ArchPundit

No.  They won’t.  They’d like to and would if Oberweis would go along with it, but the secondary problem to replacing him is with whom do you replace him.

Eric recommends Tom Cross.   Cross would be a great choice, but he didn’t run in the first place and it’s unlikely to change now.  Cross has shown no interest in running for federal office and seems to be targeting the AG race when Madigan moves on.

But remember, the Party cannot make that decision without Oberweis.  He is on the fall ballot unless he steps down.

Think about that. The man has run 4 times and won a single primary while continuing to dump his own money into his races. He isn’t giving up.  He is, and always was, a vanity candidate.

Usually the RNCC has the ability to threaten to not support a candidate and that can go along way to getting someone to step aside. But with a self-funder, that doesn’t matter nearly as much. The same way the RNCC cannot force a change in campaign staff since Oberweis isn’t reliant on them for donors or outside spending.

The most likely scenario is Oberweis sticks around and loses again.  Foster gets a few months to do things as Congressman and raise his profile with good earned media and Oberweis gets stories about how Republicans are dissatisfied with him.