FOX 32 Sunday Reporter`s Notebook: IL Republicans - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

The Republican's nominee last month in the 2nd Congressional District was a perfectly pleasant professor from Olivet Nazarene College. But Jesse Jackson Jr. trounced him, even with all the clouds of scandal swirling and without holding even one single campaign event.

The Republican leader in the Illinois House has been studying last month's dismal election returns from across the state.

"When you look at exit polling on the Romney/Obama race, women left us in huge numbers, young people left us in huge numbers, Hispanics and African Americans were not there, almost 80-20," State Rep. Tom Cross says. "So, from just a pure, raw numbers standpoint, white males aren't gonna elect the president, aren't gonna elect a governor, aren't gonna elect majorities in the House in the Senate. Really, we have a communications issue."

It is, of course, easier to describe the Republican Party's problems in Illinois than to prescribe solutions. In the next few weeks, we'll invite Tom Cross and other GOP leaders to join us here and do some of that. Having surrendered legislative super-majorities to the Democrats in both chambers of the General Assembly, the only hope Republicans have of returning to relevance is to elect the next governor.