Editorial: Where have all the good Republican candidates gone?

A wise man once told us “I’m a Democrat at the local level, a Republican at the state level, and a libertarian when it comes to federal politics.”

It’s a philosophy that holds, essentially, that you should be more skeptical of government power the farther away that government is from the people it governs. It expresses a comfort with an activist government close to home, a healthy dose of bi-partisan restraint in Springfield and lots of self-control in Washington, D.C.

For those readers questioning the wisdom of supporting self-control in D.C. (meaning, being wise with your hard-earned dollars), consider, perhaps, that the U.S. is sitting on $40 trillion in debt, which will rain down consequences, both seen and unforeseen, on future generations.

With that in mind, one of the guiding principles for the folks we send to D.C. should be: Waste not, want not. Congressmen should be good financial stewards. But they should also stand on principles of free markets, free expression, free enterprise, a free and unhindered press, and transparency and accountability, especially as it relates to their own side of the aisle. These are ideas historically attributed to free-market conservatives, who most often have found their home among the Republicans.

It’s getting harder to catch a glimpse of any such ethic today.

We didn’t just write that it is not pervasive. We said it is hard to catch even a glimpse.

As we turn our attention to our federal and statewide endorsements, we’ve been thinking much about this situation.

At the federal level, it seems to us that voters simply do not trust Republicans to offer a balanced approach to governance.

Without it, there is no tempering effect on the ruling party’s worst impulses. When those impulses are unchecked, the electorate inevitably endures recurring whiplash, as disgust with one party is quickly replaced with disgust for the other party. Point being, one-party rule isn’t good for anyone.

Midterms likely will alter the current balance in D.C.; how much remains to be seen. Regardless of what happens — though we tend to think balance tends to do both sides at least some measure of good — Republicans need to figure out what they actually stand for. Not just who they’re willing to follow.

Simply put, Republicans currently evidence a philosophical and policy shallowness that is on full display for voters. Instead of principles and ideas, the party line has become “whatever he said,” referring, of course, to the whims of President Donald Trump. Instead of thinking for themselves, too many are happy to accept the cravenness, callousness and corruption of the charmless chief.

Because of this, Republicans now have to dig themselves out of a substantial hole.

People forget that Trump scored 43% of the vote in Illinois, much higher than most anyone would’ve expected and surely higher than now would be the case. That was in large part because Trump campaigned on promises to end foreign wars, restore order at the border, excise waste and bring down the cost of living. In addition to finding ourselves in what feels like another inflation-friendly war with no end in sight, what followed Trump’s inauguration was months of pernicious, militarized immigration raids in major cities, including our own, in which human decency and simple common sense were nowhere to be found.

Trump also campaigned heavily on tackling inflation and the cost of living, all of which had worsened during the Biden years and in our post-COVID world. His dismal track record can clearly be seen by voters: we just paid more than $5 a gallon for gas in the city, groceries remain eye-wateringly expensive and 30-year mortgage rates are now above 7%.

The Republican majority not only presided over all of this, but failed to do anything serious to intervene. Anyone who did was not afforded any kind of hearing; on the contrary, they were kicked to the curb.

So much for freedom of expression. The result is a Republican Congress increasingly unwilling to exercise its own judgment, or its own constitutional authority, when doing so means crossing the president. Congress was never intended to serve as a rubber stamp, it was meant to legislate as a body independent from the presidency.

Forget Trump, Republicans. Stand on principle.

A candidate who can’t acknowledge, for example, that the president’s recklessness when it comes to tariffs has been harmful to the American people is no true fiscal conservative.

Nor is a candidate who thinks you can cut taxes and increase spending. Nor is a Republican candidate with no commitment to limited government, even when the Republican Party is in power.

That means ditching the push to rig state political maps to favor Republicans, even as many in the party blame the Democrats for doing the same thing. Republicans must reorient toward work, entrepreneurship, fairness and individual choice — many people are looking for a party that embraces leaving people alone to make their own choices, albeit with a reasonable safety net.

As we prepare our endorsements, we are looking for candidates who are able to identify a time they disagreed with their own party or name an idea from the opposing party they’d be open to considering. No one fits within a perfect ideological mold, and they shouldn’t vote that way, either. The signal? Open-mindedness.

Republicans in the Illinois General Assembly are of course operating in a super minority. We’ve written that a successful Republican platform for Illinois state officials should focus on fixing Illinois’ fiscal mess, offering long-term tax relief, supporting fair maps and creating a growth-oriented culture in Springfield that is both bipartisan and repellent to corruption.

Despite their David vs. Goliath positioning, Illinois Republicans have a fair few folks in the Statehouse who get most or even all of that. What they lack, of course, is enough of a presence to give them a shot at making a difference.

Some of the challenges that plague statehouse Republicans are similar to those facing would-be congressional Republicans. Some are actually more serious to our minds.

A money gap is one. Attracting capable and competent candidates is another. Dwindling Republican turnout in well-populated parts of the state is a third issue and one very much laid bare after the March primary and likely to be a factor in November.

Democrats lost at the federal level in 2024 because they ignored the people and the pulse of the electorate. Republicans, some still absurdly drunk on that victory, are poised to make the same mistake, having forgotten the messages voters also sent their way and because their standard-bearer is picking the wrong battles and focusing on the wrong things.

The Republicans left standing after the midterms will have to rebuild. We hope they lay a firmer foundation than the one eroding under their feet.

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