Burt Minor
Burt Minor (Republican Party) ran for election to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 42. He lost in the Republican primary on March 20, 2018.
Biography
Minor received his bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and his master's degree from Embry Riddle University. He retired from the U.S. Air Force after serving for 23 years. He has served as the Winfield Township Republican chairman and as a committeeman, as a DuPage County Republican central committee member, on the Western DuPage Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and as an alderman for Warrenville. He has also been associated with the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce, the Summerlakes Homeowner Association, the Boy Scouts, the American Legion, Veterans for Foreign Wars, West Chicago Rotary Club, and the Knights of Columbus.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 42
Amy Grant defeated Kathleen Carrier in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 42 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Amy Grant (R) | 52.2 | 26,381 |
 | Kathleen Carrier (D)  | 47.8 | 24,122 | |
| Total votes: 50,503 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 42
Kathleen Carrier advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 42 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kathleen Carrier | 100.0 | 9,469 |
| Total votes: 9,469 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 42
Amy Grant defeated Burt Minor and Ryan Byrne in the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 42 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amy Grant | 66.3 | 7,593 |
 | Burt Minor | 22.4 | 2,567 | |
 | Ryan Byrne | 11.3 | 1,299 | |
| Total votes: 11,459 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Noteworthy events
See also: Republican leaders ask Burt Minor to leave Illinois State House race
On February 22, 2018, Politico reported that Peter Breen, the Illinois House of Representatives Republican floor leader, had sent out a letter to other Republicans urging them to reach out to Minor and request that he not use their names as endorsers. Breen also stated, "Many in our Party have urged Mr. Minor to withdraw his candidacy for state representative. However, he has continually refused to do so. And, just as with the white supremacist currently running as an alleged Republican in the 3rd Congressional District, we appear to have no means to have Mr. Minor thrown off the ballot."[2][3]
The letter was in response to a conversation between Minor and Erika Harold, a candidate for Illinois attorney general, in October 2017. In an interview regarding the meeting, Harold said, "He asked me if I had children and I said I did not. He then asked me whether I was married and I said I wasn't. And then he asked whether I'd ever been married I said I have not. Then he said well are you a lesbo?"[4] Harold also said that Minor used the N-word many times in front of her. "I said, ‘No one should use that word.’ And he repeated it again, using the full word. And I said, ‘No one should use that word.’ And he repeated it a third time, and I reiterated that that’s an offensive word for anyone to use," she said.[5]
Minor responded to the allegations with a statement. "Not all Republican voters are comfortable discussing issues of race and sexual orientation. I wish it were different, but it is a reality those of us active in the Republican Party’s leadership confront, not infrequently," he wrote. "My discussion with Erika was an attempt to point out this unfortunate reality, it was in no way meant to be offensive. I honestly left our meeting unaware that our conversation might have made Erika uncomfortable. My apologies to Erika if she was in any way offended."[6]
He also stated,
| “ | Peter Breen and Kevin Fitzpatrick, who are attempting to capitalize on this misunderstanding for the benefit of one of my opponents, tried to bribe me months ago with the offer of a government job if I were to get out of this race. They told me that they wanted another candidate to win because Peter Breen would be able to control her. When I declined the offer, they said they would support my daughter if she were ever to run for higher office. This morning, when Peter sent his letter to the media he attempted to follow through on a promise to destroy my reputation.[6][7] | ” |
Breen responded to the statement by saying the bribery allegations were false.[8]
As of February 23, 2018, several members of the Republican Party had called for Minor to withdraw his candidacy, including Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider, State House minority leader Jim Durkin, and State Senate minority leader Bill Brady. Illinois Representative Jeanne Ives, who holds the District 42 seat, also called for him to leave the race.[5]
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- Illinois House of Representatives
- Illinois State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Daily Herald, "Burt Minor: Candidate Profile," February 13, 2018
- ↑ Politico, "Peter Breen's letter to other Republicans," accessed February 23, 2018
- ↑ Politico, "Illinois GOP contender called AG candidate racial, gay slurs, colleagues say," February 22, 2018
- ↑ ABC 7 Chicago, "Illinois State House candidate accused of sexist, racist language," February 22, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Chicago Tribune, "Illinois attorney general candidate Erika Harold says DuPage GOP official used N-word, asked if she was a 'lesbo,'" February 22, 2018
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Capitol Fax, "Update 8: Statement from Burt Minor," accessed February 23, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Capitol Fax, "Update 10: Rep. Peter Breen..." accessed February 23, 2018
