Metro East Sun

Illinois' 50th District state senator and the Conservative Party's candidate for governor in November said he sides with President Trump and fellow Republicans in Washington over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

"I am following the lead of the president of the United States and the Republican-controlled Senate who are intimately involved in the details of the allegations and hearings," Sen. Sam McCann told the Metro East Sun. "I would not base any decisions on the slanted media and conjecture. Rather, I put my faith in our commander in chief who was duly elected by our electoral process of the United States of America."

However, McCann added, in his comments to the Metro East Sun Friday, that he most certainly is not siding with his opponent in the gubernatorial race, Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, over the Kavanaugh hearings and ongoing investigation. 

Illinois State Sen. William "Sam" McCann, the Conservative Party's candidate in the run for Illinois governor, speaking in March during a meeting of the state House and Senate's Committees on Veterans Affairs.

Earlier that day, Rauner urged a delay in a vote on Kavanaugh, a delay that eventually occurred.

"Unfortunately, Bruce Rauner has shown time and again, as highlighted this morning, when he sided with Diane Feinstein and the Democrats, that he has no faith in President Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate," McCann said.

McCann, from Jacksonville, was first elected to the state Senate in 2010, then representing the 49th District, when he defeated the incumbent Democrat Deanna Demuzio. This past April, McCann announced his run for governor under the then newly-founded Conservative Party.

Illinois State Senate District 50 includes all of Calhoun, Greene, Morgan, Pike and Scott counties and parts of Jersey, Macoupin, Madison and Sangamon counties.

Rauner called for a delay in a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh's nomination, only hours before it was scheduled, during remarks on WBEZ-FM’s Morning Shift program.

"Dr. Ford’s allegations are very serious and they seem very credible," Rauner said during the show. "I believe they deserve to be investigated and I believe a vote should be postponed until they are fully investigated."

The vote was delayed and Trump has since ordered the FBI to conduct an investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh of sexual assault.