Illinois GOP Chair to Remain as Party Leader

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady will remain state party leader, despite calls for his ouster from some GOP members.

Brady said the party's State Central Committee did not take a vote during a closed-door meeting Saturday on whether to fire him. He also said he has no plan to resign before his term ends next year.

Brady called it a "tough, long'' meeting. But he said the committee had a productive discussion about the party's future and the need to be inclusive of people who disagree on some tenets of the party platform.

About 50 GOP members demanded Brady be fired or step down, in part because he recently supported gay marriage.

The crowd grew angry at times, yelling because they were excluded from most of the hourslong discussion.