*** UPDATE *** From IL AFL-CIO President Mike Carrigan…
I very much regret the unfavorable references recently made to Hanah Jubeh and her consulting firm, P2, in the IL State Federation News Update. Ms. Jubeh has provided professional services to many unions over the years and I know that her work is held in very high regard.
There was absolutely no sexist intent in what was published. The IL AFL-CIO has long been a strong supporter of equal rights for women and it pains me greatly that anyone might have a contrary impression.
I have apologized to Hanah Jubeh and assured her that such an incident will not happen again. It is my sincere hope that we can all move forward together to accomplish our shared goal of a better Illinois for all working families.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* The JB Pritzker campaign is finally responding to that allegation of sexism by Chris Kennedy’s chief fundraiser against the Illinois AFL-CIO. From Galia Slayen…
“It was not appropriate to go after staff.”
* But SEIU’s leaders were far harsher...
Leaders of one of the most politically active labor unions in the state blasted the president of the Illinois AFL-CIO on Friday for what they called “unwarranted attacks” on a longtime Democratic consultant. […]
“Your recent singling-out of Jubeh highlights a sexist mindset toward women that has no place in politics, the labor movement or anywhere else in society,” wrote SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff and the clout-heavy group’s secretary-treasurer, Laura Garza.
“It denotes a hostility toward women who refuse to ‘fall in line’ with their male counterparts. … We demand an apology for your unacceptable behavior.”
Carrigan did not respond to requests for comment.
* And the Kennedy campaign did some fundraising off the controversy over the weekend…
I need to bring something to your attention because it represents the state of our politics today, it’s indicative of the political system we have here in Illinois, and it’s personal.
This week, the President of the Illinois AFL-CIO bullied a senior advisor to my campaign. He insulted my campaign and he used her as a pawn for his criticism.
Not my campaign manager. He was never mentioned.
Not my political director. Not a single negative word was directed his way.
Not my media consultant. His name never came up.
Only Hanah. A successful small business owner, a strong political strategist - a woman.
Hanah has a long career fighting for labor. Many in the community can attest to it, and they have. Quickly after a Sun-Times reporter exposed two incidents in which Mike Carrigan made cutting remarks about her for choosing to work on my campaign, members of the labor community spoke out on her behalf.
It is no coincidence that Mike Carrigan is an ally to Speaker Madigan or that he has endorsed my opponent J.B. Pritzker. It’s no coincidence because this is what the insider political game looks like. He is picking on her because he wants her to feel intimidated. He wants my campaign to lose her talent, and ultimately, they all want me out of this race. Members of the labor community have indicated that the criticism is being directed toward her because she is a woman, and he wants her to “fall in line”.
It’s a disgraceful, egregious display of sexism that has no place in our politics, and it’s a glaring example of why people in our state desperately want to rid this system of insiders who stand by and let such bullying occur.
If this were a supporter of mine, I would condemn his behavior. In the very least, I’d demand that he apologize because for me, this race is about more than politics. It’s about bringing integrity back to our political system and bringing real leadership back to our state government. But J.B. Pritzker and his campaign have stood silent when they could have stood up to the establishment. If he won’t stand up to them now when they are clearly in the wrong, how can we trust him to do that as governor?
Hanah, I stand by you.
Thank you for standing by me and by our campaign.
Chris
CONTRIBUTE
SIGN UP TO PASS PETITIONS
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:20 am:
The AFL-CIO absolutely needs to make amends, but I have my doubts that Kennedy can make much political hay out of this.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:21 am:
I guess it could help him build a case for some of the public sector unions to endorse him? CTU seems to have no other obvious candidates.
- It's Dinner Time - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:21 am:
Again, no outcry over singling out of women on the other side.
https://twitter.com/RadicalCandorIL/status/917787763067576321
https://twitter.com/RadicalCandorIL/status/916674229835304963
https://twitter.com/RadicalCandorIL/status/916390891849383936
https://twitter.com/RadicalCandorIL/status/916367333572206592
- chi - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:24 am:
“I guess it could help him build a case for some of the public sector unions to endorse him?”
How could this possibly be a reason for anyone to make or change an endorsement for governor? Insulting to public sector unions to think they make their decisions on stuff like this as opposed to the policies of the actual candidates?
- PJ - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:27 am:
===Again, no outcry over singling out of women on the other side.===
The other side? That’s a disaffected former Rauner staff person.
- DDR - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:27 am:
Give me a break! The AFL is absolutely not sexist, just look at their board, practically overflowing with women:
http://www.ilafl-cio.org/board_members.htm
/s
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:30 am:
==Again, no outcry over singling out of women on the other side.==
It also tends to go after Dan Proft more than anyone else.
- Perrid - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:30 am:
Kennedy raises good points about how the other senior staff (who are male) weren’t singled out, but I still read it more as a personal attack than sexist. I think someone just doesn’t like her for some reason. Yes, that reason might be sexism, but again, not my read of it. For the record, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her before this, let alone know what her relationship is with anyone at AFL-CIO, so I have little to base that on.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:30 am:
==How could this possibly be a reason for anyone to make or change an endorsement for governor? Insulting to public sector unions to think they make their decisions on stuff like this as opposed to the policies of the actual candidates?==
Yeah, I’m not sure, that’s why I put the question mark there. But, y’know, none of these guys are all that far apart on the policy end of things (Kennedy is clearly the most conservative, but it doesn’t really manifest on issues front-and-center to public sector unions), so you’re going to look at other things. And, I dunno, but the public sector unions *are* more representative than the trade unions.
I dunno. I’ve hardly convinced myself, I’m just searching for *something* that makes this work for Kennedy, ’cause the voters sure won’t care that the AFL-CIO was mean to his fundraiser.
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:31 am:
What a load of BS. Hannah is not good at her job. She was called out for it and is now crying sexism when it’s simply incompetence. That said, it was dumb of Carrigan to target staff. Talk about a tempest in a teapot.
- Thomas Paine - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:32 am:
The number of women in the House Democeatic caucus has increased dramatically over the past three decades.
While the number of women in the House Republican caucus has decreased substantially.
Jubeh is being singled out because as a fundraiser she built her Rolodex and her company not on her connections with alderman Fioretti, but her connections to organized labor.
Now, she is parlaying those relationships and connections to attack the only labor-endorsed candidate in the race. Atleast some in the unions feel betrayed. And she continues to put herself out as a union consultant.
Welcome to the real world of political consultants. When you go to work for a candidate who attacks organized labor, attacks the Democratic Party, attacks the chair of the Democratic Party, you risk becoming unpopular. If you can’t accept that risk, don’t do it.
I am surprised Jubeh was criticized publicly in the publication, but it isn’t as if criticism about Kennedy fundraising performance aren’t all over town.
- Responsa - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:32 am:
Totally fair use by the Kennedy campaign of Carrigan’s attack. Not only were Carrigan’s comments terrible in general but his timing to pick on a female could not have been worse.
- Moe Berg - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:34 am:
Carrigan really has no choice. He needs to criticize Kennedy’s campaign manager, political director and media consultant ASAP.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:34 am:
==Now, she is parlaying those relationships and connections to attack the only labor-endorsed candidate in the race. Atleast some in the unions feel betrayed. And she continues to put herself out as a union consultant.==
Carrigan’s issues with Jubeh pre-date this race, and the CFL is still OK with her.
- @MisterJayEm - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:38 am:
“I’m just searching for *something* that makes this work for Kennedy, ’cause the voters sure won’t care that the AFL-CIO was mean to his fundraiser.”
Unless he can make more donors care about his campaign, Kennedy may not get the opportunity to make voters care about it.
– MrJM
- jim - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:41 am:
Just because she’s a woman is no reason to exempt her from criticism.
but kennedy counterattack is a clever, obvious way of changing the subject and putting critics on defense.
- Roman - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:42 am:
== How could this possibly be a reason for anyone to make or change an endorsement for governor? ==
You’re probably right, @chi. This is mostly inside baseball. Probably won’t move votes. But maybe Kennedy can use this to argue that JB is using the party establishment to bully his way to the nomination. Might take a few more incidents to credibly make that argument.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:42 am:
==Unless he can make more donors care about his campaign, Kennedy may not get the opportunity to make voters care about it.==
Do you think this makes anyone else open their wallets, though? It seems like putting your fundraiser in a public spotlight like this would actually make her work harder.
- lake county democrat - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:55 am:
As a Chris Kennedy fan, and notwithstanding that Carrigan’s apology wasn’t issued as quickly as it should have been, at least it’s an unqualified and full apology, which is sadly rare these days.
- Sigh - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:56 am:
I get the Kennedy fundraising emails. They ask people to donate $5.00. When a campaign is asking for only $5 and they send me 3 emails in one day, (deadline day) then the inability to raise money does reflect poorly on the person whose job is to bring in the money.
If Kennedy wants to make this a male vs female issue, then I think he should tell us how many females he interviewed for the positions that he reference - campaign manager, political director and media consultant. In addition, why didn’t he pick a female as his running mate?
- Precinct Captain - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:56 am:
==- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:42 am:==
Kennedy’s the one who needs to work. Even Bill Daley all but said that CK wasn’t doing call time. Totally unacceptable and no staff call time can make up for that.
- Mugsy - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 10:57 am:
Carrigan is using heavy-handed tactics to try and kneecap Kennedy’s campaign. Pritzker team must be worried that he’s gaining momentum. I’m a bit shocked labor of all people would rally behind the centrist billionaire whose family spent decades sticking it to the working class, but I guess his money bags were too appealing to consider any of the actual progressives.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:04 am:
==Carrigan is using heavy-handed tactics to try and kneecap Kennedy’s campaign. Pritzker team must be worried that he’s gaining momentum.==
Please. If Kennedy’s fundraiser was “knee-capped”, how would his fundraising look any different than what he’s already turned in?
- cdog - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:07 am:
The takeaway rule, which has now been established by progressive geniuses and perfectly aligned with emotional-based identity politics, is as follows.
Rule — Women are exempt from professional criticism, even if appropriate due to obvious incompetence or other empirical fact. If anyone, especially a man, dares to criticize a professional woman they will be labeled with the broad brush of public scorn and forced to retract. The incompetent woman will be free to wreak havoc, and those that know the truth about her deficiencies will be silenced.
(This same pattern of forcefully labeling the wrong party has Hollywood and others in a serious jam)
(As a woman, I’d tell Jubeh she has no idea what real sexim is and she needs to toughen up. If they were talking about your body parts, clothing, etc in sexual ways, you might have a case. This is not that.)
- Truthteller - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:18 am:
It’s truly much ado about nothing. Hanah always had her critics in the labor movement, including the SEIU.
Carrigan’s criticism may have been unwise, but not untrue. Jubeh’s union connections have been her calling card. She’s benefitted immeasurably from her association with the labor movement. Now that it is locked in mortal combat with Rauner, she’s decided to go off in her own direction, rather than follow the course set by those elected to set labor’s path
Maybe she has a right to do it, but certainly Carrigan has a right to feel betrayed.
- hisgirlfriday - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:18 am:
Just great the way this campaign between two mega-rich never worked for a minimum wage or joined a union guys can split labor this way.
- huh - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:33 am:
hisgirlfriday, Mike Carrigan and Hannah Jubeh have personal issues. The Kennedy campaign tried to fundraise off it. I guess if you want to call Balanoff’s statement a labor split, then so be it. All I see is drama.
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:44 am:
“Carrigan is using heavy-handed tactics to try and kneecap Kennedy’s campaign. Pritzker team must be worried that he’s gaining momentum.”
Nice spin, but this isn’t team Pritzker. This is Carrigan and someone from within IL AFL-CIO who thought calling Hannah out was a good idea (wondering who that might have been - doubt the idea originated with Carrigan). It wasn’t, but calling her out wasn’t sexist. It was just stupid (albeit accurate).
- Responsa - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 11:48 am:
cdog–
==Rule — Women are exempt from professional criticism, even if appropriate due to obvious incompetence or other empirical fact. If anyone, especially a man, dares to criticize a professional woman they will be labeled with the broad brush of public scorn and forced to retract. The incompetent woman will be free to wreak havoc, and those that know the truth about her deficiencies will be silenced.==
I completely agree with your sarcasm that there almost seems to be an unspoken rule that women should somehow always be exempt from criticism. In a world where women should be considered as equals in all respects then criticizing them should be an acceptable part of the play without it automatically being considered sexism.
That said, what many are missing here is how totally inappropriate it was for Carrigan to be the one to inject himself into this. She is not working for him or for the candidate he is supporting. She is not “wreaking havoc” on him or his union. So how the heck was it his business, or in his purview, to decry the competence of this fundraiser for another campaign –unless it was cheap intimidation. This was not his business to comment on if the fundraiser was a male either. The whole thing just looks skeevy.
- walker - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:38 pm:
Responsa wins word-of-the-day award: “skeevy”
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 12:46 pm:
==As a woman, I’d tell Jubeh she has no idea what real sexim is and she needs to toughen up. ==
I rather suspect she’s not feeling particularly sexually harassed (though being called out by name is pretty bizarre) but rather saw this as a way to help her client.
- sauce for the gander - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 1:50 pm:
So it’s sexism to criticize Jubeh, but it’s okay to go after a group of moms?
http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/pritzker-paid-moms-who-trashed-his-rival/835092066
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 1:54 pm:
“I rather suspect she’s not feeling particularly sexually harassed (though being called out by name is pretty bizarre) but rather saw this as a way to help her client.”
More like a way to help herself. It doesn’t help Kennedy if Jubeh becomes the story.
- anon2 - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 2:18 pm:
=== Rule — Women are exempt from professional criticism, even if appropriate due to obvious incompetence or other empirical fact. If anyone, especially a man, dares to criticize a professional woman they will be labeled with the broad brush of public scorn and forced to retract. The incompetent woman will be free to wreak havoc, and those that know the truth about her deficiencies will be silenced.===
I agree. This type of backlash will deter other men from professional criticism of any woman. Why take the risk of being excoriated as a sexist? It’s reverse sexism.
- Arsenal - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 2:42 pm:
==More like a way to help herself.==
The funny thing about fundraising is you help yourself by helping your clients.
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 2:54 pm:
“The funny thing about fundraising is you help yourself by helping your clients.”
Agreed. And as has been pointed out above, it’s not remotely clear how this helps Kennedy raise $$$$ or even $.
- @MisterJayEm - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 3:02 pm:
“Women are exempt from professional criticism, even if appropriate due to obvious incompetence or other empirical fact. If anyone, especially a man, dares to criticize a professional woman they will be labeled with the broad brush of public scorn and forced to retract. The incompetent woman will be free to wreak havoc, and those that know the truth about her deficiencies will be silenced.”
I’m sure you’d happily direct us to one or more examples of this apparently rampant problem.
– MrJM
- wordslinger - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 3:11 pm:
–“Women are exempt from professional criticism, even if appropriate due to obvious incompetence or other empirical fact. If anyone, especially a man, dares to criticize a professional woman they will be labeled with the broad brush of public scorn and forced to retract. The incompetent woman will be free to wreak havoc, and those that know the truth about her deficiencies will be silenced.”–
As a white male, that hasn’t been my experience in the private sector.
But it sounds scary. I’ll keep a lookout for it now.
Don’t tell Tucker Carlson about this, he’ll load his drawers.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 3:58 pm:
==If Kennedy wants to make this a male vs female issue, then I think he should tell us how many females he interviewed for the positions that he reference - campaign manager, political director and media consultant. In addition, why didn’t he pick a female as his running mate? ==
There’s the rub. Not sure if any of his opponents will go there, but when Kennedy’s campaign brings this up, it invites people to look at his campaign and wonder. Especially when, to make his point, he emphasizes that that his top folks are all men.
- Conventional Wisdom - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 4:35 pm:
Over the years labor has made Jubeh wealthy, and now she is double crossing them. That probably made Carrigan lose his cool. It was stupid of him to take a shot at a campaign staffer in the newsletter, but it’s a lie to say his comments were sexist. It’s deeply unethical to claim something as terrible as racism or sexism when none exists. Trying to bully someone into silence with lies shows no character or integrity.
- Nadia - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 4:37 pm:
Being sexist worked for Trump; snark intended. My apologies to Michael.
Having said that I’ve known Carrigan for many years and I have never seen one single reason to believe he is a sexist. He is a gentleman and very cordial around everyone; read his apology.
Previously, on another matter, I believe someone gave him some bad advice. With the increase in overall issues on the AFL-CIO plate I wonder if the delegation of authority on some items has caused this.
- 4 percent - Monday, Oct 16, 17 @ 5:36 pm:
So where are the responses from Mike Frerichs, Kwame Raoul, and the other Democrats who use her services? I don’t see them jumping up & down to defend her… I guess they don’t want to irritate the AFL-CIO.
- AKA - Tuesday, Oct 17, 17 @ 9:19 pm:
I’ve heard that several of Jubeh’s clients have left due to lackluster fundraising. Outside of checks from labor, she is a weak fundraiser. Seems wrong to cover up a performance problem with “sexism”
- Curious - Tuesday, Oct 17, 17 @ 10:16 pm:
Biss is a former client of Jubeh’s. Has anyone gotten his perspective on this story?