https://bsky.app/profile/willcountyclowncar.com, https://x.com/WillClownCar

Will County Clown Car, Godley, IL (2026)

04/01/2026

WHEATON — Citing “untapped clownery” by Kevin Coyne's DuPage County GOP, WCCC CEO Chad Chadingsworth announced a rebrand of the outlet to DuPage County Clown Car is underway.

Chadingsworth says the initiative he's calling “Make Will County Clown Car Great Again” will breathe new life into the outlet he acknowledges jumped the shark years ago, and, more importantly, is expected to provide increased value for its shareholders.

The rebranding effort has already begun, and the George Soros-owned outlet's full reincarnation is expected to be complete by Sunday.

Speaking from his Newark, New Jersey office, the 48-year old executive said his team of 53 full-time employees — down from 87 after the Trump administration's cuts to USAID — has grown tired of covering Will County Republicans.

“Look, everyone knows Steve Balich is a moron already, OK?”

“How much more can we do on this clown? He got booted from his township supervisor position already, and if enough people drive past his stupid unfinished, unpaid civic center that nobody asked for, there's a good chance his county board reelection campaign meets the same fate in November.”

Sucking on a cigar, Chadingsworth pointed to a string of embarrassments for Republicans in DuPage since Naperville resident and Riot Fest attendee, Kevin Coyne, became DuPage County GOP chair in January 2025.

“The real story is up in DuPage. How do you manage to lose 49 of 49 elections — in a county solidly red just a few years ago — in one cycle?”

Indeed, of the 49 partisan races across DuPage on April 1, 2025, Democratic candidates swept all 49.

Chadingsworth mocked recent efforts by Coyne to regain ground in the former Republican stronghold that's seen repeated election cycle losses in the decade since 34-time convicted felon, adjudicated ra**st and game show host, Donald Trump, rode down an escalator at Trump Tower to declare his 2016 presidential candidacy and bash Hispanics.

“And your turnaround strategy is Tudor Dixon and LED billboard trucks trolling No Kings attendees? Bruh. How does that translate into votes?”

DuPage GOP tapped failed 2022 Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon to headline the party's Lincoln Dinner fundraiser in February, presumably to share with candidates in attendance her tips for starting a career as a podcast host after losing an election.

On Saturday, Coyne enlisted a ‘fleet’ of LED billboard trucks to troll protesters attending No Kings rallies across DuPage.

In a video shared to social media, Coyne said he hoped the three anti-Governor Pritzker messages looped endlessly would inspire ‘reflection’ for the attendees.

While the more than a dozen rallies across the county drew an estimated size of over 18,000 protesters, the number of LED billboard trucks in Coyne's fleet was four.

None of the photos of the trucks posted to DuPage GOP social media accounts indicated positive reactions by the fiercely anti-Trump protesters.

Commenting on a Twitter post by WCCC about the trucks, one user said seeing a truck parked outside of Naperville Central High School caused her to reflect on how ‘useless’ the idea was, and that she hoped the truck rentals exhausted the DuPage GOP's budget.

Chadingsworth said the stunt and other missteps by DuPage Republicans have led to “real excitement around here.”

“We're even looking in to partnering with Riot Fest and sell those ‘Kevin Coyne Sucks’ t-shirts as a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood.”

Attendees to last year's Riot Fest petitioned to have ‘Kevin Coyne Sucks’ t-shirts available for sale after Coyne went viral and became the subject of relentless, but appropriate, mocking on social media after whining about politics in punk music.

“There's a whole new cast of circus characters to cover besides Coyne. His Fox News pal Josh McBroom. Don’t even get me started on Jeanne Ives.”

“And we can still cover Jim Marter's impending loss. I think his district goes into DuPage. And if it doesn't, fine. County borders never stopped us before.”

Illinois' 14th congressional district, where perennial candidate Jim Marter is running again, covers all or parts of Will, Kendall, Kane, DeKalb, LaSalle, Bureau and Putnam, but does not include DuPage.

“Look, Will County GOP will always be a circus,” the CEO gleefully exclaimed. “But there's too much clownery in DuPage for the shareholders for me to just ignore.”

“Oh, and for our readers. Sure, whatever.”

“At the end of the day, George Soros pays me a s**t ton of money to drink whiskey and make fun of Republicans, and there's a lot of content for us in DuPage that's not just that chucklehead Balich saying something breathtakingly stupid again.”

“Otherwise, what's next? A silly April Fool's Day gimmick? In 2026?”

“Not on Chad Chadingsworth's watch.”

03/23/2026

JOLIET —A Will County woman who sued former Homer Township Collector Michael Gondek over a manipulated image falsely depicting her as praising the July 2024 assassination attempt on President Trump in Pennsylvania was victorious Thursday after a Will County judge ruled in her favor.

Judge Brian Barrett ruled in Ellen Moriarty’s favor in the case involving the manipulated post falsely attributed to her and circulated among Will County Republicans, awarding the plaintiff $25,000 in damages plus legal fees, for a total judgment of $45,901.10.

The image was posted July 23, 2024, on the page for Will County Republican Women, a political organization that Moriarty’s lawsuit alleged was operated by New Lenox Township Trustee Patricia “Patty” Deiters.

The post quickly circulated on social media, resulting in calls to the Will County Clerk’s Office, where Moriarty serves as an election judge, demanding her firing from the part-time position during county elections.

But after its own internal investigation, which included a detective from the Will County Sheriff’s Office, the Will County Clerk’s Office determined the image was fake.

“After its own thorough review of the screenshot, the Will County Clerk’s Office agrees that the image forwarded to us could not have existed on a real page. The most compelling reason is that the timeline notification of an updated cover photo in the provided screenshot does not match the actual cover photo at the top of the same image,” then-Interim County Clerk Charles B. Pelkie Jr. wrote in an email reported by The Herald-News.

Weeks later, Moriarty filed a lawsuit against Deiters, and Gondek was later added as a co-defendant.

But after initially being represented by downstate attorney and failed 2022 Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore, Deiters settled for an undisclosed sum and was subsequently removed from the lawsuit, leaving Gondek as the lone defendant.

According to court records, Gondek then chose to represent himself in the case.

𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗚𝗢𝗣 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗦

A press release from Moriarty’s attorney, Joe Giamanco of Giamanco Law Partners, Ltd., offered additional insight into the case, including a “group text message chain that included various political figures, including former Homer Township Supervisor and current Will County Board member Steven Balich.”

Will County GOP Chair Christina Clausen testified about the group text chain, providing “additional context regarding the circulation and discussion of the false image and how it was going to be used.”

Clausen testified that Gondek provided the image to the group and claimed it was authentic, but “no one questioned its legitimacy,” according to Giamanco’s press release.

NBC5 Chicago additionally reported, "Gondek testified that he was also told to resign by Balich from his position as appointed Homer Township Collector shortly after the lawsuit was filed but he claims he never actually resigned and had planned to run for trustee along with Balich and the other Homer Township officials.”

𝗚𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗞’𝗦 ‘𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗦’ 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗

Giamanco’s release also stated that “Gondek testified that he has a professional background in graphic design and is an expert in photo manipulation. Evidence also showed that before sharing the image, Mr. Gondek had already been engaged in ongoing efforts to have Ms. Moriarty fired from her position with the Will County Clerk’s Office,” according to Homer Glen-Lockport Patch.

In September 2024, The Herald-News reported that Gondek claimed Moriarty was “disruptive” at Homer Township meetings and that he had emailed the Will County Clerk’s Office about the phony image.

𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠 𝗢𝗙 𝗪𝗖𝗖𝗖 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗧 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘

The post that included the doctored image also falsely claimed Moriarty was involved with Will County Clown Car.

The page, which tracks and mocks right-wing extremism, misinformation and propaganda in Will County and surrounding areas, has also been the target of retaliation campaigns and baseless attempts to shut it down, including by Homer Glen Mayor and former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Christina Neitzke-Troike.

During an April 2025 episode of the podcast “The TBTS Show,” Clausen and Neitzke-Troike discussed the latter’s efforts to shut down the page, without explaining the rationale for those efforts or how they fell within a mayor’s purview over social media accounts critical of Will County Republican antics.

𝗝𝗨𝗗𝗚𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗜𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗪

The judgment is among the first — if not the first — awarded in Illinois following a trial under the state’s Civil Liability for Doxing Act, a Democratic-sponsored measure that passed the Illinois Legislature unanimously in 2023.

The law gives a person a civil cause of action when another individual intentionally publishes their personally identifiable information without consent, with the intent to harm or harass, and with knowledge or reckless disregard that the disclosure is likely to cause serious harm.

In his press release, Giamanco said that “no one should be targeted and harassed for exercising the right to participate in government and ask questions of elected officials,” and that the case should serve as a warning that people “cannot manufacture or spread fake content, try to destroy someone’s livelihood, and then expect to walk away without accountability.”

*** SOURCES ***

“Court awards nearly $46k to Will County election worker in doxing case”
Izzy Stroobandt // NBC5 Chicago // 3/21/26
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/court-awards-nearly-46k-to-will-county-election-worker-in-doxing-case/3911805/

“Woman awarded $45,901 in Will County doxing case over fake Trump-related Facebook image”
Felix Sarver // Joliet Herald-News/Shaw Local // 3/22/26
https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2026/03/20/woman-awarded-45901-in-will-county-doxing-case-over-fake-trump-related-facebook-image/

“Election Judge Wins Doxing Lawsuit Over Fake Trump Facebook Post”
Andrea Earnest // Joliet Patch // 3/20/26
https://patch.com/illinois/homerglen-lockport/election-judge-wins-doxing-lawsuit-over-fake-trump-facebook-post

“Will County clerk’s office employee sues New Lenox Township trustee for defamation over Facebook post”
Samantha Moilanen // Daily Southtown // 8/30/24
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/30/will-county-clerks-office-employee-sues-new-lenox-township-trustee-for-defamation-over-facebook-post/

“Will County Clerk’s Office says Trump-related Facebook image fake, election judge files suit”
Felix Sarver // Joliet Herald-News/Shaw Local // 9/14/24
https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2024/09/13/will-county-clerks-office-determined-trump-related-facebook-image-was-fake/

“One Great Big Happy Party - Episode 13”
The TBTS Show // 4/25/25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-oz18cLOc

03/18/2026

BREAKING CLOWNERY: Darren Bailey has clinched the Republican nomination for governor, setting up a rematch with JB Pritzker after Illinois GOP primary voters once again demonstrated they have learned absolutely nothing from the party’s decade-long streak of statewide failure dating back to Donald Trump’s golden-escalator descent in 2015.

Republican insiders had dreaded Bailey’s return to the top of the ticket in November, fearing he would drag down-ballot candidates down with him, as he did in 2022.

But tonight’s results were largely a product of what political experts call “math.”

While Republicans need Chicago-area and suburban voters to win statewide, most voters in Illinois Republican primaries come from outside northeast Illinois, giving Bailey a clear advantage from the start.

His three opponents all argued they were better positioned to compete for the Chicago and suburban voters needed in the general election. Instead, they split that vote among themselves tonight and helped clear Bailey’s path to the nomination.

Rick Heidner, the gas station slot machine magnate who selected Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike as his running mate, largely outperformed expectations for a campaign that had insiders wondering whether it was real at all. Despite plenty of money from Heidner’s personal fortune, the operation did not meaningfully begin campaigning until around New Year’s, leaving a candidate with no political experience and no name recognition only weeks before early voting to make an awkward debut with voters.

Despite his law enforcement background, head start, and months of statewide travel, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick never found a way to translate that effort into momentum, with his campaign seemingly hobbled, at least in part, by chronic funding problems.

Ted Dabrowski ran as the policy-heavy, reform-minded candidate, presenting himself as a conservative focused on Illinois’ fiscal problems, government failures, and accountability. Backed by endorsements from Republican officials and organizations across the state, he assembled significant support in the Chicago region and cast himself as the only candidate capable of defeating JB Pritzker in November.

The general election is November 3.

02/27/2026

NAPERVILLE (WCCC) — A Naperville man is reportedly jazzed tonight in anticipation of hearing conservative podcaster, micro-budget zombie horror/comedy film actress, and 2022 failed Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon speak in Glen Ellyn on Friday evening.

Dixon will headline the DuPage County GOP’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser, hosted by the party organization chaired by WCCC fan-favorite Kevin Coyne.

Meanwhile, the website for Coyne’s GOP PAC, Safe Suburbs USA — long marketed as a public-safety outfit while operating as an almost exclusively Republican endorsement vehicle in Will County and the other collar counties — is nearing the one-year anniversary of being under “maintenance.”

𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗫𝗢𝗡 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗗

While past DuPage County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner headliners have included elected officials like Senator Rand Paul (2015) and Senator Ted Cruz (2013), the party has increasingly turned in recent years to lower-profile Republican figures — presumably with more modest speaking fees—after spending the last decade pushing MAGA and shedding its once-reliable majority status.

This year, Tudor Dixon will bring her own firsthand experience as a statewide loser to Coyne’s struggling organization, which most recently went a perfect 0-for-49 in partisan municipal contests on April 1, 2025.

But Dixon’s ties to DuPage run deeper than Republican election defeats. Her IMDb bio lists Naperville as her 1977 birthplace, and she graduated from Naperville Central High School as a member of the class of 1995.

And with those DuPage roots, Dixon is uniquely positioned to address a banquet room full of Republican candidates widely expected to lose — whether in this year’s primary or the general election — thanks to a mix of unpopular far-right views and a persistent inability to read the room.

After a turbulent primary that saw several GOP candidates knocked off the ballot over invalid petition signatures, Dixon emerged as the last major contender standing. She secured the Republican nomination for Michigan governor in 2022 with a helpful boost from Donald Trump’s endorsement.

Like plenty of unsuccessful Republican candidates in Will, DuPage, and across Illinois, Dixon campaigned heavily on conservative culture war issues like ‘parental rights,’ ‘woke’ public education and restricting access to abortion.

Dixon’s hardline abortion stance — most notably her support for enforcing Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban — became a defining fault line in the general election. Voters responded by approving Proposal 3 to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, while also returning Democratic Gov Gretchen Whitmer to office by a comfortable, roughly double-digit margin.

Beyond the listeners of her thrice-weekly podcast, Dixon is also expected to draw the inevitably devoted cult contingent that remembers her from the 2009 micro-budget zombie comedy/horror “Buddy BeBop vs. the Living Dead,” where she played Sheila Wolf.

𝗛𝗬𝗗𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗡 𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥

Tickets are priced at $75 for precinct committeepersons and “Young Republicans,” and $100 for general Republican admission.

VIP tickets—complete with special access to a “private Meet & Greet Session with Tudor Dixon,” appetizers, one drink ticket, and a photo with Dixon—are bundled in varying quantities depending on sponsorship tier, starting at the $500 “DuPage” level.

Ironically, Abraham Lincoln failed to secure naming rights for the top sponsorship level of the event named in his honor.
Lincoln’s $5,000 level comes in second, with top billing reserved for former Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde at $10,000.

Lincoln’s snub presumably stems from Coyne’s unhappiness with the DuPage County Board’s decision to rename the Henry J. Hyde Judicial Office Facility as the DuPage County Judicial Office Facility—a move tied to Hyde’s legislative legacy, most notably the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding (including Medicaid) from being used for abortions.

Will County–area sponsors of the Tudor Dixon Show remote broadcast in DuPage include: State Senator John Curran (R-41); Will County Board member and candidate for State Senate (R-21), Julie Berkowicz; Tedora Brown and Jeff Walter, both candidates for U.S. Congress (IL-11); and Niki Conforti, the unsuccessful 2022 candidate in IL-6, back on the ballot for an encore in 2026.

𝟰𝟬𝟰: 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗

Coyne’s Lincoln Day Dinner comes as the website for his pro-GOP Safe Suburbs USA PAC nears the one-year anniversary of being “under maintenance.”

Coinciding with Coyne’s DuPage GOP wipeout on April 1, 2025, Safe Suburbs’ social media accounts briefly went offline and the group’s website posted a notice claiming it was undergoing “maintenance.”

Social media accounts for the organization Coyne has long described as “non-partisan” came back online shortly afterward, but have since mostly functioned as a repost relay for the DuPage County GOP he chairs and other Republican accounts.
Just weeks ahead of the March 17 Illinois primary, the website remains offline — conspicuously without its usual slate of election endorsements.

*** SOURCES ***

Safe Suburbs USA PAC
https://safesuburbsusa.com/

Tudor Dixon on IMDb
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3059185/

01/06/2026

WCCC CLOWNIES: “A Tale of Three Jims” — The calendar says 2026, but peppermint mocha season doesn’t adhere to deadlines. With that in mind, WCCC is still clearing the books on a few remaining Clownies in its latest irregularly-occurring installment, Will County Clown Car Peppermint Mocha Clown Awards, recognizing area politicians who demonstrated exceptional commitment to clownery in 2025.

WCCC is pleased to award James Marter its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Perennial Candidacy, honoring his long-running dedication to seeking elected office with the kind of consistency most candidates reserve for winning.

For this Clownie, WCCC also acknowledges Joliet resident James “Jim” Lanham as a nominee, with an honorable mention for former Illinois resident — and current Florida man — Jim Oberweis.

𝗝𝗜𝗠 #𝟭: 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥

After losing elections every other year from 2016 through 2024, Marter stepped up his game in 2025, managing to lose not one but two races in the April 1 municipal elections.

Marter’s losing streak began in 2016, when he challenged then-incumbent Senator Mark Kirk in the Illinois Republican US Senate primary and lost by more than 41 points.

In 2018, Marter tried again, this time running outside his own congressional district for the Republican nomination in Illinois’ 16th Congressional District. He again came up short, but improved his margin, losing to Adam Kinzinger by roughly only 35 points.

In 2020, Marter ran yet again and in his home turf during a crowded seven-candidate Republican primary in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District, only to finish in fifth place.

Trying once again in 2022, Marter came closer than ever, losing to Scott Gryder by just 6.7 points. (Yes, really.)

Undeterred, Marter finally clinched the GOP nomination in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District in 2024, only to lose — as was widely prophesied — to US Rep Lauren Underwood by a little more than 10 points in November.

Despite that defeat, Marter appeared to resume campaigning for the same seat almost immediately — if not in official filings, then at least on social media — in an early signal he intended to lose to her again in 2026.

Marter went on to disprove any skeptics who assumed his next loss would have to wait until 2026, losing two races on the same bad April 1 night — one for Oswego Public Library Board and another for Oswego Community Unit School District 308 board.

And while another Underwood matchup remains the obvious sequel, it’s not guaranteed. Naperville resident and former Naperville Township Supervisor Gary Vician is challenging Marter in the March 17 Republican primary for the party’s nomination in the 14th District for his own opportunity to lose to Underwood in November.

𝗝𝗜𝗠 #𝟮: 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗛𝗔𝗠

Lanham may have racked up fewer losses than Marter, but he’s somehow managed to run losing campaigns even less serious and more embarrassing. Since 2021, he’s launched and lost multiple bids for Joliet City Council.

And despite an endorsement from Safe Suburbs USA, the GOP PAC masquerading as a "public safety" organization founded by DuPage County GOP chair Kevin Coyne, Lanham was easily defeated in his 2024 bid for State Rep in the 86th District by Rep Larry Walsh Jr, with Walsh winning reelection by nearly 20 points.

Fresh off a 2025 defeat in Joliet’s City Council race as a write-in candidate, Lanham quickly pivoted to a would-be rematch against Walsh. But after falling short on petition signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, he’s once again running as a write-in candidate in 2026.

Still using the “jimlanhamjolietcitycouncil” username, Lanham’s page is light on policy and embarrassingly heavy on personal attacks amind social media fights with Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary candidate, Joseph Severino.

In a candidate survey published by Joliet Patch during his 2023 run, Lanham said he had attended some college, worked in “private security services,” but had never held public office.

Asked why voters should trust him, Lanham answered: “I speak my mind ... I mean what I say. You'll know where I stand.”

And given the opportunity in the same survey to share additional details voters should know about him, Lanham added that he is “not shy” and likes dogs and baseball.

𝗝𝗜𝗠 #𝟯: 𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗦

Finally, WCCC would be remiss not to include Jim Oberweis as an honorable mention.

While easily the most electorally successful of the three Jims — having served in the Illinois Senate from 2013 to 2021 — Oberweis has also compiled a highlight reel of his own notable defeats.

Oberweis’ most notable defeat came in 2020, when he made his third run for Congress in Illinois’ 14th District and lost to Underwood in her first reelection victory.

But, like Trump, Oberweis did not take his 2020 defeat gracefully.

After losing by 5,377 votes — a margin small enough to inspire hope, if not math — Oberweis filed for a “discovery recount” in multiple counties, seeking any irregularities that might justify a broader recount.

When those efforts failed to surface errors remotely capable of changing the outcome, Oberweis escalated to a formal election contest in the US House, alleging “illegalities” and “irregularities,” with, unsurprisingly, particular suspicion directed at mail-in voting.

The House Committee on Administration reviewed the claims and recommended dismissal; the full House ultimately agreed, tossing the challenge in May 2021.

So convinced he was headed to Congress, Oberweis traveled to Washington on Nov. 13, 2020 — one day after the Associated Press called the race for Underwood — and attended the House’s New Member Orientation for a Capitol photo-op with the freshman class he had not, in fact, joined.

Oberweis, 79, has since fled to Southwest Florida, where he’s once again chasing a seat in Congress, running for the Republican nomination in Florida’s 19th Congressional District in 2026 to fill the seat held by Rep Byron Donalds, who announced a run for Florida governor in 2026.

A crowded primary with at least nine candidates, Oberweis is facing opponents and critics branding him a “carpetbagger,” pointing to his string of congressional campaigns in Illinois before moving to Republican-friendly Southwest Florida.

Back in Illinois, the primary election is March 17, and the general election is November 3.

*** PHOTO CREDITS ***

Lanham: Jim Lanham/X
Marter: John J Kim/Chicago Tribune

*** SOURCES ***

“Inside the GOP's carpetbagger primary”
https://www.axios.com/2025/10/02/florida-republican-primary-byron-donalds

“Not conceding to Rep. Lauren Underwood, Jim Oberweis in DC for freshman orientation”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/11/13/21564799/oberweis-new-member-orientation-dc-capitol-14th-congressional-district-underwood-wins

Jim Lanham for State Rep page
https://www.facebook.com/jimlanhamjolietcitycouncil

2023 Joliet City Council District 5 Candidate Survey: Jim Lanham
https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/joliet-city-council-district-5-candidate-survey-jim-lanham

Safe Suburbs USA's 2024 Endorsed Candidates (archived)
https://web.archive.org/web/20241122234019/https://safesuburbsusa.com/2024-endorsements/

12/16/2025

GRAB THEM BY THE MIDTERMS: Confronted with President Trump's 2005 “Grab them by the p***y” quote in the comments of a post, Aurora Township Republicans chair Danny Souri says he'd “rather have a president that grabbed someone by the p***y instead of being a p***y,” as the Illinois Republican Party continues to refuse to learn anything ever.

** SOURCE **

https://www.facebook.com/freakyd312/posts/25991987813727197

Illinois Republican PartyIllinois Republican Party

12/12/2025

PUNK ROCK POSER OF THE DECADE: After overseeing a sweep of losses for Republican candidates in the April elections, Naperville resident Kevin Coyne’s difficult year in local politics took another hit when social media users accused him of projecting a punk-rock image he hadn’t earned, exposing the DuPage GOP chair as a total punk rock poser.

Social media users dunked on Conye; true punk rock fans floated the sale of “Kevin Coyne Sucks” t-shirts at next year’s Riot Fest; the DuPage GOP issued a statement in response to the backlash; and a television station in Cincinatti owned by the pro-Trump right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group gave Coyne another outlet to express his dissatisfaction with the annual music fest.

Against that backdrop — and as it continues to honor the past year’s outstanding achievements in the excellence of clownery — WCCC is pleased to announce Coyne as the recipient of its prestigious “Punk Rock Poser of the Decade” award as part of the Will County Clown Car Peppermint Mocha Clown Awards 2025.

This is Coyne’s first Clownie.

/**
WCCC thanks BRUH WIPES® for sponsoring this award. BRUH WIPES® — Why wash when you can wipe, bruh?™
**/

Coyne drew widespread attention in September after taking to X to whine that this year’s Riot Fest acts were “too political” for the conservative Republican county chair, and the post quickly gained traction after he tagged Riot Fest’s self-parody account, which boasted more than 90,000 followers at the time.

The account responded with a sharp rebuke, labeling Coyne a “dork ass loser” and describing him as among “the softest dumbest people on the internet.”

Social media users were quick to pounce, pointing to the long history of political expression in music — particularly in punk. Coyne soon became the target of memes and blistering mockery before deleting the post after three days and 2.5 million views.

In a Riot Fest Facebook group, one user quipped that they expected to see “Kevin Coyne Sucks” T-shirts at next year’s fest. Another replied, “Why wait? I would wear that shirt every day.”

𝗗𝗨𝗣𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗣: “𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦”

The DuPage GOP even issued a statement addressing the chair's viral whoopsie-daisy on its page — that Coyne is widely regarded to be the sole author of — that included a response from him.

In his response, Coyne described Riot Fest as a “fun, rebellious fest,” but criticized performers for displaying violent imagery nearly two weeks after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, while somehow managing to slam Jimmy Kimmel Live as a “failing TV show” at the same time.

“If there was ever a time and place to raise a fist in opposition to fascism it would have been right then and there and for a young leader like Charlie Kirk. Instead they do it for … Jimmy Kimmel? Over a failing TV show?”

One act in particular drew Coyne’s ire. The heavy metal band GWAR, a pioneer of performance-art-style metal shows, is known for its outrageous, over-the-top shock-and-awe theatrics on stage that routinely mock pop culture, religion and politics.

Coyne objected to GWAR’s staged mock beheading of Elon Musk and a mock death of Donald Trump. But the band has long positioned itself as an equal-opportunity offender; in 2016, GWAR staged a ‘deathmatch’ between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Given that track record, it’s unclear what Coyne expected from GWAR’s Riot Fest appearance.

🎵 𝗡𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘'𝗦 𝗞𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗬𝗡𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗜... 🎶

The DuPage GOP statement also included a link to a story published on the website of Cincinnati’s LOCAL 12, WKRC-TV.

The article — titled “Chairman slammed as ‘dork a** loser’ after criticizing political stunt at punk festival” — gave Coyne another platform to air his grievances about the punk rock festival he chose to again attend, albeit largely to an audience in the Southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky/Southeast Indiana tri-state metro area, the nation’s 37th-largest media market.

WKRC-TV is one of roughly 190 stations owned or operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, a major local-TV operator that has long drawn criticism from media watchdogs and journalists over its use of centrally produced segments and “must-run” conservative-friendly content across its stations.

Dubbed the “Fox News of local television,” Sinclair has also come under fire scrutiny for requiring local anchors to read corporate scripts on air — an approach that blurs the line between local news and corporate partisan political fodder.

“𝗞𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗬𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗦”

In the statement, Coyne said he was ‘shocked’ at the attention his post received and added that he still appreciates the ‘color’ Riot Fest brings to Chicago, before asserting his enthusiasm at the prospect of “Kevin Coyne Sucks” t-shirts at next year's fest.

“Not only will I not be offended if they really sell ‘Kevin Coyne Sucks’ t-shirts next year, I will be thrilled! I’d frame one and hang it in my living room for the rest of my days,” Coyne said.

Despite lamenting that “we can't even go to concerts now without the political divide being tossed in our faces," Coyne insists he'll "still go back” to Riot Fest but that his most recent experience was ‘obnoxious.’

It remains to be seen whether Coyne will, as he suggested, fully lean into his newfound punk rock poser notoriety by showing up to Riot Fest 2026 in a “Kevin Coyne Sucks” T-shirt.

Follow WCCC throughout the Will County Clown Car Peppermint Mocha Clown Awards 2025 season and for continued coverage of local clownery during the 2026 primary and general elections.

*** ORIGINAL WCCC STORY ***

[WCCC] THIS WEEK IN STUPID: “YOU EVEN PUNK, BRUH?”
https://www.facebook.com/willcountyclowncar/posts/pfbid025g5tM3tpNtkSwY1gKpxqBAUkueEHqawQ2VkPvYJyckLVwJBn1uZL918ubmvsMYpGl

*** SOURCES ***

“Chairman slammed as ‘dork a** loser’ after criticizing political stunt at punk festival”
https://local12.com/news/nation-world/riot-fest-gwar-dupage-county-gop-chairman-kevin-coyne-slammed-as-dork-a-loser-after-criticizing-political-stunt-at-punk-festival-doge-cincinnati-department-government-efficiency-parody-account-controversy-absurdist-spectacle-art-music-american-culture

“FLIPPING HILARIOUS": DuPage GOP responds to “our chairman's” viral rant
https://www.facebook.com/DuPageGOP/posts/pfbid0Sh68gT9NGnzGLLg5e6ycSjwY752MdVh1kuGy6ZktTzCR8Po9dwXFFjh4DcX3m3yol

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