Rock Island Today

State Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) has been elected House Minority Leader. 

McCombie becomes the first woman to hold a leadership position in the State House which was created in 1818. She replaces State Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). The GOP chose its new House Minority Leader on Nov. 15.

“The House Republican Caucus is focused on helping Illinois families by offering common sense solutions to the many problems our state faces,” McCombie said in a statement. “We will be a unified force that will grow our party by sticking to our core values and ending the corruption that has pervaded state government.” 

Both Republican General Assembly leaders are new. State Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) will be serving as Senate Minority Leader.

McCombie was criticized earlier this year when she joined with Durkin to back a primary opponent against incumbent state Sen. Win Stoller (R-Germantown Hills). McCombie and Durkin donated cash to that campaign, leading critics to point out that such in-fighting may hurt the party, the Peoria Standard reported. Stoller’s was one of several campaigns in which GOP leadership meddled and failed.

In February, McCombie was among a group of Republican representatives voted off the House floor for not wearing masks. “This isn't February of 2020. I didn't plan on being called out and taken from here. I literally yesterday - leaving the chamber ... in the elevator - several of us Republicans, and there was a Dem staffer in there and out of courtesy said, 'Would you like us to mask?' I literally just walked over there and talked to a couple of your members and put my mask on because I was going to be within six feet of them. Mind your own business. Mitigate your own risk,” she said to the chamber, according to The State Journal-Register.

Durkin, according to West Cook News, said he’d not be seeking another leadership term after the Nov. 8 election. ”It's time for the Illinois Republican Party to rebuild with new leaders who can bring independents back to the party that are needed to bring change to the state. With that, I will not be seeking re-election as minority leader,” Durkin said in a statement. In the general election, incumbent Republicans Reps. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) and Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) both lost their seats.