During Governor Rauner’s State of the State address, Mike Madigan’s corruption was on full display.
As Governor Rauner was explaining the need for term limits, supported by 80% of Illinoisans, he quipped that the remaining 20% must be in the chamber. The remark was not only met with laughter from elected officials in the audience, but also a telling nod from the Speaker of the House.
Madigan’s nod shows he is more interested in maintaining his hold on power than in doing what’s right for the people of Illinois. He knows that a vast majority of Illinoisans want term limits, but he doesn’t care — because term limits would put an end to his 47-year political career.
The Madigan Machine is not hiding in the background, it’s out in the open for the people to see.
What the commercial that is generating the expected hysteria from the expected quarters attempted to do — admittedly, provocatively — was to properly and truthfully characterize the extreme issue positions Rauner took and their implications. The commercial does not attack people. It tackles issues by truthfully illustrating the constituencies Rauner has chosen to serve to the exclusion of others.
* Rep. David McSweeney endorsed his fellow Republican state Rep. Ives for governor back in January. He is a solid Ives supporter, but he now wants her to take down her new TV ad…
Biss hopes to use the resulting revenue in areas where he said Illinois has struggled, including K-12 education, higher education and infrastructure.
“The issue’s not that we don’t have the money to solve problems. The issue is the money’s going somewhere else because of who’s making the decisions, and this is a campaign about taking power back for the rest of us,” he said.
Biss frequently criticized Pritzker during the meeting, calling him “Madigan’s hand-picked candidate” and pointing to his efforts to avoid paying taxes. Biss defended his own record of both working with and standing up to the speaker.
“The amount of opportunity that Rauner has to attack Pritzker is, frankly, flabbergasting,” Biss said. “(Rauner) wants to have an ugly, nasty … campaign that will be dispiriting to the entire state, and he wants to run against Madigan’s candidate who has ties to (former Gov.) Rod Blagojevich.”
* Biss campaign…
Late last week, JB Prtizker launched two attack ads in two days against Daniel Biss following two polls - including his own - showing Biss surging and Pritzker faltering.
The Pritzker panic rolled over into this week, with his campaign spokesperson posting five straight tweets targeting Biss this morning alone.
Judging by his campaign’s growing preoccupation with, and repeated attacks on, Biss, it’s fair to say JB Pritzker woke up this Groundhog Day weekend and saw nothing but a giant Daniel Biss-shaped shadow.
* Tweets…
* Meanwhile, the Belleville News-Democrat is hoping for a Biss-Ives matchup…
Illinois politics could be so much more interesting were it to act more like a fantasy sports league, where we pick our players and create our own match-ups.
The clash of the billionaires for Illinois governor is too predictable to be very interesting, and who really trusts the political machines that handed us the current system. How much more interesting the race would be between the folks positioning themselves farther right and farther left of the party heirs apparent.
In this corner, Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives. And in the opposing corner, state Sen. Daniel Biss.
Now that would be a clash of ideals.
* Biss at DePaul: “I tell people that Bruce Rauner has been a horrible governor for the state of Illinois, but one of the best governors the University of Wisconsin has ever had,” Biss said.
* Biss calls for education reform, criticizes Rauner at campus discussion: Following the discussion, much of the audience stayed to make phone calls for Biss’ campaign. Allie McRaith, a field organizer for the campaign, said she believes the enthusiasm and excitement Biss has been building among volunteers will help him as the primary campaign enters the stretch run.
* You’d think Rep. Jeanne Ives would be doing everything she could to get the President involved in her primary. Yeah, it won’t help her in the general election, but you win one election at a time and that new TV ad of hers isn’t gonna help in the general, either. Donald Trump received over a half million primary votes here last year and Rauner consistently dodges questions about him. From the City Club’s question and answer period today…
Question: Rauner distanced himself from President Trump. Is there communication with President Trump for support in your campaign?
Ives: Not that I know of.
Ives went on to say she voted for Trump in the primary and had his sign in her yard.
She also praised Trump’s handling of the military, “and restoring conference in their commander in chief.” She said she had “full confidence” in the President.
*** UPDATE 1 *** As mentioned above, Ives was specifically asked today how she voted in the Republican presidential primary and she said she voted for Trump. Click here for the video clip which was provided by a certain helpful someone who also passed along a link to this press release from March of 2016…
Today, the Cruz for President campaign announced the endorsement of Illinois State Representative Jeanne Ives.
That certain helpful someone also said this: “What happened to ‘I don’t lie cheat or steal or tolerate those that do’?”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Ives campaign…
Rich,
Jeanne simply misunderstood the question about who she supported in the primary.
She has really only ever been asked if she supported Trump in 2016. For some reason, she is rarely asked about who she supported in the primary.
Not a lie, just a misunderstanding.
Thank you.
Best,
Kathleen
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* This might make the headlines, however…
Audience member says the transgender depiction in ad was offensive. Ives says it is an "accurate representation." #twill
“What’s so offensive about the ad?” Ives asks, calling it an accurate “visual representation” of the policies Rauner put in place. “The transgender man, that’s typically what a transgender man looks like.” Man in audience says “no it’s not” She says yes, they’ve showed at my door
This began a short back-and-forth exchange between Ives and some members of the audience, with one man saying something like “you ask what’s offensive,” that inaccurate portrayal of a transgender man in a dress is offensive https://t.co/GauN7SYC3s
Told by an audience member that it was, specifically, the representation of the transgender woman in the ad that was offensive, Ives responds: “That is an accurate representation of what the policy looks like on the ground.”
Assessor Joe Berrios started with two Democratic primary opponents, Raila and the well-funded Fritz Kaegi. Not having a woman in the race and a head-to-head primary are most definitely not in Berrios’ best interests.
Raila immediately said she would challenge the ruling, first with the Cook County Electoral Board, and if necessary after that, by filing suit in circuit court.
She and her attorney, Frank Avila, denied there was fraud and accused the hearing officer of bias in favor of Kaegi.
It was Kaegi who pressed the petition challenge against Raila after incumbent Berrios dropped his own challenge.
Kaegi has the backing of much of the Democratic Party’s progressive establishment, including Cook County Clerk David Orr.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Kaegi campaign…
-A Cook County Electoral Board hearing officer concluded on Monday that Assessor candidate Andrea Raila has not met the legal threshold of valid petition signatures to qualify to appear on the March 20 Democratic primary ballot. As such, progressive Democrat Fritz Kaegi is preparing to challenge embattled incumbent Assessor Joe Berrios head on.
“The Cook County Electoral Board conducted a professional, thorough and fair process that culminated in the decision this morning, based on what they viewed as ‘clear and convincing evidence,’” said Rebecca Reynolds, campaign manager for Kaegi. “We look forward to continuing to focus squarely on defeating Joe Berrios, because the voters deserve an Assessor who operates fairly, transparently and professionally–and that’s what’s at stake in this election.”
…(T)he appellate court has granted Scott Drury’s motion to stay the circuit court’s judgment pending appeal, and has also granted his motion for expedited consideration. The briefing will be completed by February 9, with no extensions granted.
All the guy had to do was file the same disclosure form he’d already filed and he would’ve had no problems staying on the ballot. It just makes no sense to me.
A Democratic state lawmaker from Lake County said Sunday that he believes House Speaker Michael Madigan once thought he was “wearing a wire” during a meeting between the two.
A Madigan spokesman said he didn’t have any information to verify that state Rep. Scott Drury’s story was “accurate.” Drury has long been at odds with Madigan, who also is the state Democratic Party chairman. The former federal prosecutor was the only Democrat who did not vote for Madigan for speaker in the current General Assembly.
Drury’s tale dates back to 2016. He recounted an effort to advance legislation involving protection of children’s data on computers used in schools. The three-term lawmaker from Highwood said he got a call from Madigan saying, “ ‛Hey, we should go to dinner.’ ”
* For whatever reason, the Republican Party decided not to field a candidate in Democrat Dan Lipinski’s 3rd District. And now, a white supremacist is the only GOP candidate on the ballot….
Arthur Jones — an outspoken Holocaust denier, activist anti-Semite and white supremacist — is poised to become the Republican nominee for an Illinois congressional seat representing parts of Chicago and nearby suburbs.
“Well first of all, I’m running for Congress not the chancellor of Germany. All right. To me the Holocaust is what I said it is: It’s an international extortion racket,” Jones told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Indeed, Jones’ website for his latest congressional run includes a section titled “The ‘Holocaust Racket’” where he calls the genocide carried out by the German Nazi regime and collaborators in other nations “the biggest blackest lie in history.”
Jones, 70, a retired insurance agent who lives in suburban Lyons, has unsuccessfully run for elected offices in the Chicago area and Milwaukee since the 1970s. […]
Tim Schneider, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said in a statement to the Sun-Times, “The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones. We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District.”
Most recently, in 2016, Jones ran unopposed on the Republican ballot but was removed for flagrant disregard of the election code. Jones said his candidacy was challenged by members of the Illinois Republican Party, who questioned the legitimacy of his signatures.
In 2017, Jones said he went door-to-door stumping for signatures, and after his paperwork was reviewed, Republicans did not attempt to remove him from the ballot.
“Well, it’s absolutely the best opportunity in my entire political career,” Jones said. “Every time I’ve run it’s been against a Republican who follows this politically correct nonsense. This time they screwed up.” […]
The lack of a GOP challenger means Jones will likely face off against Democratic incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski or challenger Marie Newman on Nov. 6 in the 3rd District, a traditionally Democratic district.
“I’ll have nine months to campaign for the general election,” Jones said. “I think I have a good chance.”
He will not, however, be reaching out to the Republican president for support. Newsweek quotes Jones as saying he regretted voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, because Trump has “surrounded himself with hordes of Jews.”
* The first outlet to report on Jones’ candidacy was Riverside-Brookfield Landmark back in December…
“If you want to describe my philosophy it’s populist-slash-National Socialist,” Jones said.
Jones said he was a registered Republican, even though he doesn’t consider himself a dedicated follower of any specific political party.
According to Jones, “Donald Trump has come closest to my beliefs, except for his position on the Middle East. I think he made a tragic error in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It’s going to cause more doggone trouble than he can possibly imagine.”
Jones also criticized incumbent Congressman Danial Lipinski (D-3rd Congressional District) for being too supportive of Israel.
A member of the Nationalist Socialist Party in his younger days, Jones took part in the Nazis’ march on Chicago’s Marquette Park in 1978. While he doesn’t deny nor repudiate his “past affiliations,” he says he votes Republican “90 percent of the time.”
“Philosophically, I’m a National Socialist,” Jones said. “Officially, I don’t belong to any party except my own, the America First Committee.”
Jones hopes three’s a charm after blowing his retirement savings on two prior congressional runs. He hopes to win the Republican primary and go on to challenge Lipinski this November. The 3rd District covers portions of Chicago’s South Side and a large swath of the south suburbs.
Part of the reason he’s jumping in again is what he describes as Lipinski’s strange affiliation with the American Israel Pro Israel Affairs Committee.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Governor Rauner released the following statement regarding Arthur Jones’ candidacy in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District:
“There is no room for Neo Nazis in American politics. I condemn this man in the strongest possible terms.”
She said she was willing to go into Champaign-Urbana — into what she called “the belly of the beast” — and say that “we’re going to tell higher ed that you either bring your tuition and fees in line with your conference peers or we’re going to bring your state spending in line with your conference peers. We’re No. 3 in terms of state support for higher education. It’s just that one-half of it goes to pensions.
“But the truth is that higher education in Illinois is unaffordable and it’s forcing our best students and our middle-class families to choose another place. That is wrong. We’re going to reverse that trend.”
The plural of anecdote is not data. I get that. But I was in Walgreen’s Sunday afternoon and a couple of employees were talking about going to another state for graduate school. One of them was my cashier. He told me that after what happened the past few years, he just couldn’t depend on a MAP grant and was looking elsewhere.
The pace at which Illinois high school graduates are leaving the state to attend college is accelerating at the same time most public universities are struggling to maintain enrollment — and that has state higher education officials worried.
“It’s deeply troubling and I choose those words carefully,” said Al Bowman, executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and former president of Illinois State University. […]
“Illinois has had a history of out-migration for many, many years,” said Bowman. “The difference is it has accelerated during recent years, particularly during the budget impasse” when the state went without a full-year budget in fiscal years 2016 and 2017 and higher education saw significant funding cuts. […]
The pool of 18-year-olds in the Midwest is shrinking and the composition of the pool has changed. There are more students from underrepresented groups with historically lower college participation rates than the general population, he said.
“It’s a highly competitive marketplace,” added Bowman. “Some universities have learned how to compete in that environment. For others, it’s a learning curve.”
There was a bit of role reversal last week at a meeting of the Illinois Senate Higher Education Committee. Instead of college and university officials being told by senators what they should be doing or what they’re doing wrong, there were appeals for ideas, information, suggestions from two senators who are on a separate higher education working group.
“Our purpose truly at this point is to consider ways to help Illinois and higher education thrive again,” said Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Crest Hill, who chairs the Senate Higher Education Committee. “We’re asking now what are you doing to recruit, retain and graduate Illinois students? And it’s been a fascinating conversation.”
Separately, Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, practically begged for feedback on his legislation, introduced last October, that includes a wide-ranging reorganization of public higher education in the state. But the idea behind SB 2234, he said, was “to start a conversation” about the higher ed system.
“We need your help. It’s been 3 1/2 months. Please start giving us your ideas,” he said.
The early reaction to Rose’s legislation was skeptical, with many higher education leaders viewing it as an attempt to eliminate programs and downsize particular institutions. That’s not his goal, Rose insists.
Details contained in a lawsuit brought against Gov. Bruce Rauner by a former business associate have called into further question the governor’s insistence that he no longer plays a role in his business investments.
Appearing before the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board Monday, Rauner was asked to address an account from former associate Harreld “Kip” Kirkpatrick III describing how the two discussed the business investment on which Kirkpatrick’s case centers.
“No private business was conducted on public property,” Rauner told the Tribune during a mini-debate with his rival in the March Republican primary, state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton. “That issue is a contract dispute, contract dispute. It’s not an investment decision. A contract dispute that stemmed from before I was governor.”
Pressed on whether he spoke with Kirkpatrick at all about that dispute, the governor doubled down: “I was not doing private business on state property,” he said.
Gov. Rauner: Yeah, so that’s just, that’s just false, I did not do that, um, did not have any business meetings on public property, I wouldn’t do that. And there’s, a lot of people have raised that question, it’s just, there’s no there there, there’s no, no business meetings on public property.
Reporter: But the public schedule said it was a former private business partner, correct?
Gov. Rauner: Um, yeah. Uh-huh. We weren’t discussing any, anything about old business.
Reporter: He says otherwise, correct?
Gov. Rauner: [Laughs] He said a lot of things that were not true.
Reporter: So this isn’t true?
Gov. Rauner: Yep. That’s right. It’s not true.
* DGA…
“Bruce Rauner has a problem being honest with the Illinois public,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner was caught meeting with a business associate on state property despite promising a blind trust from his business interests. Now that he’s failed the public, Rauner’s trying to lie his way out of the scandal. Rauner needs to fess up and be honest with voters for a change.”
Anybody can sue anybody for anything and say whatever they want in the process. So, maybe they didn’t talk about a private business deal at the mansion. It’s one person’s word against another’s at the moment.
Illinoisans “want a government where people come together to solve problems and get things done,” Gov. Bruce Rauner said during his 2015 State of the State address. “They don’t want partisan bickering, political infighting or personal conflict to get in the way of serving the needs of the families of Illinois.”
“Together, we will do great things for the people of Illinois,” he said. “The task ahead of us is daunting, and we have no time to waste.”
A wasted year later, after months and months of hardheaded, partisan gridlock and no state budget, the governor delivered his second State of the State address.
“I understand that union leaders and trial lawyers are putting pressure on you to keep the status quo,” Rauner told his audience of state legislators, many of whom (particularly the Democrats) didn’t react so well. They believed (and still do) that they were legitimately resisting Rauner’s attempts to bust unions with “right to work” laws and other proposals that went against their own principles.
“We must fix our workers’ comp system, labor regulations, liability costs and property taxes that make us uncompetitive and push job creators out. . . .Let’s get it done!” Rauner implored.
“If each of us commits to serious negotiation based on mutual respect for our co-equal branches of government, there’s not a doubt in my mind we can come together to pass a balanced budget alongside reforms,” Rauner told the General Assembly in January 2016.
A year later, with no budget passed and the Democratic-controlled Legislature continuing to resist his pro-business, anti-union agenda, Rauner delivered his third State of the State address.
“Abraham Lincoln once said: ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it,’” said the Republican governor.
But there’s a problem.
Lincoln never said that, according to three top Lincoln scholars.
And with that gaffe, Rauner became an unwitting circulator of fake history, committing a cardinal oratorical sin for the chief executive of a state called the “Land of Lincoln.”
Oops.
One can only wonder why the governor’s people didn’t check in with somebody over at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum down the street.
* Rep. Jeanne Ives will speak at the City Club today. Click here to watch the live video, which usually starts sometime after noon. If you miss it, you can click here for the club’s video archives.
“When you look at the ad, it’s a policy ad. It’s not a personal attack on Rauner,” she said. “I don’t go after his character or anything like that. It is a policy ad that in a new way takes what he has done and signed into law and puts it into a visual measure.” […]
“I guess the visual was necessary to raise awareness to Republican primary voters that have been asleep for a while. That’s what the ad was about. We needed to still alert Republican primary voters to the policies he put in place,” Ives said at what was billed as a “meet and greet” at Houlihan’s restaurant in Champaign. About 50 people attended.
“Honestly, if they played this in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch as a spoof on the worst Republican governor in America, people would laugh at it,” she said.
She said she would not take down the ad, and said that Harold and the others criticizing it “are bought and sold by Gov.Rauner. Rauner is funding Erika’s campaign. Rauner is funding the GOP establishment. That’s all that is. This is all going to die down. You know what? People needed to see the results of his policies.”
Asked how she could attract Democratic voters in a general election by attacking parts of their constituency, she said that “I have Democrats who messaged me and said they liked the ad.
* From John McGlasson, 16th Congressional District Republican State Central Committeeman…
As a member of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, I wish to voice my concern about the Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider taking sides in the primary for governor by objecting to the recent campaign advertisement issued by Representative Jeanne Ives.
It is up to the voters to decide whether this ad is good or bad. In my opinion it addresses important issues in the race. It hits them head on and without ambiguity. The voters deserve to know where the candidates stand in order to make an informed decision when they cast their ballot.
Chairman Schneider’s job is to serve all Republicans and support the eventual nominee.
The bills cited in the video are HB 1785, SB 31, HB 40 and SB 2814. According to polling data, HB 1785 and SB 31 are opposed by a supermajority of Illinois GENERAL election voters. All are opposed by a supermajority of GOP primary voters as they were a supermajority of GOP legislators.
* HB 1785, Transgender Birth Certificates: 6 of 73 House and Senate Republicans voted for it (0 in the Senate). Ives voted ‘No.’ Rauner signed it.
* SB 31, Sanctuary State: 6 of 73 House and Senate Republicans voted for it. Ives voted ‘No.’ Rauner signed it.
* HB 40, Taxpayer-Funding of Abortion: 0 of 73 House and Senate Republicans voted for it. Ives voted ‘No.’ Rauner signed it.
* SB 2814: 27 of 73 House and Senate Republicans voted for it. Ives voted ‘No.’ Rauner signed it.
‘Thank you for signing legislation that lets me use the girls’ bathroom,’ an actor, dressed as a transgender woman, with a visible five o’clock shadow, said, referring to the House Bill 1785.
In fact, that bill does not refer to bathroom rights but allows transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificates, with a doctor’s approval.
The Republican candidate challenging Gov. Bruce Rauner vowed Sunday to return a financial contribution after a campaign staffer retweeted a supportive message from a Twitter account that also contains Nazi propaganda.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives’ campaign removed the message Sunday from her Twitter feed. Later, it tweeted the following note: “We had a staffer re-tweet this message without realizing who this individual was. It has been removed. We repudiate him. Disavow any endorsement and are returning any contribution.”
The campaign had retweeted a note that read, in part, “I don8d $1k 2 @JeanneIves 2 defeat @BruceRauner in illinois gubernatorial race.” It also said, “luv this campaign ad” and included a link to Ives’ controversial new spot targeting the transgender community and illegal immigrants, among others.
That message came from an account containing anti-Semitic messages and a cover photo of a man holding out his hand in what appeared to be a Nazi salute. The owner of the account could not immediately be reached for comment.
* They’re not yet going after Ives and are sticking to their basic messaging. Press release…
Today, the Rauner campaign launched the latest in the series of ads featuring JB Pritzker and the infamous Rod Blagojevich FBI wiretaps.
JB Pritzker’s voice is not featured in this newest ad, but money talks and Blagojevich was listening. The ad features Blagojevich talking about raising millions of dollars from Pritzker and giving him Barack Obama’s Senate seat in return.
Blagojevich closes the conversation saying, “incidentally [Pritzker] asked me for it. Don’t repeat that.”
Pritzker may claim he did nothing wrong, but Blagojevich’s implications are clear: Pritzker was asking for the Senate seat and could match the price tag.
I don’t think Pritzker asked Blagojevich for the Senate seat. He wanted the treasurer’s job if Alexi Giannoulias got a White House gig as was rumored at the time.
*** UPDATE *** The ad claims the audio is “The unedited FBI wiretap of Rod Blagojevich talking about JB Pritzker.” It’s not unedited. From the full transcript with the quotes used in the Rauner ad highlighted…
BLAGOJEVICH: “501(c)(4) issue advocacy, 10, 15, 20 35 million dollars in an organization like that. But, I, we can get goin’ with an ind-, you know a board that, you know I’m comfortable with and then when I’m no longer governor I go over there. What about that?”
SCOFIELD: “I think it’s worth explorin’.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “I betcha JB can raise me money like that.”
(UI)
BLAGOJEVICH: “For a Senate seat. Huh?”
SCOFIELD: “Yep.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “If I can get JB to do somethin’ like that is it worth, ah, givin’ him the Senate seat?Incidentally, he, he asked me for it. Don’t repeat that.”
SCOFIELD: “He did?”
BLAGOJEVICH: “Yeah.”
SCOFIELD: “Huh. Okay.”
(PAUSE)
SCOFIELD: “Man I don’t know. That’s a hard one to do.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “What’s that? JB?”
SCOFIELD: “Yeah.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “Huh?”
SCOFIELD: “Yeah.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “Yeah you’re darn right it’s hard. But if you have an organization that, you know you go out and advocate and, and he’ll help fund it by getting some of his billionaire friends to, to invest in it. Huh?”
SCOFIELD: “Tempting.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “Um, you, you, look, I really believe you can do more good than just putting Valerie Jarrett there and get nothin’ back.”
[BREAK]
BLAGOJEVICH: “(Sighs) 501(c)(4). How’s that sound to you? $10 million dollars, $15 million dollars.”
SCOFIELD: “Ah, it sounds good to me.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “Issue advocacy that will last beyond me bein’ governor. Somethin’ I can work on. Try to do other things. What do you think of that?”
SCOFIELD: “I think it’s a good place to land.”
[PAUSE]
BLAGOJEVICH: “Okay. JB, he can do it, couldn’t he?”
SCOFIELD: “Ah, sure, JB could do it.”
BLAGOJEVICH: “Who knows him, that we know that’s close to him? Mmm, that I don’t know.”
[PAUSE]
SCOFIELD: “I don’t know, Greg from my office knows him, but is not real close to him. But you know I could ask Greg who’s close to him. I can find out.”
[PAUSE]
BLAGOJEVICH: “I mean I don’t wanna be the one to ask somethin’ like that. Alright. No I can find out.”
In another wild election year in Illinois, the race involving Joe Berrios has produced the most bizarre whodunit tale — and what may have been the dirtiest trick of this political season.
Soon after announcing he would take on Berrios for the Democratic nomination for county assessor, challenger Fritz Kaegi says he noticed someone had set up websites purporting to represent him and his rage-against-the-machine campaign.
But Kaegi says he had nothing to do with the new FritzKaegi.org website. Nor, he says, did he set up other accounts that supposedly communicated on his behalf on Twitter, Facebook and a political fundraising site. […]
The GoDaddy domain registrar and website-hosting company has identified the man behind the fake Kaegi campaign site as Quenton Galvin, according to court records.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Galvin is owner of Non Stop Web Design of Grayslake — a company that has done campaign work for many years for Berrios, who’s chairman of the powerful county Democratic Party.
* Hillman adds some much-needed perspective…
Remember that time Forrest Claypool campaign registered Joe Berrios’ web domain and we all laughed at Berrios campaign for not securing his name. I do. https://t.co/hKFo7pxAjh#Twill@Suntimes
Forrest Claypool, who’s running as an independent for Cook County Assessor, launched www.joeberrios.com on Monday, to “highlight the abysmal record of Cook County’s most notorious insider politician.” In a statement to the press, Claypool campaign manager Tom Bowen said “voters can see the complete record of Joe Berrios in all its infamy. Whether it’s tax breaks for politically-connected insiders, investigations for corruption, massive tax increases, or lobbying for the liquor and gaming industry, Joe has done it all while we pay the price.” Bowen notes that “over the course of more than 20 years of public office, Berrios has endured countless investigations for corruption, ghost payrolling, improper hiring, and sweetheart contracts,” while giving property tax breaks to campaign donors and backing Todd Stroger’s tax hikes in Cook County.
“You’ve got to get your domain name registered early, long before you consider running for office. … If you don’t do that, it is inevitable that someone is going to grab the domain name and make your life difficult.” That was Democratic strategist Kari Chisholm talking to The Hill earlier this year about the phenomenon of political campaigns snatching up opponents’ internet domain names. The latest example of this inevitability can be found right here in Illinois, where independent Cook County assessor candidate Forrest Claypool’s team apparently beat Democratic nominee Joe Berrios to the following domain: www.joeberrios.com.
Oops. Now the Claypool campaign is using the site to slam Berrios’ record as chair of the Cook County Board of Review. It doesn’t show up yet in the Google search results for “Joe Berrios,” but you can bet that will change in the coming weeks.
Election officials in Chicago say the start of early voting is likely to be delayed because of so many candidate ballot challenges.
Early voting is slated to begin statewide [this] week on Thursday.
Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen said Friday that with rulings pending on which candidates are going to be on the ballot, voting equipment won’t be programmed, tested and ready for ballots in several languages by Thursday.
Allen declined to offer further details, saying the board would issue more information Monday.
I don’t know if there are more challenges than usual this cycle, but resolutions to these cases do seem to be taking far too long. They went back and forth on Sen. Silverstein’s case so many times I lost count.
We need a better system if we want to start voting this early.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Although Feb. 8, 2018 was the new statutory starting date for Early Voting, there remain ongoing cases involving objections to candidates’ petitions. As a result, ballots are not ready, and the programming and testing of voting equipment cannot be completed by Feb. 8. The Board of Election Commissioners anticipates that balloting systems will be fully tested and available by Feb. 21, if not sooner.
Objections to certain countywide and statewide candidates’ nominating petitions were resolved recently or still are being resolved. Programming and testing of the equipment in the city’s more than 1,000 ballot variations in four languages is still under way.
The Board will update the Early Voting schedule at chicagoelections.com as soon as possible. Any voters who arrive at the Chicago Election Board to use Early Voting in the meantime will be provided with an application to Vote By Mail. Chicago voters also may apply online to Vote By Mail at chicagoelections.com.
* Speaking of challenges…
On Friday, Scott Drury, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, filed his Notice of Appeal, beginning the process of contesting the decision of a Circuit Court of Cook County associate judge who ordered Drury’s name removed from the Democratic ballot for Illinois Attorney General. In the Notice, Drury asks the appellate court to reverse the decision of the circuit court and affirm the original decision of the State Officers Electoral Board which found that Drury’s name should remain on the ballot. Drury also asks the court to order that his name be printed on every ballot issued during the pendency of the appeal in order to avoid any prejudice.
On Friday, Drury also filed an emergency motion to expedite the appeal and stay the circuit court’s order, pending completion of the appeal. In the motion, Drury contends that, absent a stay, a new election may be necessary because of the potential taint of ballots being issued without his name. Drury further contends that a stay is necessary to protect his rights and the rights of voters.
The circuit court’s decision has already begun to wreak havoc on the election process. The Chicago Board of Elections has indicated that it is going to delay the start of early voting, in part, because of the pendency of Drury’s case. “The fact that Mike Madigan would rather taint the election for Illinois’ chief legal officer than have an attorney general he cannot control, demonstrates how little he cares for Illinois residents and how much he cares about his self-preservation,” said Drury.
The appeal and related motions are pending before the Illinois Appellate Court – First Judicial District in Chicago, Illinois. The court has not yet ruled on Drury’s motion.
Drury is being represented by Casey Westover of Reed Smith LLP and Patrick Dwyer, III of Dwyer & Coogan, P.C.
The Ives for Illinois campaign is pleased to announce it has received a $2 million donation from businessman Dick Uihlein. These funds will support and ensure that Jeanne Ives is able to introduce herself to the GOP primary electorate and present a clear choice for those voters between the crony bailouts and extreme Left social policy agenda of Gov. Rauner’s and the conservative reform policy record and vision of Ives.
Ives has now raised more than $3.5 million in the few short weeks of her insurgent campaign against Gov. Rauner.
“Mr. Uihlein’s commitment to a conservative reform policy revolution is humbling as is the commitment of of every donor and volunteer to our campaign,” said Ives. “People doing what they can with what they have is how we win this race for the people who play by the rules and do their part to make Illinois a great place to live, work and raise a family. A state government aligned with their interests is long overdue in Illinois.”
