Illinois GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner said the Republican candidate for a Chicago-area congressional seat should not be on the ballot because he is an avowed Nazi.

Rauner called on candidate Arthur Jones, a Holocaust denier, to drop out of the race.

"The one thing I will say is the person, that guy, Johnson or whatever his name is, should not be on the ballot," said Rauner, Politico reported.

Jones will appear on the November ballot as the Republican candidate against Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill.

The governor said the Republican Party had done what it could to prevent Jones from getting on the ballot.

"I called (on) him to get out and he should be out, and we should have somebody run against him," Rauner said.

"There is no room, as I said right immediately when he snuck on there, there is no room in our politics for a person like that," the governor added.

Illinois' Republican Party faced ridicule around the U.S. after failing to block Jones from claiming the Republican nomination. State Republicans have also said they would work to set up a write-in candidate for the general election in November.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Friday that Chicagoans should vote for Democrats instead of Jones.

"This is horrific, an avowed Nazi running for Congress," Cruz wrote. "To the good people of Illinois, you have two reasonable choices: write in another candidate, or vote for the Democrat. This bigoted fool should receive ZERO votes."

The party failed four opportunities to remove Jones from the ballot, Politico reported June 29.

"This is an absolute political disaster," Republican state Rep. David McSweeney said, Politico reported.

"I snookered them . . . I played by the rules, what can I say?" Jones said, Politico reported.