Out of the Capitol for more than eight years, former longtime State Sen. Kirk Dillard doesn’t miss the process.

“It’s a people business to be in politics and government, and I miss my colleagues,” said Dillard during a visit to Springfield last week. But today’s Republican Party, particularly in Illinois, may not have room for a moderate such as he.

“The Republican Party has changed a great deal from myself, Gov. (Jim) Thompson, Gov. (Jim) Edgar,” he said. “It’s clearly moved to the right, but I’ve learned the pendulum swings back and forth. But the party today is more populist than I was, because I was somebody who just tried to get things done.”

Case in point: Dillard’s chairmanship of the Chicago area Regional Transportation Authority.

Dillard ran for governor in 2014 and finished a narrow second in the Republican primary to the eventual winner, Bruce Rauner.