Will County Gazette

Thomas McCullagh’s next foray into the world of Illinois politics could see him seeking the job of the man he at least partly blames for coming up short in his run last month against state Rep. Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) in the 49th District.

“I’m seriously considering it,” McCullagh told the Will County Gazette of the prospect of him entering the race to replace outgoing Republican State Central Committee Chairman Tim Schneider, who recently announced he will be leaving a year early.

“I think the state party needs change and I would love to take his place,” McCullagh added. “We could definitely use some need blood.”

McCullagh, who bagged 44% of the vote in his run against Loughran Cappel, hasn’t been shy about blasting party leaders for not offering what he thinks was enough support or financial resources to his campaign or that of any other GOP candidate.

“At the end of the day, Rob Blagojevich did more for my campaign than the Illinois GOP,” McCullagh told the Gazette soon after all the votes had been counted. “They have no leadership or ability to execute plans. Blagojevich at least came out to a fundraiser.”

McCullagh, who built his campaign against Loughran Cappel on a platform of ethics and spending reforms, insists he already has several ideas for modernizing operations.

“I would like to see a centralized website system where we can share information with all party members and significantly decrease some of our costs,” he said. “I’d also like to see us consolidate certain services and put together a notification system that would include putting the name of every GOP candidate on the party website and I believe go a long way in helping to increase attendance.”

The Illinois GOP has formed a search committee and will make recommendations during a Jan. 9 meeting.