Republican state Sen. Sam McCann says he filed more than 60,000 signatures Monday to secure a spot on the November ballot against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrat J.B. Pritzker. McCann needs 25,000 valid signatures to qualify, and a ballot challenge is expected. […]
The Plainview lawmaker says Rauner has “abandoned” core GOP values. Rauner recently signed laws expanding public funding for abortions and limiting law enforcement interactions with immigrants.
* It’s gonna be tough to effectively challenge those petitions. There are so many of them and the people running the show put a lot of planning and effort into the project…
Republican Senator Sam McCann officially enters governor’s race as third party Conservative candidate. His nominating petition- 65,000 signatures and more than 4,500 pages long pic.twitter.com/bFO2qbR4uD
McCann has the support of the Operating Engineers Union Local 150, who will likely play a big role in his campaign. And union spokesman Ed Maher on Monday said the union was “very clear” about telling those circulating petitions that they would not eligible if they had circulated for major party candidates in the primary.
“They had to be very conscious of anyone who had passed petitions for a major party,” Maher said. “That said, the campaign has put a great deal of effort in reviewing the petitions and are extremely confident that they’ll be well above the threshold.” […]
McCann is hoping to continue the momentum conservative voters found in state Rep. Jeanne Ives’ candidacy. Ives lost to Rauner by just 3 percentage points even though she was vastly outspent. The goal is to speak to Ives’ supporters who were angered by the governor’s support of a bill to expand taxpayer funding of abortion; a measure that allows transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates and another that limits law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
While McCann may be seeking Ives’ supporters, the Wheaton lawmaker isn’t actively campaigning for McCann.
“My efforts will be focused on taking Mike Madigan out as Speaker and helping to elect conservative reform House members aligned with my policy principles,” Ives told the Sun-Times on Monday.
* Democratic Governors Association…
“Just when he needs to turn to the general election, Bruce Rauner will have to keep refighting the battles of the primary,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner divided the Republican Party with his lies, and now Jeanne Ives voters will have another opportunity to express their displeasure with Rauner’s failed leadership.”
* Related…
* Four more IL gubernatorial candidates could be on November ballot: Voters could see several gubernatorial candidates on the 2018 General Election ballot in November - including Libertarian Party candidate, a Conservative Party candidate and two independents - if they’re allowed to stay on the ballot.
So we aren’t shocked that the unemployment rate for African-Americans in Illinois is 10 percent. That’s the highest of any state, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The highest African American unemployment rate [for the first quarter of 2018] is in the District of Columbia (12.9 percent), followed by Illinois (9.1 percent) and New Jersey (9.0 percent).
As we marked Juneteenth, Gov. Bruce Rauner boldly stated he has “done more for black business, for black economic opportunity and black education opportunity than anybody.”
According to whom?
Because I will tell you, it certainly wasn’t according to black workers, dealing with the highest black unemployment rate of any state in the country under his failed leadership.
Google any variation of the phrase “Illinois has the highest African-American unemployment rate” and you’ll get a ton of results.
*Alaska 12.9%
District of Columbia 12.9%
*Kansas 11.7%
Michigan 9.5%
Ohio 9.1%
*Wisconsin 9.1%
*Arizona 9.0%
Illinois 8.9%
Louisiana 8.9%
Black unemployment rates in the “starred” states aren’t tracked by the Economic Policy Institute. The EPI tracks 23 states plus DC for this topic, while the BLS tracks 37 states plus DC.
And keep in mind that the EPI numbers are quarterly, while the federal BLS numbers are annual averages. Since these rates often tend to be revised, an annual average might be the better way of looking at things.
* But there’s no getting away from the fact that Illinois isn’t great for black employment. Here are the EPI numbers for the first quarter of the year for the states which had higher or the same unemployment rates as Illinois in the 2017 BLS report…
Even after the Illinois General Assembly approved legislation meant to tackle the backlog of discrimination cases before the Illinois Human Rights Commission, Gov. Bruce Rauner is putting forth his own plan.
In an Executive Order filed last week, the governor calls for the commission to develop a plan within 60 days to reduce the backlog and achieve more transparency. But critics say it lacks specifics on how to get through the more than 1,000 cases pending that deal with claims of discrimination on the basis of race, religion and other factors.
Carl Draper, an employment and civil rights attorney with the Law Office of FeldmanWasser in Springfield, said the executive order only adds more planning and no action. “It spends two pages talking about the problem and giving it the attention that it needs. And then it has one page that simply results in another study. Public officials can study things to death, but concrete steps need to be taken.” […]
The General Assembly approved a plan this year to restructure how the commission works — including turning some part-time staff into full-time to streamline caseloads. The commission currently has 13 part-time staff members; the changes would turn that to 7 full-time. Critics say they hope Rauner considers this a part of his executive order and signs it into law. Rauner’s office has yet to say if he would go along with that approach, noting that the measure has not been sent to his desk for his review.
Could the EO be political cover for a veto?
* Media advisory…
Illinois’ top utility watchdog will join with suburban Chicago leaders to urge Gov. Bruce Rauner to stand up for consumers and veto House Bill 4508, legislation that favors two powerful private water companies and opens the door for higher water bills across the state. […]
HB 4508, which passed the General Assembly this spring, renews earlier legislation that allows Aqua Illinois and Illinois American Water to automatically raise their existing customers’ rates to fund municipal acquisitions. This bill also repeals a 7,500-connection limit on the size of systems that the water companies can buy.
Consumer advocates fear the legislation will allow Illinois’ two biggest private water companies to march across the state buying up municipal water systems and raising customer rates. The parent companies of Aqua and Illinois American made a combined profit of $150 million in the first quarter alone, and past reviews have shown that the two companies charge up to 70 percent more than public systems in the region.
State Sen. Sue Rezin and Bryan McDaniel, director of governmental affairs for the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), will lead the news conference. The event will also feature Homer Glen Mayor George Yukich, who can speak about his constituents’ history of skyrocketing bills under Illinois American Water.
* Other stuff…
* SJ-R Editorial: Hearing should focus on solutions for DCFS children: Lawmakers are rightfully livid about the report, and have demanded hearings be held so officials with the child welfare agency can explain these numbers. And hearings should be held — but not just to bash DCFS officials. The hearings, likely to be held in August, must focus on solutions too.
* Editorial: Don’t subject kids to more tumult. Give Walker time to fix DCFS: Are there problems that plague this agency? Yes. Walker acknowledges difficulties with older children, especially a lack of suitable treatment centers and group homes, a lack of foster families willing to take teens with mental health issues, and kids spending too much time hospitalized in psychiatric wards, which a ProPublica Illinois investigation recently exposed. But one year on the job is not enough time to revolutionize an agency with the toughest mission in state government.
* DuPage mayors: Fight against state funding cuts not over: The newly appointed leaders of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference say municipalities must continue working together to prevent the state from taking local tax revenue to fill gaps in its budget.
* Tribune Editorial: Another whack at Illinois pension spiking. Good: Remember that, taxpayers, the next time your district cries poor. How much money flew out the door in penalties? How much of that could have been used to hire more teachers or aides or social workers?
* Gov. Rauner and JB Pritzker both attended Equality Illinois’ Pride Parade reception on Sunday. A pal of mine was there and snapped these pics. If you look closely, you’ll see the governor is in the back of the room and Pritzker is near the camera…
* Rauner starts working the room in the direction of the camera…
* They get close…
* And then, according to my buddy, they walk right by each other without so much as a howdy-do…
* If you go to the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website, you’ll see this entry for the Libertarian Party’s new gubernatorial candidate…
JACKSON, GRAYSON KASH formerly known as BENJAMIN ADAM WINDERWEEDLE until name changed on Aug 29, 2017
* I asked ISBE spokesperson Matt Dietrich if that’s how Jackson/Winderweedle’s name will appear on the ballot. His response…
Yes, that’s how it will be on the ballot. Here’s the statute:
10 ILCS 5/16-3(e):
…If a candidate has changed his or her name, whether by a statutory or common law procedure in Illinois or any other jurisdiction, within 3 years before the last day for filing the petition for nomination, nomination papers, or certificate of nomination for that office, whichever is applicable, then (i) the candidate’s name on the ballot must be followed by “formerly known as (list all prior names during the 3-year period) until name changed on (list date of each such name change)”
…Adding… Former state Rep. John Fritchey in comments…
I actually wrote and passed that law in response to a guy who openly acknowledged changing his name in order to better his chances to be elected as a Judge. I thought I had limited it to judicial races but apparently not.
“There’s been a lot of negative consequences,” Rauner said [about legalizing marijuana in Colorado]. “Addiction is up. Substance abuse is up, absenteeism is up, DUIs are up, traffic accidents are up, workforce productivity is down. There are a lot of consequences and I don’t want to experiment on the people of Illinois.”
* Georgette Braun fact-checked Gov. Rauner’s claims with Abbey Borchers, marijuana policy adviser to Colorado Gov. John W. Hickenlooper. The results were entirely predictable…
• On substance abuse, Borchers said the most reliable way to measure substance abuse is treatment admissions with marijuana reported as the primary drug of dependency. She said the most recent data show that “at least up until 2015, the number of people entering treatment for marijuana is stable post-legalization.”
• On absenteeism in schools, she said the state does not have statistics that directly tie marijuana to absenteeism. The 2016-2017 school year was the first full year in which marijuana was reported separately from other drugs by schools in discipline-related data, “so we don’t have a baseline to compare it to.” […]
• On workforce productivity, she said: “We don’t have data tying marijuana use directly to workforce productivity.”
Notice how she focused solely on comparing Rauner’s factual claims with the actual facts?
A recent Pritzker campaign ad says Rauner “wasted” $1 billion “with his budget crisis.”
Pritzker’s ad seeks to blame Rauner for the entirety of a huge tab the state ran up last year on interest penalties for late payment of bills. The problem was significantly aggravated by a two-year budget standoff in Springfield that left many state services running on autopilot but with insufficient revenues to cover the costs.
Rauner clearly played a key role in that logjam and it may be smart politics on Pritzker’s part to try to blame the mess entirely on the incumbent. But Rauner hardly acted alone.
What’s more, running up an expensive late payment tab isn’t unique to the Rauner era. Chronic fiscal mismanagement over many administrations has made it harder for the state to pay bills in a timely fashion—even when the income tax rate was higher and more revenue was flowing in.
Pritzker’s ad has its number straight, but uses it to blame Rauner alone for an unfortunate legacy that is shared by many. We rate it Mostly False.
When Rauner appeared before the Tribune Editorial Board just months into his first term in April 2015, he promoted the idea that “Crisis creates opportunity. Crisis creates leverage to change.” It became a precursor to a historic 736-day budget impasse, a test of wills between his pro-business, union-weakening agenda and labor-backed Democrats who control the legislature.
If you’re a strong union supporter, the Democrats have no blame at all. If you’re a union hater, the governor cannot possibly be blamed. If you’re in the muddled middle, you may tend to believe both sides share some blame, perhaps some actors more than others depending on your respective viewpoints. But, those are opinions, not facts.
The fact is that Rauner can’t be blamed for 100 percent of what went wrong (even though the only time he signed a budget into law was when he completely dropped his Turnaround Agenda demands). Opinions will vastly differ on what percentage should be assigned to him, however.
So, in absolute terms, the BGA is justified, but its opinion that a governor shouldn’t be blamed for a problem by a partisan political opponent in an advertisement unless the ad also includes some sort of disclaimer noting that some members of the opponent’s own party may also share in the blame is a little… odd. But, hey, goo-goos are gonna goo-goo and it’s their shop.
* Charles McBarron takes a look back at the summer of 1988, when Big Jim Thompson muscled a bill through both chambers to keep the White Sox in Chicago…
In the late afternoon on June 30, based on Senate President Phillip’s opposition, Lt. Gov. George Ryan pronounced the Sox stadium bill “dead.”
Phillip had a vice-like grip on his members, so there was no reason to doubt Ryan as the bill awaited a Senate vote. But, Gov. Thompson wasn’t giving up.
“I said, ‘Pate, this is personal. I want this stadium and you have to help me,’” Thompson said.
In a surprise, Phillip dropped his opposition, allowing his members to vote as they wished. The Senate Minority Leader smirked as Thompson prowled the Senate floor, looking for Republicans willing to support the bill.
Shockingly, Thompson convinced three Republicans to go along, giving the bill the minimum 30 votes needed. As soon as the votes were tallied, Thompson and his lobbying team literally sprinted into the House chamber to try to get the bill passed before the midnight deadline.
What happened next was as dramatic as anything that happened at Comiskey Park in the during the 80 years it hosted ballgames.
You can hear WMAQ’s tone that clearly signaled midnight before the vote was taken. But Charlie couldn’t hear anything on the other end because it was so loud in the chamber. Back in those days, the three-fifths vote requirement for bills with an immediate effective date didn’t kick in until July 1. It was most definitely July 1 when that bill passed.
Illinois Board of Higher Education Executive Director Al Bowman said that 29 percent of Illinois high school seniors left the state to go to college in 2002. Now, he said, that figure is just more than 46 percent.
“That’s something we need to do something about,” Bowman said on WGN AM-720. “Fortunately for Illinois, two-thirds of those kids who get degrees out of the state come back. But among Illinois residents who earn degrees in the state, 92 percent of them remain in the state after graduation,” he said.
Bowman said there are more than 80 schools outside the state that have full-time offices in the Chicago area to recruit Illinois students.
“We not only produce a lot of students, we produce very good students and they’re in demand. States around us like Indiana and Iowa don’t produce enough high school graduates to fill their enrollment targets. They need Illinois residents,” he said.
The full program, hosted by Rick Pearson, is here. Rick’s show is always a must-listen.
* IBHE Chairman Tom Cross told the Trib that the constant bad-mouthing of Illinois by its leaders and its residents isn’t helping, either…
“We all fall into that trap and when people repeat it time and time again and you read it in the paper and you hear it on the news, if you’re a student and you’re thinking about where you want to go to school and all you’ve heard about is how bad Illinois is on all of the issues, then I think that perpetuates the problem even more,” he said.
Illinois last set a minimum salary for school teachers in 1980.
In the 38 years since, those salary levels have never been adjusted.
That could change if Gov. Bruce Rauner signs legislation approved by lawmakers in May that would set a minimum salary for teachers at $40,000 a year.
For proponents, the legislation is long overdue and could help attract more people into the teaching profession at a time when there is a shortage of teachers.
Chris Roegge said the legislative fixes are a good solution for the short-term, but they don’t address long-term needs. Roegge serves as the director of the University of Illinois’s Council on Teacher Education, and he’s seen a decline in the number of students enrolling in teacher preparation programs. A report from the non-profit Learning Policy Institute cites a 35 percent decrease nation-wide in teacher education enrollments between 2009 and 2014. Roegge attributes that in part to the narrative around the field.
“There’s been this swirl of negative press going back for more than five years around teaching, the conditions of teaching, the status of the job, the difficulty of the job – all of these things,” he said. “I think we’re starting to reap what’s been sown by that.”
Roegge points to the report from the Learning Policy Institute that identifies what attracts people to the field and what improves retention once they’re there. He said the four key ingredients are: compensation, preparation, induction and mentoring, and teaching conditions.
In many cases, improving these four areas requires more resources – whether that’s more money for teacher salaries and classroom materials or grants and scholarships for college students interested in the field.
Obviously, we need to entice more students into the pipeline.
They work as private tutors and soccer coaches, as waiters, grocery clerks and ride-share drivers.
Across the country, 18 percent of teachers earn income outside the classroom, according to a National Center for Education Statistics report released Wednesday. […]
According to a report by the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher union, the average teacher salary fell by 3 percent between 2006 and 2016 after inflation was taken into account. Teachers in the United States earn on average just 60 percent of what other professionals with similar education levels make, according to a 2017 education report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United States had the lowest relative teacher salaries among the 28 member nations that participated in the report.
Spend a fortune on tuition and wind up driving an Uber just to make ends meet.
Downstate state Sen. Sam McCann is expected to file paperwork on Monday to run as the Conservative Party’s candidate for governor, creating an obstacle to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s re-election bid if McCann can stay on the ballot.
McCann, a Republican of Plainview in central Illinois, is a supporter of organized labor and often has been at odds with Rauner. He survived a primary re-election challenge backed by the governor two years ago. Now, McCann’s spokesman said he will file his petitions with the State Board of Elections to run for governor ahead of Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline.
His bid could capitalize on fissures within the state’s Republican Party that were on display in March, when Rauner defeated GOP primary challenger state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton by only 3 percentage points. Ives’ bid was motivated by anger from social conservatives over Rauner’s signature on laws expanding abortion, immigrant and transgender rights.
McCann could combine backing from social conservatives as well as supporters of President Donald Trump, in addition to union members who the governor has angered through his so-far-unsuccessful efforts to weaken organized labor.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Minimum is 25,000…
Third party candidates file petitions to get on the November ballot. @KashJackson2018 and other Libertarian candidates turned in some 47,000 signatures. pic.twitter.com/fOjXcCuAQq
*** UPDATE 2 *** I told subscribers about this petition number earlier today…
Sam McCann, the Conservative Party candidate for governor of Illinois, will deliver more than 60,000 nominating petition signatures this afternoon to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Seeking a spot on the November ballot, McCann and running mate Aaron Merreighn collected more than twice the requirement of 25,000 signatures from across the state.
“I’ve been inspired by the enthusiasm that we’ve seen from voters as we’ve gathered petitions,” said McCann. “I’ve had a chance to talk to folks from all over Illinois, and they are crying out for a change from Governor Rauner’s failed leadership. I am the candidate who can deliver that change, and I am excited to formally enter the race.”
McCann has served in the Illinois Senate since 2010 and is running against Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker to halt Illinois’ departure from law and order, economic liberty, and traditional conservative policies.
As we celebrate Pride Month, Kwame Raoul’s campaign for Attorney General has released a new video, “Republican Erika Harold: Wrong for Illinois,” highlighting her shocking views on the safety of children and same-sex couples who wish to care for them.
“As both a father and public servant, it’s unconscionable to me that the safety of a child would ever be up for debate,” said Kwame Raoul. “When I was a county prosecutor, I took children out of abusive homes and helped place them with loving families without prejudice. Discrimination has no place in our laws, and my focus as attorney general will be on protecting at-risk children and defending the equal rights we’ve fought so hard to secure.”
Republican Attorney General candidate Erika Harold … was being hit from both the right and the left for something she is quoted as saying at a beauty pageant.
Harold was asked… “If you had to place a child in foster care, and the choices were either A) a loving gay couple, or B) a heterosexual couple who were known child abusers, who would you choose?”
Harold reportedly stated she would choose to place a child in an abusive heterosexual home.
One of the pageant officials tells us, “Her answer stopped the room.”
* Back to the Raoul campaign…
Harold has repeatedly supported policies that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. During her 2014 congressional campaign, Harold supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and protection for employers who fire employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Erika Harold’s disturbing opinion that even an abusive home is better than the nurturing family a same-sex couple can provide is an insult to all parents, but for me, as both a mom and a member of the LGBTQ community, she’s doubled down on the disgusting here,” said State Representative Kelly Cassidy. “The shortage of options for abused and neglected children is at a crisis point, exacerbated in other states by discrimination against gay foster and adoptive parents. We can’t afford to elect an attorney general whose commitment to at-risk kids’ safety is in question. I’m proud to stand with Kwame.”
“As an adult adoptee and someone who has fought for years to assure every child in care is placed in a loving home, I am gravely concerned about Erika Harold’s unconscionable position which threatens the progress we have made in building families through adoption,” said State Representative Sara Feigenholtz. “We need an attorney general dedicated beyond question to protecting children, and if Erika Harold continues to sit back while Trump tears families apart and refuses to stand up to harmful policies, she has no place in the AG’s office. I’m proud to support Kwame Raoul, who quarterbacked life-changing adoption legislation and whose profound ability to listen and lead is beyond reproach.”
“We fought for decades to make marriage equality the law in Illinois, and passed laws to protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. It’s important that our next attorney general enforces those laws and defends Illinois families against blatant discrimination, but if it were up to Erika Harold, these important protections could easily be rolled back,” Assistant House Majority Leader Greg Harris said. “I support Kwame Raoul, because he has always stood up for our rights.”
The video is currently running on digital platforms.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will be on the ballot in just one of Illinois’ 118 House districts this November, but his name and reputation will be featured in electoral battles throughout the state.
Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Republican Party will use Madigan against every Democrat from J.B. Pritzker on down to maybe even mosquito abatement district races.
Can Madigan’s lousy statewide image be used to defeat his fellow Democrats?
On the surface anyway, Madigan is less popular in Democratic Illinois than are unpopular Republicans Rauner and President Donald Trump. Sixty percent of Illinoisans polled in a recent Capitol Fax/We Ask America survey said they had an unfavorable view of Madigan, compared to 56 percent for President Donald Trump and 55 percent for Rauner.
They’re all doing pretty poorly, but Trump “wins” this category if you look at people with “very unfavorable” opinions. Forty-nine percent of 600 likely Illinois voters who were polled June 9-11 hold a very unfavorable view of the president, while 46 say they have a very unfavorable opinion of the Illinois speaker and 39 percent say that about the Republican governor. In contrast, 27 percent say that about J.B. Pritzker. The poll’s margin of error was +/-3.99 percent.
Overall, the poll found that Pritzker led Rauner by nine points, 36-27, with 26 percent choosing an unnamed third-party candidate and 11 percent undecided.
Just 31 percent of Democrats have a favorable view of Speaker Madigan, while 41 percent of Democrats have an unfavorable view, according to the poll. And lots of folks within what’s considered the “base” of the Democratic Party’s statewide strength don’t like Madigan, either. African-Americans are split 43-43. Women turn thumbs down 27-56 fave/unfave, as do Chicagoans (30-58), suburban Cook County residents (34-53) and labor union households (36-54).
Rauner has his own troubles with his party’s base. The only important GOP demographic he’s not underwater with outside of self-declared Republicans is senior citizens, and they just barely tolerate him. The Democrats are sure to use Rauner’s name and reputation against Republican candidates throughout the state.
So, my pollster came up with a question to try to see who was more popular (or unpopular, as the case may be) with voters in actual down-ballot races: “If the election for state legislator were being held today, are you more likely to vote for a candidate supported by Bruce Rauner, or a candidate supported by Michael Madigan?”
Forty-one percent said they’d be more likely to vote for a candidate backed by Rauner, while 32 percent said the same about Madigan. Another 27 percent said it wouldn’t make any difference either way.
While majorities or pluralities of Democratic base elements chose Madigan, significant minorities chose Rauner. For instance, 11 percent of Democrats chose a legislative candidate backed by Rauner, compared to 59 percent for Madigan (among Republicans, those numbers were 6 percent Madigan and 79 percent Rauner).
Among African-Americans, a significant 23 percent would choose a Rauner-backed candidate and 54 percent would choose a Madigan-backed legislative contender. Chicagoans were 19 percent for a Rauner candidate and 43 for a Madigan person; the Cook County suburbs went 32 for a Rauner candidate and 41 for a Madigan candidate, and union households broke 30 percent for the Rauner candidate to 43 percent for the Madigan candidate.
Another way of looking at it is that Rauner out-performs his personal favorable/unfavorable ratings across the board when we stack him up against the image of Speaker Madigan.
Just 36 percent of whites viewed Rauner favorably, but 44 percent would vote for a Rauner candidate over a Madigan candidate. Thirty-six percent of collar county voters like Rauner, but 49 percent would pick a Rauner candidate over the 29 percent who’d choose a Madigan candidate. Forty-four percent of Downstaters said they had a favorable impression of Rauner, and 51 percent would vote for a Rauner-backed candidate over a Madigan-backed candidate. I could go on, but you get the idea.
So, what does this tell us? Well, first of all, neither state politician is beloved (duh). Indeed, they’re so disliked that candidates should avoid any association with the both of them. But hotly contested campaigns are often won on the edges, and the anti-Madigan message might have an edge over the anti-Rauner message.
We didn’t do this test with President Trump, who will certainly be used by the Democrats against the Republicans in many areas. And there are other issues out there that will decide various races. Plus, as always, this is just one poll in June.
