The Illinois Republican party has replaced six of the seven officials who signed a letter last year in opposition to then-party chairman Pat Brady’s statements in support of same-sex marriage, according to the Associated Press.
The state party held elections last week for all 18 posts on the state central committee. Only Mark Shaw, from the state’s 10th Congressional District, was re-elected from the group of seven officials who called for a vote to remove Brady as chairman in a letter last year.
Brady began making statements in support of same-sex marriage in January 2013, describing the Republican party as “on the wrong side of history.” The committee members who signed the letter opposing him accused Brady of both violating the party’s platform and of commenting without notifying them first. Brady ultimately resigned from the chairmanship last May, according to the Associated Press, saying he wanted to focus on his family while his wife battled cancer.
Last week, the party re-elected only seven of the 18 committee members. According to the Associated Press, at least one of the new committee members has expressed support for civil unions in the past.
“There were some people that have moved on that were great, and then there were others that were absolutely destructive and were not good for the party and they’re gone,” Brady told the Associated Press. “All in all, it was a good night, (bringing in) a lot of new blood.”
