Will County Gazette

Three top Illinois Republican officials kicked off a massive PR campaign today not in support of a Republican congressional candidate but against one.

The chairmen of the state GOP, and of the Cook and Will County Republican organizations announced at a press conference Thursday morning that they are employing a multiple media campaign to urge their fellow Republicans not to vote for Arthur Jones, a Holocaust denier and anti-Semite, who collected enough signatures to get himself on the primary ballot in the Third Congressional District.  

“We have to do a better job of educating voters,” George Pearson, Chair of the Will County Republicans, told the Will County Gazette after the press conference at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. “And the fact is that this guy is no more a Republican than that socialist Bernie Sanders.”

Jones, 71, of Lyons is a retired insurance agent and is a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi. He embarrassed the Republican Party two years ago when he ran unopposed in the primary in the Third. He was soundly defeated by incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski in the November general elections.

Also on Thursday, the Republican leaders reinforced their endorsement of Mike Fricilone of Homer Glen, a Will County Board member running in the March 17 primary.

“Mike is a true conservative Republican,” Pearson said. “He’s pro-life, pro Second Amendment and a fiscal conservative. With his leadership we built new office space without raising taxes one dime.”

On the Democratic side, Lipinski is in a rematch against liberal candidate Marie Newman. Business owner Rush Darwish is also in the race this time around.

Lipinski defeated Newman two years ago by 2200 votes. A January poll showed Lipinski with a double-digit lead over Newman.

The Third Congressional District covers parts of Chicago and the southwest suburbs.