Illinois GOP calls for unity as some tiptoe around Trump

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Republicans cheered calls for unity at the party's state convention on Saturday even as some top elected officials tiptoed around the name likely to top the GOP ticket: Donald Trump.

The billionaire businessman won Illinois' GOP presidential preference vote, and the overwhelming majority of the state's delegates to this summer's Republican National Convention are Trump supporters. Many waved signs with his name and sported campaign hats and stickers at Saturday's event in Peoria.

But Trump's controversial comments about women and minorities have been cause for concern for some Republicans, who worry that aligning with him will hurt GOP candidates further down the ballot in Democratic-leaning Illinois.

That resulted in a party pep rally that had no mention of the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee until almost an hour into the meeting.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who's in a tough race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, skipped the only convention event that was open to the press. Gov. Bruce Rauner spoke for almost 20 minutes without mentioning Trump's name, though he did acknowledge the at-times bitter GOP presidential primary and said it's important that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton not be elected.

"You guys know primaries are brutally hard, and this primary season has been really hard up and down the ticket," Rauner told the crowd of about 1,000. "The good news is it's in the past. Now is the time to come together. Now is the time to unite."

Both Kirk and Rauner have previously said they would support Trump if he is the nominee, though neither plans to attend the national convention in Cleveland. A top Rauner aide also has said the governor won't endorse Trump.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, who supported Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, was one of the few GOP officeholders who specifically called for the crowd to support Trump.

"The people have spoken, and that's what they want," LaHood said. "When we think about uniting, our worst candidate is better than the alternative any day of the week."

Many of the convention's attendees were more enthusiastic.

Diante Johnson, a 20-year-old college student from Danville, was a regional coordinator for Ben Carson's presidential campaign but said after Carson got out of the race he concluded, "We've got to have Trump."

"His business speaks for itself and his wealth speaks for itself," Johnson said. "We need a change."

Much of Saturday's focus was on picking up seats in the Illinois Legislature, where Democrats control both chambers, and continuing Rauner's fight for term limits and business-friendly legislation. Illinois is approaching a full year without a state budget, and lawmakers are far from agreement on what it will take to get one for this year or the next fiscal year that begins July 1.

Rauner has said he won't sign off on a tax increase to close a multibillion-dollar budget hole until Democrats support some of his priorities, such as weakening labor union power. Democrats say that will hurt the middle class.

The multimillionaire governor told the crowd that the GOP will have the financial resources it needs to take on Democrats.

"We've got a heck of a fight in front of us. But you know what? We're going to win," he said.

Attendees were split over a proposed change to the party's platform regarding same-sex marriage, which says the ideal environment for children is a marriage between a man and a woman. Social moderates in the party wanted to change it to state that nontraditional families are "worthy of the same respect and legal protections as traditional families" — language they said would help attract new people to the GOP. But party delegates overwhelmingly rejected the change.

SARA BURNETT, Associated Press

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The Gayly 5/22/2016 @ 8:-8 a.m. CDT