* Steve Huntley has a bit of news today about the GOP gubernatorial primary race. Andy McKenna may keep spending on TV ads throughout the holidays…
A February primary usually means a timeout in campaigning while voters are preoccupied with the holidays. But McKenna is exploring using his money advantage to press his message in December.
* Congressman Luis Gutierrez has endorsed Pat Quinn. From a press release…
Pointing to Pat Quinn’s decades-long fight for “kitchen table” issues and reforms that really matter to working families, U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) today announced his endorsement of Governor Quinn.
“Pat Quinn is a champion for consumers, for senior citizens, for veterans, for Latinos and for all of the people of our state,” Gutierrez said at a news conference at Caballeros De San Juan (Credit Union 1) in Chicago. “Governor Quinn understands that every day in Illinois, families are sitting at their kitchen tables making tough decisions about how to make ends meet. Pat Quinn is the person I want in the Governor’s office helping those families.”
* Dan Hynes got off a pretty good zinger in his first ever head-to-head with Gov. Pat Quinn…
“All of a sudden [Hynes] says he’s for a graduated income tax, but it was on the ballot in 2004, he voted against it,” Quinn said. […]
“If the competition is who was for raising taxes first, I guess you win,” [Hynes] told Quinn.
Heh.
The two met at a Rock Island County Democratic “town hall” last night. Quinn appeared to be a bit testy at times. For instance, when asked if they would support whomever won the Democratic primary, Hynes said he would…
Quinn said Hynes’ answer couldn’t be trusted, but didn’t answer the question directly himself, only saying, “I’m a Democrat. I always have been.”
* Dock Walls slammed Gov. Quinn yesterday for challenging his nominating petitions…
Walls is the only African American running for governor. He says Quinn is trying to knock him off the ballot to improve his own chances of getting most of the black vote in the primary election.
“it’s racially based challenge of petitions of a candidate who’s qualified to be on the ballot for a nefarious purpose,” said Walls.
A Quinn spokesman says Walls has experience on both sides of the petition challenge process. The spokesman says Walls once failed to get on the ballot for city clerk because he didn’t have enough legitimate signatures and another time unsuccessfully challenged Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s nominating petitions.
* The Illinois State Board of Elections held its ballot placement lottery yesterday…
Topping ballots in Feb. 2 primaries for governor will be William “Dock” Walls of Chicago for the Democrats and state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale for the Republicans.
In the races for nomination for U.S. Senate, the lottery showed that Robert Marshall of Burr Ridge will be on top in the Democratic contest, while Don Lowery of Golconda is to lead the GOP ballot.
Ballot placement is far more important for down-ballot races…
In the field of six Republicans and six Democrats seeking the post of lieutenant governor, attorney and family businessman Don Tracy of Springfield finished first in the GOP while state Rep. Art Turner of Chicago won the top spot among Democrats. Turner’s petitions face a challenge.
In the race among three Democrats and three Republicans for the state comptroller nomination, Democratic state Rep. David Miller of Lynwood got the first ballot position while former state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka won the GOP’s top placement for the office.
* Democratic US Senate candidate Jacob Meister is trying to get a bit of traction by attacking his opponents…
Meister called state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias a “career politician” and made note of Cheryle Jackson’s work as a one-time spokeswoman for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“Cheryle Jackson comes right out of the inner sanctum of the Blagojevich administration,” Meister said. […]
Meister criticized former Chicago inspector general David Hoffman for trying to make the race about ethics.
“Hoffman is playing the slick game of trying to make this election about corruption and his plan for fighting corruption,” Meister said.
He has a very long row to hoe, to say the least. Trying to get your name known before Feb. 2nd is pretty near impossible without a multi-million dollar warchest.
* Related…
* ICIRR says ILGOP descending into “anti-Muslim hysteria”
* State Sen. Cronin will top ballot in DuPage chairman’s race: If conventional wisdom holds true, state Sen. Dan Cronin picked up an extra 5 percent of the Republican votes Tuesday in his bid for the DuPage County Board Chairman’s seat.
* Ethics complaint filed against Lake County’s Linda Pedersen: The complaint was filed by Eighth District Democratic Central Committeewoman Nancy Shepherdson on Thursday with the Office of the Legislative Inspector General in Springfield. It says that Pedersen used Republican State Rep. JoAnn Osmond’s office phone to accept RSVPs for a fundraiser for County Board Chairwoman and Republican state Senate candidate Suzi Schmidt. Pedersen is a legislative aide for Osmond and works in her Antioch office.
* House GOP Leader endorses McKenna for governor
* Andrzejewski would repeal new video gambling law
* CFL passes on Cook prez endorsement
* Tea Party looking to crash Lipinski’s meeting
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- wordslinger - Friday, Nov 13, 09 @ 10:34 am:
Quinn must have been a little testy. “Support the nominee” is a pretty standard affirmative in any primary, especially in front of an audience of party stalwarts.
And what did Quinn mean by Hynes’ answer couldn’t be trusted?
- Springfieldish - Friday, Nov 13, 09 @ 10:50 am:
Suzi Schmidt said on the radio this morning that she doesn’t even have a campaign office; she uses Osmond’s office. I love how Suzi’s campaign seems directly financed by the Lake County and Illinois taxpayers. You’ve got Pedersen, a paid county board member and an employee of the state, working for Schmidt, the president of the county board, while on the State’s time in JoAnn Osmond’s office. I guess up here in Lake County, the GOP officials that control our county board and Illinois House offices view ethics rules as ‘guidelines’ rather than the law.
- Springfield - Friday, Nov 13, 09 @ 10:58 am:
Meister is really reaching out for central Illinois voters. He has my vote.
- Pat collins - Friday, Nov 13, 09 @ 12:02 pm:
ICIRR says
Well, it’s always fun when a group is skewered on their own spear.
And the unpleasant truth for CAIR is they DO have a lot of slippery associations.
- Will County Woman - Friday, Nov 13, 09 @ 12:27 pm:
Quinn seems scared of Hynes. Ever since Hynes expressed his intention to run for governor, Quinn has seemed a little more than peeved/miffed. Beyond just the prospect of healthy competition, it’s as if he is taking it personal or something. I’m starting to wonder if it has anything to do with age? While Hynes may not have the bubbly personaility that Quinn projects outwardly, people Quinn’s age are on the verge of retirement, or at least they should be.
Re: Politics
(and I don’t mean any disrespect here)
This is increasingly a young man’s game. It’s time for the baby boomer (plus) generation to step aside and have a seat; they’ve had their turn/time. Illinois needs someone with vision to lead it out of crisis and forward.
Daley, Madigan and Quinn all represent a bygone era. They should all just step aside for someone younger and take a trip around the world. The time has come for them and others to let go. And, the same was true of John McCain and that’s why I am glad that he didn’t become president: too old–too stuck in his old ways.
Both Hynes and Quinn have reveresed roles. Even with all the endoresments and party support, Quinn just looks and sounds old. The slate is old-school democratic party, and it’s tired. Hynes has embraced his role reversal and he’s showing more fortiude than I think people would have expected. He’s sharper in this thinking and talking. Let’s face it on the budget issue, because he is the CFO of the state, he’s more than qualified to discuss that matter because he has had to deal with state fiscal issues, whereas the former Lt. Gov. did not. Hynes appears to have an apptitude for fiscal issues too.
Re: political endorsement
(scandals and corruption etc.)
I understand that endorsements can and do mean a lot, but I suspect there are voters out there who are not at all impressed with the politicians who have endorsed Quinn, especially the politicians from Chicago. I can picture voters thinking that they may not like congressman or alderman so and so, which causes the voter to look at Quinn with a bit of a jaundice eye.