>> Former Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy won the GOP nomination for U.S.

Senate pushing him closer to taking over longtime Senator Durbin seat.

He's facing Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton in November's general election.

Tracy is making his case in a state that hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate since 2010.

And joining us now is Republican candidate for U.S.

Senate Don Tracy, thank you very much for being with us.

Thanks for having me.

Neck.

So why are you interested in becoming a Illinois's next senator?

That's an important state that feel like I've got the skill set to do it.

You know, I think tell people all the time everybody should run for public office because it's just an it's an important thing.

>> And democracy that you need to have citizen participation and and the private sector for on many decades and then a lawyer more decades than I care to admit.

also been in business and I owned and operated my own small business times.

When I had to struggle to put food on the table and make payroll at the same time.

But I think with the hardest and most important all human endeavors is is politics.

And I feel like I've got the skill set that being a lawyer and having succeeded in business as well to do this.

Also on a student of as well.

And I just think more and you know what?

I'd call normal everyday.

Illinois does need to be involved in and politics instead of just career politicians.

>> And you feel like you can offer that with some of the background that you have outside of the political route, right?

I mean, I have significant political experience.

Having been chairman of the Illinois Republican Party elected twice there.

I've run for office a couple times before I've been helping elect Republicans throughout Illinois in the run for public office last 20 or 25 years.

But I'm not a career politician.

And as we mentioned, you know, Illinois hasn't had a Republican in the Senate since 2017 or a statewide officer since 2019.

>> When you left your post at the state GOP, he had some concerns that there was more infighting among Republicans than there was focus on.

Defeating Democrats do still see.

That is as an issue.

There's infighting and every party and never in every state they're out.

>> a problem.

When I took the job as chairman alone are Republican Party, they told me had to things to do.

One unify the party and the other was to raise money.

And I thought unifying the party would be the easiest Why was I-90?

Here's what when I was you know, if there was infighting that would break out all over the state and he's like whack a mole and then it then it got to the board level on.

And that's when I said, well, this, you know, I've done for 3 and a half years is time for somebody else to do it.

But in a way, it seems like candidacy for U.S.

Senate has has helped unify the party.

And I want every county in Illinois except for us for small ones who Southeast Illinois Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to spend any time so hoping reverse that trend.

Absolutely.

All right.

Well, you know, President Trump scheduled to address the nation in just a couple of hours to discuss the war in Iran.

What are you hoping to hear from the president?

>> Well, I'm hoping to hear that we're making a continuing to make progress, that it's going to be a very short conflict and that we will have successfully degraded Iran's nuclear ambitions and its intercontinental ballistic missile ambitions.

And base a state, the largest sponsor of state terrorism the world.

And that this will lead to at last that long last peace in the Mideast and elsewhere.

>> So you would be looking for, you know, this conflict to come to an end relatively quick.

Absolutely.

You know, with the president's, as we mentioned earlier today, attended Supreme Court oral arguments about his executive order looking to do away with birthright citizenship.

You spoken at length about immigration in your campaign to support the president's position here.

>> Yes, I mean, from a policy standpoint, I certainly support it.

I am a lawyer, but I've not studied the.

have read the briefs in this case.

It's a complex issue.

It's really odd that we have Pierre birthright citizenship right now unless the Supreme Court says else otherwise.

I don't think there's any European country that has appear birthright citizenship.

Just weird to me that you can just take a vacation to the United States have a baby there on your baby is up, you know, citizen of the United States that people can intentionally do that.

That and you can be in the country illegal.

And if you have a baby, your child is citizen.

The United States, even though you're here illegally to.

It's we're dying.

But we'll have to wait and see what the Supreme Court says.

What the actual law is.

>> Sticking with immigration for a moment, House and Senate Republicans reportedly have a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security but excluding funding for the time being for immigration, Customs Enforcement, there've been a number of national polls showing, you know, disapproval of ice.

How do you assess the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago and several other U.S.

cities?

Well, we have to remember how we got here have to the Biden Open borders policy, 10 to 20 million unvetted.

>> and plus getaway.

Emigrants came into this country illegally and then the question is, what do you do about it?

Well, the federal government has a responsibility to enforce immigration law.

And the by the I think the administration has done a pretty good job of that throughout the country except in sanctuary cities where there has been massive resistance, not only by many in the population, but also by the political leaders of like Chicago and Minneapolis.

For example.

But in areas where there's not been that massive resistance has worked pretty well.

I lived in Memphis and then and for about 10 years as a traveling salesman and then as a a law student and then as a lawyer.

And visited Memphis recently, were they on just had a federal surge immigration, law enforcement and and it worked out great down there.

But the governor cooperated the local co-op the Memphis mayor cooperated.

And there as a result United 7200 arrests.

They removed 1100 illegal firearms from the streets.

A lot of they removed a lot of narcotics and contraband and they found 15242 missing children and carjackings are down almost 50%.

Murders are down there.

And Memphis, like Chicago is the murder capital on a per capita basis.

So, you know, it's been very successful down there and in New Orleans in DC and other places with the local authorities have cooperated.

But whether or not cooperating, the administration needs to find a better way to enforce immigration law, in the sanctuary cities.

And I'm confident Tom Homan would do that.

Tom Homan was borders.

Are an Obama got an award from Obama for doing that job?

He was borders are under a Trump one and now he's he's back in charge of of self enforcing immigration law in the sanctuary cities and confident he'll figure out a better way to do it than what we saw here in Chicago.

>> You know, affordability has been a focal point of your campaign.

How would you work to lower costs for Illinoisans?

>> Well, I certainly wouldn't follow the Democrat approach which is 2 and a to cost of living.

You know, that's one thing we we agree with the Democrat.

Democrats and Republicans agree the cost of living is a huge issue in this country.

But it's a huge issue because a Biden inflation over 20%, 20 to 30%, depending on who you talk to, the highest inflation, almost 40 7 years.

And the elect so that we can reduce the cost of living.

But everything Democrats do increases it.

You know, it's the spending under Biden increased inflation, which increases the cost of living their war against traditional, affordable, reliable energy increases utility prices, particularly in closing down power plants prematurely, as they're doing here in Illinois and elsewhere.

They're their health care approach, which is government run health insurance.

That's what my opponent supports, which which is go will cost trillions of dollars that that's a result.

Health care inflation running at 3 to 4 times regular inflation.

Housing is increase in part because of you and bring in 10 to 20 million Yuan House immigrants attracting them to Chicago with 3 billion and benefits government benefits.

that had to put pressure on an area where you already had a shortage of of housing and then crime being soft on crime.

You know, as a result of that, we have an epidemic of shoplifting in this country, not just in Chicago, not just in San Francisco, but in my hometown of of Springfield.

And I talked to any store clerk and that tell you, people walk out stuff all the time and they're told not to do anything about it.

That's increased the retail cost of everything.

You can carry out a store.

So when contrast for like health care, you know, we believe in more market competition, more price transparency, more consumer choice and better Drug pricing negotiations and on energy.

You know, we believe in more energy production and not not going green overnight.

I mean, we Republicans were environmentalist and we have been a my birthday's on Earth Day, but we've were rational.

We can ourselves rational environmentalists.

President Nixon started the EPA Republican president.

But, you know, this trying to go green overnights going bankrupt this country.

>> All 7 months until the