Kirk Dillard might have some explaining to do.
This weekend, the Illinois Education Association endorsed him in the Republican primary race for governor. Support from the powerful teachers' union, which represents about 133,000 members, could translate into thousands of dollars in donations, extra volunteers and added clout in Springfield.
But it also puts Dillard, a state senator, in the company of Democrats known for their alliances with organized labor. It's an association that has already led to calls for Dillard to renounce the IEA's endorsement.
While endorsing Dillard in Republican primary for governor, the union also backed Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes in the Democratic primary for that race. Today, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Hoffman announced that the IEA had backed him as well.
Dillard's Republican opponents, including Bill Brady and Dan Proft, have wasted little time in pointing out the IEA's left-of-center positions. In separate statements, both pointed out that the IEA supports an state income-tax hike, which some view as necessary to upkeep the state's growing obligations to teachers' pensions.
But in calling for Dillard to reject the endorsement, Proft also said the organization relegates students to "second-class" status.
"Today we celebrate Martin Luther King’s life and legacy," Proft said in his statement this morning, "and yet in Chicago and urban school districts throughout Illinois, the promise of Brown v. Board of Education has gone unfulfilled.
"We tolerate a system that discriminates against children based on their address and their household income."
To be fair, part of the the IEA's mission statement is "to effect excellence and equity in public education," so leaders at the union would hardly agree that they're feeding into discrimination at public schools.
But Dillard, who supported Democrat Barack Obama for the presidency, is trying to shake off his image as a fair-weather conservative — and the IEA isn't making his job easier.