Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider elected state GOP chairman

Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider was elected unanimously Saturday to a four-year term as state Republican Party chairman.

Schneider is a small-business owner from northwest suburban Bartlett and has been a commissioner since 2007. He replaces Jack Dorgan, a Rosemont village trustee and lobbyist who had the job for a year and is now taking a position as co-chairman of the finance committee for GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner. Schneider had Rauner’s backing for the position.

The vote marked an easy transition for the Republican party in Illinois, which had been marked by in-fighting. Dorgan was elected in June to replace Pat Brady, who angered some factions of the Republican Party after he supported same-sex marriage.

Schneider’s election as state party chairman came without challenge after one other potential candidate dropped out earlier this month.

Blasting Illinois as a “corrupt, one-party state in desperate need of a change,” Schneider said in a statetment Saturday: “We are going to work tirelessly between now and November to elect Republicans up and down the ticket to fix this mess, and fight for Republican values of smaller government, lower taxes and less spending.”