By Ashley Badgley 217-960-1331

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois GOP candidates said they were not surprised by Bob Schillerstrom dropping out of the race for Governor and endorsing candidate Jim Ryan.

Schillerstrom, the DuPage County chairman, dropped out of the race after seven months of campaigning. He said he chose to endorse Ryan because of his integrity and honesty.

“I’ve known Jim Ryan for nearly 30 years and I’ve seen him deal with difficult challenges whether they were personal, political or professional,” Schillerstrom said in a statement released by his campaign.

The Ryan endorsement came earlier today, but some other GOP candidates are not surprised by Schillerstrom’s decision.

Illinois Senator Bill Brady, R- Bloomington, said Schillerstrom’s decision to support Ryan was expected and just another example of “insider politics” and Schillerstrom supporting a fellow DuPage county candidate.

Brady said although he wasn’t surprised by the endorsement, he did wonder why Schillerstrom would support a candidate who wasn’t as stringent imposing tax increases as Schillerstrom was in his campaign.

“Bob was adamant about not [raising taxes],” Brady said. “There were a lot of Schillerstrom supporters who said I was their second choice so I am not too worried.”

Candidate Andy McKenna’s campaign stated they were also not surprised by Schillerstrom’s endorsement so close to the primaries.

“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone since Jim Ryan and Bob Schillerstrom teamed with Kirk Dillard to raise taxes on suburban families – it appears now they want to team up and take their tax and spend ways from the suburbs to all Illinois families,” the McKenna campaign stated.

Dan Curry, a spokesperson for Ryan’s campaign responded to McKenna’s comment stating, “Andy McKenna is running a dishonest campaign.”

“[McKenna] says he is running as an outsider, but he is not,” Curry said. “As [Republican] party chief, he preached not attacking fellow Republicans, but as a candidate, he is. Jim Ryan has said hundreds of times he has no intention of raising taxes.”

Dillard’s campaign could not be reached for comment.

Ryan’s campaign released a statement thanking Schillerstrom for his endorsement.

“Bob has been a successful chief executive of Illinois’ second-largest county, and his endorsement brings significant support and momentum to our campaign,” Ryan said in the statement. “We are leading the Primary and General Election polls, and victory is within our grasp.”

Brady said he does not think this endorsement will alter the campaign just days away from the primary election.

Illinois Senator Kirk Dillard’s, R- Hinsdale, campaign released a statement about the endorsement.

“I have enjoyed working with Chairman Schillerstrom in the past as the former Republican Chairman and a current State Senator in DuPage County,” the statement said. “I look forward to continuing to work with him in the future to balance the budget, bring jobs to Illinois and clean up Springfield.”