Edgar’s successor, Republican Gov. George Ryan, on the other hand, opted not to run for reelection and left office under the cloud of scandal, which eventually led to federal corruption charges and a stint in prison.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner was defeated by Pritzker in 2018 after four years marred by fights with legislative Democrats and a more than two-year budget impasse.

The party is now shut out of all statewide offices and is toiling away in the superminority in the General Assembly.

So, I called Edgar on Tuesday to ask for his thoughts on Irvin and the “slate,” which includes state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, for lieutenant governor; state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, for treasurer; lawyer Steve Kim for attorney general; former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser for secretary of state; and McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi for comptroller.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the party receives that,” Edgar told me. “But, the candidates seem like they’re legitimate candidates. I mean, I think they bring something to the table and if Griffin’s coming through with the money, money is really important in a primary.”

“If he’s going to fund these campaigns, that will definitely give them a leg up,” Edgar said. “Now the drawback, though, is people are going to say, ‘well, they’re all going to be his puppet,’ and they’re going to have to handle that charge, particularly in the governor’s race.”