By Marc V. Avelar
August 31, 2025
Congresswoman Mary Miller (right) meets IL-08 Congressional Candidate Jennifer Davis
as Marc Avelar looks on. Aug 2, 2025, Carpentersville
What a summer! Since my last article for Kane County Republicans at the end of June, so much has happened locally, as well as around the country. Looking back to August 2 when Congresswoman Mary Miller (R, Hindsboro) visited Kane County at the Faith & Fire Conference in Carpentersville, to attempted coup of the Kane County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC), a “quick hits” format the best way to cover all that’s going on, with discernment to help Republicans determine for themselves if something’s on the level.
Attempted “coup” at August 5 KCRCC Executive Committee meeting
On the August 8, 2025, Smoke-Filled Room (SFR) podcast, host Collin Corbett pointed out there was a “coup attempt” for control of the Kane County Republican Party, formally known as the Kane County Republican Central Committee, Inc. (KCRCC) at the monthly meeting of the KCRCC Executive Committee on August 5.
The cued SFR video can be viewed here and the segment exchange between Corbett and Make Illinois Great Again PAC Chairman Matthew Rauschert lasts nearly six minutes.
Cal Skinner, Jr., owner/editor of McHenry County Blog asked me what had happened in Kane County after another reader saw the SFR podcast.
My unbiased article published August 16, reviewed by all sides in KCRCC as balanced and neutral coverage, can be viewed here at McHenry County Blog.
A clarification to the McHenry County Blog article has to do with KCRCC Parliamentarian Gia Winkler of unincorporated West Dundee. While Winkler is not licensed to practice law in Illinois, she also not licensed to be a paralegal. Winkler has a juris doctorate so she has a law degree and can utilize her legal training as the KCRCC parliamentarian
The Mark Rice vs Aaron Del Mar Debate Aug 22-23
Those who attended the Barrington Township Republican Organization’s (BTRO) fundraiser in Schaumburg on August 22nd know thebackground. On a recent SFR podcast from the Illinois State Fair (in Springfield), Cook County Republican Party Chairman Aaron Del Mar promoted the candidacy of Kane County resident Jennifer Davis (R, unincorporated Huntley) and referred to 2024 IL-08 nominee Mark Rice (R, Arlington Heights) as “fried rice”.
Del Mar and Rice got into a civil discussion at the BTRO event with Dundee Township Republican precinct committeeperson Jenny McGuire of Sleepy Hollow present. McGuire suggested the discussion be continued on her live radio show, The Un-safe Space, the following night on WIND AM560 at their Elk Grove Village studio.
Both Del Mar and Rice agreed to “take it outside”, or in this case, “take it on the air”.
The audio can be heard here, under August 23, 2025, podcast.
Mark Rice and Jenny McGuire
Like some, I listened to the discussion between Del Mar and Rice, the latter a regular “guest host” of McGuire’s show. During the discussion, Del Mar mentioned Rice was paying/bankrolling McGuire’s show, which would explain why Rice is nearly always in-studio as a guest host.
For discernment, there is circumstantial evidence from Rice’s most recent campaign disclosure filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) he’s paying for his appearances on McGuire’s show.
From the mid-July filing, Rice paid McGuire $2,250 for “campaign consulting work”. Here’s the receipt:
What that “campaign consulting work” really was could appear to be Rice bankrolling McGuire’s radio show, and discerning eyes will be on Rice’s 3rd quarter report due in mid-October to see if payments from Rice’s congressional campaign account to McGuire continues.
Sectoral Bargaining Breakthrough in California, or Is it?
Late Friday (Aug 29), news reports out of California claimed Governor Gavin Newsom, legislative leaders, Uber, Lyft and unions reached a compromise to bring sectoral organizing/bargaining to California.
As California’s term-limited governor and leading 2028 presidential candidate, an unprecedented victory for organized labor will be bad news for other aspiring Democratic presidential candidates including Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker.
In June, the topic of sectoral organizing/bargaining and its implication to future elections as soon as 2026 in Illinois was covered and here is link to refresh what these terms really mean.
BUT, is this really a victory for rideshare drivers who want to unionize? Applying discernment, the details are everything and right now, states pursuing unionization of rideshare drivers hasn’t yielded a single real success with collective bargaining and union organizing.
The Centers for American Progress published this research in early August. The key area is the “5%” threshold to begin collective bargaining. While union organizers claim the 5% threshold was achieved, discerning confirmation has not come. So, nearly 10 months after Massachusetts voters approved the ballot question, no collective bargaining has begun.
But California’s attempt to implement rideshare drivers into unions may be a very pyrrhic victory. My friend, Colorado-based Steve Johnson who hosts the Rideshare Rodeo podcasts, applies excellent discernment to what was reported out of California. In less than 13 minutes, he exposes the truth of what’s taking place in California.
Steve’s applied discernment can be viewed/listened to here.
Scott Presler’s Warning about 2025 and 2026 Elections – Permanent Vote-by-mail
In the wee hours of August 30, voter registration influencer Scott Presler shared a very ominous warning what 2025’s elections for governor in Virginia, New Jersey and state Supreme Court retention in Pennsylvania could mean for 2026 and the literal “elephant-in-the-room”: Republicans’ refusal to sign-up for permanent vote-by-mail and only choosing to vote on Election Day.
The five minutes video by Presler can be viewed here. Watch it in its entirety.
Marc Avelar is a 30-year resident of Dundee Township and served as an elected trustee for the village of Algonquin in the late 1990s. In 2022, Avelar was appointed to the Dundee Township Mental Health Board & has served as president of the Board for over 2 ½ years. Avelar served as the secretary of the KCRCC from 2000 to 2002.
