97 Comments - One to the Dome - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 6:58 am: Rep Smith in a landslide - hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:05 am: My biggest surprises 1. National pundits this morning determining the national primary is over based on how the Illinois GOP voted last night 2. Danny Davis losing his bid for 27th ward commiteeman 3. Winston Taylor doing as well as he did against Scherer 4. How poorly Sheyman did in comparison to the polls 5. That I predicted the ILGOP presidential spread would be: Romney 47 Santorum 34 Paul 9 Gingrich 8 And the ILGOP presidential spread was: Romney 47 Santorum 35 Paul 9 Gingrich 8 - Lakefront Liberal - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:16 am: Will Guzzardi coming within 72 votes of beating Toni Berrios for 39th State Rep. I walked some precincts for Guzzardi and I knew they were doing well but wow, what a squeaker. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:17 am: “Rep Smith in a landslide” Pathetic, but not surprising. - jeff__ing in Chicago - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:21 am: I haven’t seen anyone take any heat for ever endorsing Blago. He came to us by immaculate conception and no one else was responsible. All the people who setup robocalls in the past asking me to vote for him were reelected. I can only conclude we like what we have. - Jake L - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:30 am: I agree with the Derrick Smith landslide. what an embarrassment. - Lakefront Liberal - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:31 am: jeff__ing — its not that “we” like what we have it is that the people who benefit (or who think they do) from the current system a.k.a. the “machine” voters are motivated to come out and vote and everyone else vaguely thinks we should have change but has no idea how or what to do or who they should vote for or why they should bother at all. Many of my “non-political” friends, those who when they do talk about politics always talk about how corrupt and awful it is, were not planning to vote simply because they had no knowledge of any of the candidates or races or why it there would be any reason to do so. The “machine” voters all knew who to vote for and why they needed to be there on election day. It’s an insidious system. - South of I-80 - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:39 am: Derrick Smith………….what a sad commentary about the State of Illinois! - Excessively Rabid - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:40 am: Most amusing: Newt dead last. In case you missed the Pearls Before Swine sequence on him, start here: http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2012/03/05 - Wensicia - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:48 am: In my opinion, the Derrick Smith win is not surprising considering the opposition, another sad choice. We need better candidates. I’m surprised Sheyman didn’t win, but I’m not surprised Romney did well. I also placed him at 10% over Santorum. The presidential primary will be over if Romney wins in Wisconsin. - A Naughty Moose - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:48 am: You people are dense re Derrick Smith race. Voters did not want Tom Swiss. Derrick Smith was the alternative. Anyone with one-tenth of a brain gets that he will be replaced on the fall ballot, so a vote for him was a vote for Anybody But Tom Swiss. Rather than being “a sad commentary” it shows the voters are smart enough to get what they want … such as, not a Republican operative in a Dem primary. - dave - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 7:55 am: Two big surprises for me: - Ilya losing big - Rudy Lozano losing I thought the Ilya race would be close, and hoped that Ilya would pull it out. Definitely didnt expect a big loss. I knew the Lozano race would be tight. Tabares’ ugly and lying campaign was able to pull it off though. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:08 am: Let’s hear it for the Yellow Dog Democrats in the 10th House District! “I’d vote for a yeller dawn before I’d vote for a Republican.” Tip for future Tricksters: Don’t announce that your plan is to fly under the radar. Biggest surprise was that despite historic low voter turnout and a less-than-50% performance, yesterday was declared a big win for Mitt Romney. I can’t wait to see a map of the counties that Romney won. Sounds like he built up a big lead in Cook and the collar counties and underperformed everywhere else. The Manzullo loss was also a surprise…not sure if the remap was a factor or this is just proof that Manzullo has been around too long. - Ravenswood Right Winger - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:08 am: Winston Taylor coming within 70 votes (not helped by the troubled 3rd candidate Cahnman taking votes) of stunning Mikey Madigan’s choice. Eloise Gershon beating back the great Tom Smithburg for Chicago’s 42nd Ward GOP Committeeman. - train111 - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:11 am: Derrick Smith getting 77% of the vote while the same voters bounced Annazette Collins out of the Senate. Sure she had some serious baggage, but she didn’t get arrested for bribery. train111 - anon - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:12 am: Jesse White turns lemons into lemonade! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:14 am: BTW, I’m surprised that Sen. Radogno didn’t do more to keep Jim Oberweis out of her caucus. She’s gonna regret having that loose cannon on the deck of her own ship. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:16 am: @train111 - Agreed about Annazette…not really sure how that happened. Halvorson would have been better of staying in the Senate, Annazette staying in the House. - It's Just Me - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:27 am: Biggest surprise? All the “in” candidates won and all of the “out” candidates lost, with the lone exception of McSweeney. Oh wait, that isn’t a surprise… - Sully - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:28 am: Now that the Primary is over, it’s time to celebrate at the 10th Annual Sullivan Caucus…tonight at the Dublin Pub after 5p. Donations accepted for Harrisburg tornado victims. - OneMan - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:29 am: The size of Lauzen’s win in Kane county… Figured Burns would have done a little better, glad to see that endorsement worked out so well for you Pat. - Dirt Digger - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:31 am: Can’t say there were any really. The results were all well within expected variance. Smith isn’t surprising at all- with Collins there was a credible alternative, not so with Smith. Berrios was in trouble and everyone knew it, the only question was how embarrassing her limp across the finish line would be. Sheyman’s loss cut against PPP polling yes, but PPP has been known for oddball results/methods and DFA candidates are known for collapsing. - Boone Logan Square - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:32 am: The thing about Annazette is Jesse White mobilized his resources against her. The results on the West Side (in both the House and Senate) showed his power. I am very curious to see what he’ll do in regards to Smith over the next few weeks. Kinda doubt Annazette will be able to get her old job back. Theis won the Supreme Court race by a lot more than the polls had predicted (though I expected her to win after the big media push), and Cunningham also outperformed her polling numbers. Pucinski did much worse than the polls had predicted. I figured on two of the top three MWRD slots (Deb Shore, the Daley kid) but thought Stella Black would sneak in. She finished dead last, and the Daley kid came in third rather than second. - Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:34 am: Biggest surprise was the margin of the JJJr win. Also am curious what the foreign source of the 700 million dollar check he claims to have for the airport is. Was hoping for a Sheyman win last night. He would have been easy to knock off in the fall. - TCB - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:37 am: @ Moose. Maybe someone should explain to the people who voted for Smith that whoever appointed him would be appointing his replacement……a “No” vote for Swiss isn’t necessarily a vote for good, honest government. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:43 am: Newt Gingrich’s continued willingness to humiliate himself. - one of three puppets - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:43 am: Charlie Meier getting support from the IEA and taking it to the House. - Westside - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:47 am: !. Danny Davis losing 29th ward committeeman’s race-he threw a ton of cash in trying to buy a victory. This is his third failed attempt- including flirtations with Cook co Board President and Mayor of Chicago. 2. I thought Annazette Collins would pull it out versus the Jesse White backed Van Pelt Watkins. - IL8now6 - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:48 am: Biggest disappointment was no sticker for voting due to “Budget Cuts”? C’mon!! - Senator Clay Davis - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:50 am: Wordslinger, that’s a surprise to you? - Stones - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:58 am: I would say the margin of Derrick Smith and JJJ’s victory were the biggest local shocker. I truly thought their well documented problems would come into play. Nationally, I figured a Romney win but perhaps not by the margin it turned out to be. I was thinking maybe 8 to no more than 10 pts. More than anything though I was very disappointed in the low turnout overall. - Deep South - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 8:58 am: I was kinda surprised that Jason Plummer won the GOP nod for the 12th district Congressional seat. - Boone Logan Square - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:02 am: How early on will Harriman challenge Plummer to release his taxes? Lunchtime today? - cermak_rd - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:03 am: ILSnow6, They had stickers at my polling place. I wore mine proudly all day long to the bemusement of my co-workers. It didn’t stick well, though, so maybe they put less sticky on it in a nod to austerity. - Shore - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:09 am: this had to be one of the uglier moments of yesterday. Sheyman issued a press release tuesday afternoon as if he’d won the race already. http://www.politico.com/blogs/david-catanese/2012/03/sheyman-already-looking-towards-dold-118052.html - cermak_rd - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:12 am: Yellow Dog Democrat, I don’t know, looks like Romney won Winnebago, Boone, Will, Cook, DuPage, McHenry, Lake, Kane, DeKalb, Kendall, LaSalle, Putnam, Grundy, Kankakee, Livingston, Stark, Peoria, McLean, Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Piatt, DeWitt, Macon, Sangamon, Menard, Morgan, and St. Clair counties. That looks like a pretty good sweep of territory. - just sayin' - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:20 am: That Tom Swiss got ANY votes against Derrick Smith. - short memory - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:24 am: No real surprise that Smith won. But same people that appointed this crook get to appoint the next one. - Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:25 am: Biggest surprise was the too large ballots in many areas. Seriously? In 2012? Hand counting in some areas? Wow. - Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:27 am: Still watching the Gill-Goetten squeaker. Looks like Gill won, but by less than 1% and with those too large ballots perhaps giving Goetten a hook on which to hang his recount. - In 630 - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:29 am: The Romney/Santorum split definitely looked like more of a more populated vs more rural split than anything straight geographic. Surprised Sheyman didn’t even lose close and by the magnitude of Kinzinger beating Manzullo. And like OneMan said, the size of Lauzen’s margin in his primary was surprising. - Skeeter - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:31 am: I was amazed how easily Brown beat Munoz. The 42nd Ward GOP race was also a bit of a surprise and very telling. Gershon has done a pretty lousy job as Committeeman, but if you can’t beat her, how good can you be? The 42nd Ward should be the epicenter of the Chicago GOP, but it is clear that nobody is ready to take that seriously. - too obvious - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:32 am: Even in Illinois, a majority of Republicans wanted someone other than Romney. - 42nd Ward - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:32 am: Eloise Gerson won that Republican Committeeman race, despite all the powerful endorsements, and robocalls for her opponent from Pat Brady, Bill Brady, and Topinka. Anyone got a rag? There is a lot of egg on Republican leadership faces this morning, particularly Pat Brady, who was behind the whole thing. - Adam Smith - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:35 am: Sadly, the Lauzen win was not a surprise. His opponent ran the most amateurish campaign ever seen. Burns did everything wrong. If Burns had focused on raising money and putting it into mail, it could have been close. Many local GOP donors also said they were to scared of Lauzen retribution to publicly support Burns. It’s definitely sour grapes but it speaks to Lauzen’s standard operating procedure. - OneMan - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:37 am: Yeah, the wide ballot thing was strange. The workaround that Aurora ended up using, correct at the polling pace then process via the machine at the polling place worked out fairly well. We were still done by 10 PM - JBilla - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:39 am: Not really a surprise, but Will Guzzardi had a great showing against Barrios. Less than a hundred votes will decide an election with over 6000 votes cast. As is continuing to be proven, Rebecca Reynolds is a force for change in Chicago. - OneMan - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:40 am: Adam, Burns did himself no favors with the e-mail thing and you would think Brady could have raised some more money for Burns outside the county and could have helped him run a better campaign. I don’t recall seeing much mail from either of them in the race, then again Burns may have written off Aurora. - too funny - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:40 am: Jack Roeser wasted 40 grand of his family’s money on that Mike Madigan challenger he ran (Michele Piszczor). She lost huge. Something like 20 bucks a vote. - Ann - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:44 am: Based on nothing more than what appeared to be a big spending advantage by Chris Welch, how close the race between him and Rosy Hoskins was/is. - Ann - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:44 am: Rory Hoskins. Not Rosy. That would have been more interesting though. - cassandra - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:46 am: My guess is that Jesse White’s political operation is what doomed Annazette Collins. Never underestimate Jesse. Perhaps Collins should have thought it over more carefully when he supported her appointment. She was in a safe House seat that White apparently wanted for the incumbent. Looks like Collins was expendable. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:50 am: No REAL suprises … MJM and Jesse were NOT going to take their medicine more than once, and Swiss ran into a buzz saw once the “full press” was delivered. Berrios’ race should have been clearer, Joe needs to shore up a few things … Sad that both McSweeney and Oberweis are finally going to get an elected job after trying for over a decade (both of them!!) to be an elected official, in SO MANY different offices! Cripes, if you tally, over the past decade, the money wasted between these two guys to be an elected official, it would equal about the size of a small town budget. Sad commentary, and both, McSweeney and Oberweis will be HORRIBLE, because its all about them, and as legislators, to get something done, it has to be about something other than yourself most of the time. I am so thankful McSweeney and Oberweis are NOT going to represent me, but it saddens me that 2 spots in the General Assembly are now wasted on them. Suprise for Rutherford (snark), because it looks like he is now the hero, and all is well, and good riddence to the circus. Romney “claims” the nomination, with Rutherford’s help, Santorum delegates are elected, and no “beefs” about the situation … overall, I am shocked (snark) that this is going to be a non-issue from this point on. I … NEVER … would have thought that. Nice job Dan, now that this is over, get it done in the office. Jason Plummer. Well, Jason, I called that you were going to win, and you did. You got real dirty at the end, like you did for LG (your M.O.? Yep!) … No hiding this time … you think Phil Ponce went after you … let me introduce you to … the DNC and their pals DCCC. The district is small Jason, they will get ya! Define yourself before they define you … release the taxes and make pretty dog-gone sure your self-funding is possible. If you get a SEC or FEC violation, good luck … This ain’t bean bag, and now the national crews are out to get you. Do not embarrass yourself, and try to be a candidate. I would have said try to be a good candidate, but that is asking too much … - WooStl - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:56 am: See the Romney Santorum breakdown by county here. It would seem that as other commenters have noted, Romney basically won the more urban areas. Don’t know why the Cook County Vote is still outstanding. http://elections.msnbc.msn.com/ns/politics/2012/illinois/republican/primary/#.T2nru9VuCSo - Ivory-billed Woodpecker - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 9:57 am: Patric Van Pelt Watkins! Woo! Woo! Not actually a surprise But wanted to write “woo”. Thanks. - Anon - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:00 am: I agree, Derick Smith a shame. He might have won the election, but he personally didnt gain anything. That has to suck. - Benny - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:05 am: Not really a big surprise but let’s discuss Constitutional Carry in Pike County. http://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/pike-38866-weapons-carry.html - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:08 am: i don’t know if it means much in a primary, but the number of votes cast in the Senate 59th for for Dem vs. Repub may be an omen for Sen. Forby in the general. - Aldyth - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:13 am: How long until the conspiracy theorists propose that the ballot problems were part of a plot, resulting in the fraud that resulted in (fill in the blank) winning their primary? - Wensicia - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:18 am: Does anyone believe Madigan will now give a statement concerning Smith’s crime? - Southern Peggy R - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:20 am: Deep South: I was also surprised. I was surprised the GOP Establishment, local and state, backed Plummer over a local man with experience and familiarity with the region. I think the Dem machine candidate is likely to beat little Plummer boy. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:25 am: 52nd Rep. Kent Gaffeney (R-Tom Cross), appointed last year, easily defeated by David McSweeney who lost to Melissa Bean in 2008. - John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:27 am: Biggest surprise: No one stalling the inevitable while deciding whether or not to call for a recount. - Come on! - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:28 am: The margin of victories in “close” races. - Marcus Agrippa - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:28 am: Romney won the City of Rockford. Santorum won the county of Winnebago outside of the city. Basically the urban/rural split held true. Manzullo got smoked (in part) because of the incessant work of the Super Pac from Texas. Two ugly mailers a day for two weeks. Don didn’t fight back with the same intensity and negativity. And I don’t think he had a Super Pac on his side. Isn’t Citizens United wonderful? - Spliff - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:32 am: Goetten lost by less than 150 votes in the 13th CD. Guess the Durbin endorsement doesn’t carry much weight. - Langhorne - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:38 am: Happily, Sam Cahnman a distant third. Take a hint, SAm. - Just Observing - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:40 am: === You people are dense re Derrick Smith race. Voters did not want Tom Swiss. Derrick Smith was the alternative. Anyone with one-tenth of a brain gets that he will be replaced on the fall ballot, so a vote for him was a vote for Anybody But Tom Swiss. Rather than being “a sad commentary” it shows the voters are smart enough to get what they want … such as, not a Republican operative in a Dem primary. === Agreed (although I would have put it a bit more tactfully). - Beef_Eater - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:45 am: Biggest surprise is how big Brady’s guys lost. I wasn’t expecting stron victories but he was over-whelmingly ineffective. Also, margin in Kinzinger victory. The boy behind the boys(Kinzinger & Shock) is Rayman who consistently produces wins for these young stud-muffins. Plummer should try to hire him but I don’t think Rayman can work miracles. - Coach - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:48 am: I hope the Rockford Register Star editorial board videotapes its next meeting with Kinzinger, and posts the video online. After Kinzinger slandered Chuck Sweeny, and then the paper endorsed Manzullo, it ought to be a real doozy. - Joe from Joliet - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:50 am: …A majority..wanted someone other than Romney… Too irrelevant. A majority wanted someone other than the winner of the ‘92, ‘96 and ‘00 presidential general elections. So that sounds like good news for Romney. - Lakefront Liberal - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:50 am: The fact that when knocking doors on election day I actually had someone say “Wow I totally forgot today was election day. Thanks for reminding me! I would have forgotten to vote if you hadn’t come by.” I thought those people were a myth! - mark walker - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:52 am: A. Collins losing was the biggest surprise. It speaks well for the voters in that district. Time now for D. Smith to disappear. - Thoughts... - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 10:59 am: I’m a little, just a little, surprised at the people who are saying Derrick Smith’s win is sad and pathetic. Frankly, the new poster boy for sad and pathetic is Tom Swiss. I can’t help but think that the majority of folks who think his win is sad and pathetic would have a completely different opinion if it had been an indicted Republican in a solidly Republican rural district running against a Democratic plant. Just my two cents. As for actualy results, well, I’m not terribly surprised by many of them, though I’ll admit Romney did a little better than I thought he might. I guess the ultras downstate weren’t all that motivated by Santorum. - Excessively Rabid - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 11:06 am: ==Even in Illinois, a majority of Republicans wanted someone other than Romney.== Just not as big a majority as the majorities that didn’t want Santorum,Gingrich or Paul…. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 11:09 am: @Joe from Joliet - I agree that “a win is a win.” At the same time, if you’re gonna suggest that Illinois is the start of some sort of “Romney trend”, you’ve got to dig down into the numbers. Romney should have won in Rutherford’s turf and Schock’s, given their endorsements. The fact even they could not deliver all of their counties for Romney says much about his strength. If you’re running for president and relying on endorsements from other party members and newspaper editorials, not the strength of your own message and campaign, you’ve got problems. When you outspend your opponents 7-1 and can’t break 50%, even facing inept opposition, you’ve got serious problems. And when the Chicago Tribune, while endorsing you, points out that your budget will increase deficits more than President Obama’s, you are in deep doo-doo. - Rod - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 11:16 am: Biggest surprise for me was how lost and obsessive John Kass was in the weak performance he put on last night on the WGN news at 9pm. In his columns Kass is a frequent critic of what he terms as the “combine” of Illinois politics, wherein powerful elements of the Illinois Republican and Democratic parties unite for the purposes of political corruption. Based on this overriding dictum Kass argues that Illinois Democrats and Republicans divvy up the state at taxpayers’ expense in every way you can imagine. Kass, is an obstreperous working-class guy who did jobs like digging ditches when he was young, who graduated from Columbia College, and has been around a while. He has been influenced by Mike Royko, but he is a deeply conservative guy who grew up as the child of a small business owner. For all his working class pretentions Mr. Kass lives in the Republican higher income western suburbs, not even Beverly or Mount Greenwood in the city. Mr. Kass last night simply could not leave his central theory or paradigm behind, his commentary consisted of a rant against Speaker Madigan who he believed was the big winner last night because of re-districting. He even claimed how other states got re-districting right, but he declined to name those states. To say that Kass was surly last night would be an understatement. Clarence Page who was also on the show by comparison was the picture of rationality and intellectual flexibility. John Kass needs Illinois corruption to exist in order to have a reason to write, moreover he needs intrigue and secret covert relationships among politicians in order to have a theory or maybe political theater. Historically, Speaker Madigan is operating in an manner that goes back far into to the history of Illinois and our nation. In fact if one wants to see a real combine of Democrats and Republicans take a look at how in 1959 Paul Powel became Speaker of the House. Powel took that position over the opposition of Richard J. Daley and Chicago Democrats supported Joseph Logue De La Cour . (By the way Joseph Logue De La Cour documented all of this and it can be found today in Joseph Logue De La Cour Papers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.) That was a real combine based on the common interests of down state politicians of both political parties, not a theoretical combine based on non-existent secret agreements among crooks of both parties. Frankly, I have grown tired of John Kass, the same John Kass who publicly argued that Governor Quinn was just a Madigan stand in for Lisa Madigan who would surely become our Governor. Sometimes contrived theories are just that, contrived. - Wumpus - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 11:20 am: Biggest surprise is that I am not surprised that Smith won or that he had the backing of the Dem party. - Gov Blago - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 11:53 am: Two suprises, the jumpsuits are really terrible & the bologna was actually edible. - reformer - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:00 pm: In the post-Ramey era, any pol who gets a DUI — and his field sobriety testing and arrest are on tape –may think twice about running again. Sam Cahnman surely solidified his reputation as one of the Springfield originals who make the town colorful. - reformer - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:04 pm: McSweeney shouldn’t be lumped in with the Milkman as perennial candidates. As far as I can recall, Dave ran for Congress once, in 2006. Before that he ran for township trustee in the ’90s and won. - Pete - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:09 pm: First - I was surprised by how close the Welch/Hoskins and Berrios/Guzzardi races were given the conventional wisdom that low turnout races are good for establishment candidates. Maybe it just shows that the organizations’ abilities to turnout reliable votes is waning. I also agree with Rod - on a night where it seemed WGN had the only local coverage, it was tough to watch Kass repeat the same tired cliches over and over. I actually wonder whether he contributes to the apathy by making the state’s political problems into a joke. - just sayin' - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:14 pm: Pat Brady and Tom Cross totally ineffective in getting candidates they invested in over the finish line. Huge embarrassment for Pat Brady especially. He went all in for Kevin Burns in Kane and Tom Smithburg in Chicago. 2 big losses. - BelleAire - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:26 pm: Shocked at slam dunk of Brown-Munez. The Berrios family must be losing some of their pizzazz if Toni just squeaked by. They were behind Jesse Juarez Rubin and he got slammed by Moreno. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:27 pm: @just sayin’ Remind me again who Pat Brady is? - Randolph - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:41 pm: Rod - I know you’re not Rod because of this - I absolutely HATE it when CapFax commenters make me look up a word’s meaning. I should thank you but now I just feel stupid. As for Kass, I’ve been to his backyard for bbq (long story but a good one) and came to no firm conclusion about the sincerity of his “beliefs” re: the combine. It might be an act…he does need a schtick to keep writing at his salary, especially in that Trib environment these days. At the same time, he could just be a moron and a tinfoil hatter. Overall, my guess is he’s just contrarion. Someone mentioned the post-Ramey era - can we PLEASE retire the ridiculous red coat nonsense for first bills? He shouldn’t be the progenitor of any tradition, worthwhile or not (and it’s not). - justbabs - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 12:52 pm: Berrios/Guzzardi-tons of money, mail,etc and nearly lost it. If media had covered that race instead of Madigan’s, Guzzardi would have pulled it off. Jesse White backing Collins and Cunningham-no coattails. Ric Munoz was no surprise-he barely campaigned. - 1776 - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 1:12 pm: Interesting nugget is that only appointed House Democrat candidates won their elections (including indicted Derrick Smith). Both Senate Democrats and House Republicans lost all of their races involving appointed members. One of the biggest losers last night had to be the Cross HRO organization who pulled out ALL of the stops for Kent Gaffney who finished a weak second place. They devoted 110 percent to the race and got smoked while Paul Evans finished in third place in his election. Roger Eddy left them high and dry for the money. Not a good night for the House GOP. Senate Repubs seemed to do well including winning the 31st seat with O’Neal. Senate Dems pulled off the Jacobs miracle (he’s walking on water for the next act). - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 1:15 pm: Biggest surprise: Edgar’s grasping and stating the obvious this morning. While I disagree with his “superficial” analysis (and what I believe is the motivation for same), I agree with the overall results of his analysis with one exception: it’s not only the Independents the GOP needs to worry about because of the “extended” race; I’ll bet there’s a risk that alot of hard core GOPers are becoming disenfranchised. - The REAL Anonymous fka Anonyous - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 1:16 pm: Sorry. 1:15 was me. - hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 2:03 pm: @Southern Peggy R - Was the consolidation of support behind Plummer simply a product of his ability to self-fund his vanity run for Congress so RNCC and GOP-affiliated Super PACs wouldn’t have to spend as many resources there trying to capture the seat? - wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 21, 12 @ 3:31 pm: –Kass, is an obstreperous working-class guy who did jobs like digging ditches when he was young, who graduated from Columbia College, and has been around a while. He has been influenced by Mike Royko, but he is a deeply conservative guy who grew up as the child of a small business owner.– Kass is barely literate and spends most of his days searching for the best cheese fries. The only stuff he’s ever had that was interesting was when he was shilling for The Two Eddies. When Royko died, the boys from Wheaton gave Kass, Zorn and Schmich a tryout on Page 2. Zorn and Schmich hit the ball out of the park. They’re really good. But the Hellman’s Boys from Wheaton, who couldn’t hit the side of a barn with a banjo, thought Kass was the “ethnic white guy” to replace Royko. Because they didn’t, and don’t, know any better. Kass is so good, that’s why he has that great syndication deal. Zorn helped clear innocent people from Death Row and still gets big hits. Schmich is just a great and thoughtful writer, day in and day out (yes, I’m jealous, but I’m an old farmboy, so no sunscreen for me). - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 22, 12 @ 12:15 am: “@Southern Peggy R - Was the consolidation of support behind Plummer simply a product of his ability to self-fund his vanity run for Congress so RNCC and GOP-affiliated Super PACs wouldn’t have to spend as many resources there trying to capture the seat?” And, if hisgirlfriday is a GOPer, here’s a perfect example of why Edgar’s analysis was either completely ON or OFF target. Hmmm…more “contributions” for the state-wide candidates? As hisgirlfriday said, “vanity”… …or something like that. - Chunky - Thursday, Mar 22, 12 @ 12:35 am: I was surprised by the margin Camille Lilly beat Michael Nadello by. I thought that the new 78th district (less black city wards, more Elmwood Park etc Western Suburbs) would have made it much closer than 80-20. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Mar 22, 12 @ 1:11 am: Anonymous, I confess I am having trouble following you. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 22, 12 @ 1:21 am: I’m not surprised, hisgirlfriday. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 22, 12 @ 8:34 am: I was astounded by how much Brown beat Munoz. The African-American political, and religous leaders joined in action to ensure Brown won. However, she is done politically. She will never be able to obtain higher office. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.