ILLINOIS: ACLU Hires Ousted GOP Chair Pat Brady To Lobby For Gay Marriage

Earlier this year the Republican Party of Illinois ousted its chairman, Pat Brady, after NOM and other anti-gay groups called for his removal for endorsing same-sex marriage.  But Brady now has a new gig.

The ACLU hired Next Generation Public Affairs, a governmental affairs and public relations firm co-founded by Brady and Matt Strawn, former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. Brady said he will act as a lobbyist and consultant for the same-sex marriage bill. Brady said his job will to be lobby "Republicans and other like-minded folks, but primarily Republicans" in the House where a Senate-passed same-sex marriage bill remains stalled. "It's narrowly focused on the 10 or 11 (Republican lawmakers) who were open to the possibility of voting 'yes' on this," he said. The pairing of the ACLU and a former state Republican chair might seem "unique," Brady said. But he noted the national ACLU in June hired Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican adviser to presidents and presidential candidates, to spearhead a $10 million national effort to support same-sex marriage laws.