21 Comments - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:13 am: Try to say “Rauner’s a Republican” three times without laughing. I know, I can’t either… If/when Ken Dunkin wins, if you’re a Republican, understand that Rauner made sure Dunkin was his, and his alone. Also understand $5 million to run races not necessarily “Republican-Centric” is a mere drop in an endless bucket of cash. That money won’t hurt. - Niblets - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:15 am: A million here a million there, soon this could add up to real money. - CD Sorensen - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:19 am: Mr. Dunkin, in the video posted yesterday, said it was ludicrous to think that he’d pay $50 to voters for their vote because even at 30% of the district, that’s $150,000. Oooooookay then. - Robert the Bruce - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:23 am: I’ve seen more Dunkin than Stratton ads on TV. And the Dunkin ads are well done. If you are here, you pay more attention than 99.9% of the electorate. The question is whether enough voters pay just enough attention to know the truth about Dunkin. - cdog - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:29 am: So the PAC dogs are off the chain for run. Let them run and act foolish, this election cycle. It will be much easier to get the right court rulings, in the near future, with such unrestrained mischief being so well documented. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:29 am: Katrina the Tribbie wrote the other day that today’s election was a referendum on Gov. Rauner’s first fourteen months. Okay. A near tripling of the state’s GRF debt to $12 billion is forecast by June 30; higher ed has been abandoned, with no state approp. for the first time since before the Civil War; and Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and other social service providers are being bled to death and the needy pummeled because the state refuses to honor its contracts for services provided. Meanwhile, the governor spends all his time when he’s not twittering restaurant reviews writing checks to the likes of cheap hustlers such as Dan Proft and Greg Goldner to support stiffs like Ken Dunkin and Bryce Benton. Priorities in action. Vote accordingly. - AC - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:37 am: ==Try to say “Rauner’s a Republican” three times without laughing.== Don’t try this in front of a mirror, if you do it successfully, a ghostly Abe Lincoln will appear and scare that crazy notion right out of you. - Robert the Bruce - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:38 am: ==If/when Ken Dunkin wins== OW, are you predicting a Dunkin victory? Cap Fax commenter projections in yesterday’s prediction thread: 10 picked Dunkin to win, 8 picked Stratton. I missed out on the predictions thread yesterday; I think Dunkin will pull it off. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:42 am: ===OW, are you predicting a Dunkin victory?=== Right now, I’m not ruling out anything in that race… The noon turnout numbers might sway me one way or another, but, I’m not ruling out an insufferable Dunkin walking into the House Chamber victorious. - walker - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:49 am: Piles and piles of money. Not sure even Dunkin could have spent it all. Will some get redistributed after today? - Wensicia - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:53 am: Alvarez getting desperate after Zorn’s last two columns listing her failures? - dog lover - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 8:56 am: Alvarez might has well have just caught 200k on fire. She is going to lose by at least 5%. - illini97 - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 9:00 am: Is Dunkin being investigated on the vote-buying allegations? - Frenchie Mendoza - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 9:13 am: —Meanwhile, the governor spends all his time when he’s not twittering restaurant reviews … — And starts nearly every tweet with the word ‘Great’. Rauner’s twitter vocabulary is nearly as small as the Twitter word count. “Great to be with …” “Great to see …” “Great to hear …” “Great to spend time with …” - Wensicia - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 10:07 am: @Frenchie, That’s where Rauner uses all the (g)s he drops and saves from his speeches. - BBG - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 10:11 am: Franklin Park 16th Pct - 47th voter. We have a home rule referendum on the ballot which has been pretty ugly. A lot of people did early voting in this area. - From the 'Dale to HP - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 10:15 am: Question for Alvarez is how many would be Dems in suburban Cook pull GOP ballots? I can see Dem voters in the western/northern/southwest ‘burbs more scared of Trump (or for Trump in some cases) and voting for Kasich (or Rubio because of the silly Trib endorsement). However, I don’t think we’ll see a ton of cross over in Chicago which should help Foxx for the most part, but that’s a guess. - The Captain - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 10:17 am: Goldner started the year with $9 million and spent some of that on field, mail, phones and TV for Dunkin. He even gave some to the Chamber so they could do TV for Dunkin. Proft had about $2.5 million in his superpac and the Gov just about doubled that but that superpac didn’t spend in this race. Either/both of those guys can wisely spend money to help a political campaign and giving them the money to do so seems like a reasonably smart move. So why is someone giving Ken Dunkin $1.3 million direct (through Proft no less) when Dunkin has shown that his political decision making skills aren’t always the best? One point three million. I’m trying to be diplomatic here so let’s just call it street money, and there’s a method to street money that is perfectly legal and totally appropriate but man, the mind easily wanders. - Annonin' - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 10:49 am: Not too worry the Dunkin’ will make sure the $ is gone. Probably dropped a big number on legal counsel too. - Boone's is Back - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 11:40 am: Geez is that over $500k of Anita’s own money now for this race? - Mama - Tuesday, Mar 15, 16 @ 2:35 pm: I would like to see the attorney general audit Dunkin’s campaign funds to see if money was used legally. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.