CHICAGO — A Republican candidate for the Illinois Legislature is under fire from his own party amid allegations that he asked an African-American candidate for state attorney general whether she was a “lesbo” and used a racial slur during a conversation with her.

Now, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Republican floor leader of the Illinois House, Peter Breen, are calling for the candidate, Burt Minor, to drop out of a race for state representative.

“He’s not fit to be a Republican nominee for office, especially not the General Assembly,” Breen told POLITICO. “His conduct was outrageous.”

At issue is a conversation that took place last fall between Minor and Republican attorney general candidate Erika Harold. Harold, the party-backed candidate for the GOP, who is also a Harvard Law graduate and former Miss America, was talking to Minor in his capacity as a Winfield Township chairman.

“[Minor] asked Ms. Harold personal questions about her marital status, and even her sexual orientation, going so far as to inquire whether she was a ‘lesbo,’” Breen wrote in a letter to other Republicans this morning. “The chairman also used the full ‘n-word’ repeatedly in front of Ms. Harold and her assistant, asking whether she found its usage offensive.”

Breen told POLITICO that in a meeting, Minor admitted to using the slur and had “tried to explain it away, saying that she wanted him to ask the question so she could get it on the record, which is obviously absurd.”