Our Illinois county has a long heritage of Republican leaders on the local, Illinois and federal levels of government who have been committed to accountable, limited, and loyally constitutional government.

2023 Lincoln Day Dinner

The night was amazing and historic.  Tazewell County Republicans and Peoria County Republicans jointly held our 2023 Lincoln Day Dinners.  The Keynote speaker was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.  Also featured were Congressman Darin LaHood and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White.  Over 1,200 donors attended the sold-out event. 

The introduction by Chairman Jim Rule predicted that an earthquake is coming and that the epicenter was this event.

Videos from the event are available at youtube.com/@TazewellCountyRepublicans1536

A Tradition has Returned!

A tradition has returned. Tazewell GOP is committed to having Saturday morning breakfasts, hosted by the Precinct Committeeperson Chairperson for each county board district. Saturday the 6th of May was the first event, in County Board District 1, hosted by chairperson Jody Baker. Coincidentally, Saturday was also the anniversary the death of Littleton Tazewell, a US Senator for whom our county was named in his honor.

More details courtesy of Tazewell County Clerk and Recorder John C. Ackerman - Littleton Tazewelll (.pdf download)

Central Committee Meeting

At the March 4 Central Committee Meeting, the Precinct Committeepersons selected their Tazewell County Board District Chairpersons.  From left to right:  Jim Rule - County Chairman, Caleb Zobrist - District 2 Chairperson, Jody Baker - District 1 Chairperson, Russ Crawford - District 3 Chairperson.  Congratulations to Caleb, Jody and Russ.

Roles and responsibilities of County Board District Chairpersons include: Illinois Statutes require the appropriate County Board Chairman notify the District Captain within 3 days of a county board vacancy.   Each District Captain should host 2 events each year which would be a breakfast, happy hour, picnic, etc.  Each District Captain will be a member of the Organization Committee with goals to increase the number of voters represented by a Precinct Committeeperson. Each District Captain will support the Volunteer Coordinator’s efforts to get volunteers for parades and festivals.  Every 4 years, the District Captain will be responsible to assure that each township within their district has a Precinct Committeeperson to conduct the Township Caucuses.

2nd Amendment Raffle

Thanks to all of the supporters who bought tickets for our 2nd Amendment Raffle.  The winners were selected in a ceremony at our Headquarters on Saturday, October 29.

• 1st prize was won by Jacob.

• 2nd prize was won by Stephen.

The work that Tazewell County Republicans performs is made possible thanks to this kind of support from voters.

Additionally, the assault on the 2nd Amendment has never been more intense.

News 

7/27/2022 - At the Biennial County Convention, the Precinct Committeepersons re-elected Jim Rule as the Chairman of the Tazewell County Republican Central Committee.  Unaminously, the Precinct Committeepersons voted to continue Jim's efforts to strengthen the party.

The Chairman's comments re-iterated his commitment to the 2021 Strategic vision, mission, and goals. Jim invited the Precinct Committeepersons, many of them new, to make their individual contributions to a better Illinois.

Congratulations Jim!

In other business,

The Precinct Committeepersons selected Kevin Johnson to be the Republican candidate for a 2-year unexpired term for the Tazewell County State's Attorney on the November 8, 2022 General Election Ballot. 

2022 Veterans Appreciation Breakfast

Tazewell County Republicans recognizes a Veteran of the Year who resides in Tazewell County; served and was honorably discharged from a branch of the U.S. military; and is consistently active in our community by involving himself or herself in causes or actions that give back and/or in some way, makes a difference in the lives of those in our community.

The 2022 Veteran of the year is William Mayo. Bill Mayo graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis and served Executive Officer and Combat Operations Officer on the USS Direct; and later served in the Crew Training Command at Great Lakes. Bill earned the Meritorious Service Medal and the Service Warfare Officer Designation.

Bill's civilian life includes volunteering at a long list of civic organizations.  Additionally, after retirement bill taught at Eureka College.  Bill contributes as a US Navy Blue and Gold officer at 15 area schools.  Professionally, Bill retired as a Vice President at Caterpillar Inc. and has written a number of books.

Click Here to View the Veteran of the Year Presentation

Keynote Speaker

Debbie Gaught is a co-founder of Illinois Valley Fuller Center for Housing. Debbie was our keynote speaker and described the services her organization provides to low-income veterans and their widows. www.ivfuller.org

Click Here to Watch Debbie Gaught

Important 2nd Amendment Case

On January 11, the Illinois Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the appeal of case 126852 - People State of Illinois v. Vivian Claudine Brown.

• Defendant, Vivian Brown, was charged by information with possessing a firearm without a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card in violation of section 2(a)(1) of the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification Card Act (FOID Card Act) (430 ILCS 65/2(a)(1) (West 2016)).
• The circuit court of White County dismissed the charge, finding that, as applied to the facts of this case, section 2(a)(1) was unconstitutional under the second amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. II), and article I, section 22, of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 22).
• Direct appeal was taken to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Tazewell County's States Attorney Stu Umholtz has filed a Brief of Amici Curiae with the Illinois Supreme Court in this case.   This is an important case which tackles the question of whether or not an Illinois citizen is required to have a FOID card in order to possess a firearm in their own home.   Mr. Umholtz's brief provides information for the court to consider which bolsters the Second Amendment and the argument against the FOID card requirement. 

Click Here for the Brief of Amici Curiae filed by Stu Umholtz (download .pdf)

On November 29, 2021,David K. Overstreet, Illinois Supreme Court Justice, Fifth District, allowed this brief to be filed.

More details are available in the summary of the judgement which was remanded back to the circuit court and causing this to go back to the IL Supreme Court.  Summary of Judgement (download.pdf)

We at Tazewell County Republicans feel it is appropriate to show appreciation when an elected official goes beyond the call of duty.  Click here to thank Stu Umholtz.