Cook County GOP Chair Candidates Part 2
The Suburban Committeeman most likely to take the helm
With the majority of votes for Cook County GOP Chair coming from the suburbs, all serious contenders are based there. The Illinois Record profiles the suburban committeemen with the strongest shot at winning the chairmanship this Tuesday.
Aaron Del Mar (Palatine)
Aaron Del Mar—5th District GOP State Central Committeeman, Palatine GOP Chair, Palatine Highway Commissioner, and former owner of soulraper.com—has secured the first vote in the Cook County GOP chair race.
Facebook/ Northfield GOP Chair TJ Brown
Northfield Township Chair TJ Brown cast the ballot. In a letter to constituents, Brown acknowledged that Del Mar is likely eyeing a run for governor and admitted it’s a conflict—but said he backed him anyway, citing Del Mar’s fundraising and candidate recruitment experience.
Email from TJ Brown to Northfield Republicans
However, TJ Brown’s, reasons are not based in reality.
Del Mar was the Cook County GOP chair in the past. When he left in 2013, the organization had just $60 in the bank, enough for three meals at Chipotle,
Illinois Sunshine/ Cook County GOP’s balance sheet at the end of Del Mar;s first term
and over $2,000 in debt.
Today, his Palatine Township committee has $1,464 on hand, and his recruitment record includes recruiting proud Democrats into township positions with taxpayer salaries.
Illinois Sunshine/ Aaron Del Mar Palatine Republican Party current Cash on hand
BreakThrough Ideas on Aaron Del Mar’s recruitment of Democrats to secure $20k a year gig
Even among his allies, there's no real pretense that Del Mar is capable or interested in rebuilding the party. On his podcast, Del Mar's consultant Colin Corbett has told others the plan is simple: use the post to prop up a gubernatorial run focused on Cook County.
Colin Corbet of Core Filled Strategies Podcast “the smoke filled room” with guest Don Tracy
with over 5 million people, Cook is the largest county in Illinois.
Del Mar’s ally, Colin Corbett, agrees—the physical demands of a governor’s campaign would likely come at the expense of actually doing the job of Cook County GOP chair.
The position needs a full-time party chair, not a full-time governor's candidate who already has two other positions in the Illinois Republican party and dropped a third.
The idea of a Cook County GOP chair running for governor in a crowded primary—where 80% of Republicans are likely to vote for someone else—is unserious and taints the image of Republicans down the ballot and across the county. So is the notion that someone supposedly fighting government overreach is still clinging to a patronage job like Highway Commissioner in a township with two pass-through highways.
None-the-less, Del Mar's campaign has picked up a second vote from Elk Grove Village's Ed Lapinski . To his credit, Lapinski has been upfront about the deal: he gets the Cook County GOP Secretary role if Del Mar wins. This gives LaPinski the ability to record any of the liberal moves the former head of soulraper.com, which has a chair, may make.
Lapinski may also face a revolt in 2026; many of his Elk Grove GOP members are castaways from Del Mar's Palatine GOP and likely will not take the news well.
Although we don't agree on every theory, La Pinski shared the Illinois Record's skepticism of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines early on.
Facebook/ Dave “Mother Snuggler” Shestoukis and Ed Lapinski. We refer to Shestoukis as mother Snuggler for sleeping in the same bed as his mother well into adulthood.
Lapinski may soon find himself at odds with Del Mar, who criticized Pritzker not for not giving away enough free vaccines during the pandemic.
Local article about Del Mar’ supporting free COVID vaccines
Del Mar, who blamed Trump for Jan 6th, politics tend to track with those of his Democrat spouse.
Aaron Del Mar bashing up to the local press
Del Mar's top lieutenant, Eric Angerer, has been propped up as Chair of the Cook County Young Republicans and expect him to join the misfit organization. He runs social media for the Palatine GOP, works with Del Mar in the private sector, and handles everything from campaign operations to pickleball tournaments and blackjack nights.
Facebook / Eric works for several of Del Mar’s companies
That would make him a public face of the GOP in one of the most diverse countries in America—where many areas are named after their distinct culture still tact (Little India, Chinatown, Ukrainian Village, and more)
Angerer's social media is a goldmine for democrats seeking to paint cook county Republicans as anti-Black,
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
anti-woman ,
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
anti-Indian,
Anti gay
Facebook/ Eric Angerer
anti Muslim
And an uncomfortable amount of pro German Nationalism content
Eric has expressed an uncomfortable fondness for German nationalism for an American political party.
Facebook/ Eric Angerer also runs Del Mar’s palatine GOP Facebook page.
Eric's views are often contradictory. For example, he's also a fan of Muslim Andrew Tate.
With former ILGOP general counsel Doug Ibendahl already accusing Del Mar of racism for trying to purge Black, pro-Trump committeemen, Del Mar may force Eric to continue to work in the shadows.
Ibendahl on Politics blog covering Del Mar’s alleged racist move
Del Mar's path to victory seems real, and it's fortunate for Democrats, who will have a toy punching bag for one year.
In Aaron's term, expect a lot of incel Memes, governor campaign endorsements, and perhaps the $4,000 in the Cook County GOP account to go toward a "Del Mar for Governor" Vespa.
The one silver lining is that a Del Mar win will inspire others to run for county chairs with petitions starting this August.
George Ballis (Norwood Park)
A former first responder who now works in risk management, Ballis is ironically the least risky pick in the race. He stepped into leadership in Norwood Park chair to great success. As chair of Norwood Park Township, he’s already shown a path to success: recruiting strong candidates, running tight elections, and staying rooted in core Republican values.
Out of 83 Cook County zones, only four represent areas that voted for Trump—and George Ballis is one of them.g candidates, running tight elections and staying rooted in core Republican values.
Cook County Clerk 2024 election results
Ballis has also shown the political smarts to avoid the typical traps—steering clear of operations like Surus and the Northwest Side GOP’s openly anti-Republican playbook while not casting himself as a total outsider. He has built bridges across party factions without sacrificing principle and only making enemies with worthy “insurgent” Republicans.
He’s earned a reputation for honesty and professionalism. Endorsed by Darren Bailey, Ballis is one of the few committeemen from the Chicagoland area who avoids the “RINO” label while also not handing Cook County Democrats easy talking points in a populous county overdosed on MSNBC.
The Illinois Record has obtained an email Ballis sent to fellow committeemen outlining his platform, priorities, and plan to get the party back on track. It’s clear-headed and grounded in common-sense conservatism.
And Ballis doesn’t hold back regarding Del Mar’s campaign pitch. He points out what should be evident to anyone paying attention: if Aaron Del Mar has spent nearly 15 years in Cook County GOP leadership overseeing across-the-board failure, why has Del Mar not made the necessary changes already? The last time Del Mar was chair, he left the party with just $60 in the bank.
Ballis asks the right questions— and, unlike Del Mar, has shown answers in Norwood Park.
Ballis also rejects using the chairmanship as a springboard—an unmistakable jab at Del Mar, who aims to use the post to launch his 2026 gubernatorial bid.
Taking a page from George Washington, Ballis has pledged to serve only one year—enough to stabilize the party, rebuild donor trust, and lay a solid foundation for the future.
National Geegraphic Kids/ George Washington
If the Morrison coalition fractures, Ballis could quickly become the consensus pick. With someone this capable in the race, voting for Del Mar—or someone even weirder—is a fantastic opportunity to reveal which of Cook County GOP committeemen are worthy of replacement in 2026.
Bradley Stephens (Leyden)
Son of Rosemont Mayor Donald Stephens. Brad Stephens isn’t just a title collector like Del Mar—he’s a title manufacturer. He’s the mayor of Rosemont, a sitting state representative, and the elected Republican committeeperson in Leyden Township. He also held elected office as a Rosemont village trustee and Leyden Township supervisor and served on both the Pace board and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board. The man doesn’t just hold offices—he squats them.
Brad Stephens state rep website.
Stephens isn’t a conservative firebrand, and he’d draw pushback from MAGA, MAHA, and religious factions—especially after backing Richard Irvin in the last governor’s race. But that’s not necessarily disqualifying in a field where ideology is often an afterthought.
Politics won't matter much among the 83 primarily inactive or transactional committeemen. If Stephens offered each a Medium pizza and a $25 Ventra card-committeeman, he could lock down 40% of the vote. That’s how low the bar is—and how far ahead he already stands.
While there’s no evidence of personal wrongdoing, Stephens’ fingerprints on local, state, and party power centers don’t exactly help the GOP case when it comes to hammering Democrats over corruption. Still, the “good government” critique may be beside the point.
Stephens runs the most effective electioneering operation in Cook County. He wins, big and clean, every time. And as the heir to the Donald E Stevens Convention Center, just gifting 10 tickets to a Kesha concert could double the size of the Cook County GOP’s 4,000-dollar bank account.
If he gets in this race, he might be the only one with the leverage to make Morrison kiss his ring at Moretti’s—and then take the whole thing.
Would a Stephens chairmanship invite backroom deals and ideological drift? Probably. At least it would be organized.
Eric Wallace (Rich Township)
Facebook/ Erice Wallace (left), Tim Ozinga (right)
Eric Wallace, a nonprofit leader and former pastor, made waves last year when he challenged Sean Morrison for the Cook County GOP Chair position.
While he earned credit for his courage and willingness to challenge the status quo, Wallace’s campaign was ultimately hindered by his failure to reach out to other voting committeemen. Some say he reached out to none of the voters personally in a high-stakes race.
Illinois Record’s coverage of the past cook county GOP chair Sean Morrison
Morrison, who we have criticized for demanding leniency for a child sex offender and losing every race for Republicans in Cook County besides his own, managed to beat Wallace by over 85% last year.
Wallace, who holds a Ph.D. in Bible studies from a college with few notable alumni, often refers to himself as “Dr.” This title, while technically accurate, carries the risk of coming across as self-important and hypocritical to the critical bible value of humility and the republican complaint of people over-inflating their credentials.
In a diverse country that demands relatability and authenticity, Wallace’s approach may not resonate with as many Republicans as needed.
However, Wallace does have a cub up his sleeve. He’s built a relationship with Cubs Owner Todd Ricketts, who endorsed Wallace in his race against Sean Morrison.
Rickett’s has the cubs tickets and nacho vouchers to buy the votes needed for any of his chosen candidates to secure a win. A mega-donor like Todd Rickett’s is the wild card that could propel any candidate to victory.
Joe Folisi (Schaumburg)
Facebook/ Joe Folisi (second from the left)
President of the Illinois Young Republicans back in 1972, Joe Folisi is the definition of a political survivalist—adapting to the times with a talent for sidestepping the past. He’s friends with Karl Rove, served as a two-time delegate for Mitt Romney, helped bring Liz Cheney to Illinois, and later turned around and backed Donald Trump as a delegate.
Lincoln Day Dinner speakers with Folisi as chair
Daily Herald Article on 2010 Lincoln day dinner in which Liz Cheney dropped out
Openly gay, Folisi has never made social issues his battleground—except perhaps out of necessity like in the case of Kevin Ake. Ake claims his removal was retaliation for accusing party leadership of funneling Lincoln Day Dinner funds unfairly to Schaumburg. Folisi firmly denies the charge..
A retired accountant, Folisi now chairs the Schaumburg PAC, which holds the largest war chest of any GOP club in the county—$61,000 in the bank. He’s got connections to both Surus and the Lincoln Day Dinner operation, two forces that together influence nearly half the committeemen votes.
Illinois Sunshine/ Schaumburg GOP’s funds
Folisi hasn’t publicly made a move, but don’t count him out. If there’s a Frank Underwood-style takeover in the works, Folisi’s the one to watch—just picture Martin Short in the lead role instead of Kevin Space, and a House of Cards made entirely of jokers.