner joins U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) in skipping the convention. Kirk, a first-term senator, is running for re-election against Democratic challenger U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

A spokesman for Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush wrote in an email to the Texas Tribune this week that neither former presidents will comment on the election, and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said during an interview on CNN that he was “just not ready” to endorse Trump.

According to the Illinois Republican Party, the state’s GOP will send 69 delegates to this year’s convention. Three RNC members and 12 at-large delegates that are sent are bound to vote for Trump as he won the state’s primary in March. Three delegates each are elected from the state’s 18 congressional districts, and must list a preferred candidate on the ballot. They are then obligated to vote for the candidate they selected, unless that person drops out of the race.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @noracshelly