Illinois Republicans have a new state party chairman. Longtime political operative and lobbyist Jack Dorgan was chosen at a state central committee meeting. Dorgan beat out a field of 6 other hopefuls, some who said the party is broken. Dorgan has a different view:
"Well the party's not broke. We've had some growing pains right now. We're ready. We're united and we’re going to move forward and show people there is a two party system." -Jack Dorgan
Dorgan has worked on numerous campaigns over 30 years.
Former congressman Joe Walsh was critical of the selection process...
"If it's an establishment Republican, picked behind closed doors, conservatives, the grassroots people are just going to throw their hands up and say that's it."-Joe Walsh
Dorgan replaces Pat Brady, who stepped down amid controversy over his support for same sex marriage. Dorgan refused to clarify where he stands on that issue, saying it's a party with a lot of different ideas.
Illinois Public Radio's Sean Crawford contributed to this report.