The chairman of the Illinois State Republican Party announced his resignation from his post on Wednesday, citing unrest within the party.

“When I took this full-time volunteer job in February 2021, I thought I would spend most of my time fighting Democrats, helping to elect Republicans, raising money to fund additional party infrastructure, and advocating for party unity,” state Republican Chairman Don Tracy wrote in his resignation letter.

“Unfortunately, however, I had to spend far too much time dealing with intra-party infighting and local hostilities that continued even after the primaries and the district chairman elections,” he continued.

Tracy also mentioned the recent controversy surrounding former Vice Chairman Mark Shaw in the Republican National Committee (RNC) election, in which Shaw attempted to become a delegate and vote for himself as a committee member and threatened to kick out a GOP member, according to The Chicago Tribune. Although Shaw claimed he had done nothing wrong, the state party voted to remove him as Vice Chairman of the state GOP.

Tracy referred to this controversy and the direction of the party in his statement.

“Recent events, including the election of the RNC committeeman, immediately followed by the revenge firing of defeated Vice President Mark Shaw, a longtime leader and staffer of the state party, without due process and without any steps being taken to discipline others for alleged or admitted misconduct at the convention, indicate a direction of the state party with which I am not satisfied,” Tracy wrote.

He appointed Jan Weber, a member of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee in the 16th Congressional District, to find his successor. Tracy said his resignation would take effect once a new chairman is chosen, which he hopes will happen by July 19.

The resignation came less than a month before the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Milwaukee, as some state-level Republican parties are mired in turmoil and infighting, particularly between factions of the party close to former President Trump and more established and mainstream Republicans.

In his letter, Tracy attempted to dismiss the idea that his resignation had been hinted at the day before in an article in the Chicago Tribune, in which anonymous sources had indicated to the news channel after Shaw's dismissal that Tracy, too, could soon be fired.

“My resignation has nothing to do with today's article in the Chicago Tribue, which anonymous sources reference. I made my decision to resign yesterday morning, communicated it to Matt Janes yesterday before our 10 a.m. staff meeting, and began drafting this memo yesterday shortly before or after the staff meeting,” Tracy wrote.

“Also, no one from the Tribune called me about this article, which I only learned about this morning. And I don't think anyone [State Central Committee] “A member spoke to the Tribune about the article,” he added.

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