Delivering You the Present of a New SFR—Smoke-Filled Room—Episode 85

We couldn’t head into the holidays and not deliver the present of a new Smoke-Filled Room episode to your inbox!

Following the election, we went down to Peoria to record a special in-person episode at the Illinois Federation of Republican Women Annual Conference to discuss the November election results, what Republicans can take away from 2024 to use in 2026 and 2028, and the importance the upcoming local elections in April have on the daily lives of Illinoisans.

Joining SFR host Collin Corbett is IFRW Vice President Diane Jordan, Tazewell County GOP Vice Chairman Corey Allen, campaign manager for Brandun Schweizer Chelsie Leffelman, and Cor’s political expert Michael Butler.

Each of our guests was on the ground in some of the top races Republicans were trying to pickup and hold so we hear what strategies, tactics, and messages helped candidates like Brandun Schweizer and Kevin Schmidt win, and what more could have been done for candidates like Desi Anderson who came up short. There is a lot we should take away from the 2024 election but will Republicans learn?

Later, we discuss how even though the upcoming local elections are mostly non-partisan, Republicans can’t be sitting around because we know the Democrats are getting involved and engaged in helping elect their candidates in April. We discuss the importance of our local school board and township races, and how quality local candidates are who Republicans can target for higher office in future elections—a page right from the Democrats playbook.

Then we close out this week’s Smoke-Filled Room answering questions submitted by the IFRW Annual Conference audience.

00:00:00-00:03:05: Intro
00:03:05-00:21:12: Our Takeaways from Key Races Throughout Illinois
00:21:12-00:31:00: Republicans Saw Improvements in Candidate Recruitment
00:31:00-00:40:43: Local Elections Are in April, How Do We Find Quality Candidates & Get Them Elected?
00:40:43-00:57:05: Answering Audience-Submitted Questions
00:57:05-01:07:41: Closing Thoughts