Illinois GOP Chair Resigns amid Gay Marriage Controversy

Received criticism for supporting recognition

Pat Brady, the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, announced his resignation Tuesday amid a simmering controversy over his support for gay marriage legislation.

Brady had been expected to drop out of the lead GOP role following a tumultuous period that pitted the Republicans' social moderates against their social conservatives.

With same-sex marriage legislation pending in the Illinois legislature, Brady this year voiced his support for the proposal despite a plank in the state GOP platform that said marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman. Brady said he made the endorsement personally, not as Republican chairman, but conservatives in the top echelon of the GOP party quickly complained.