* WREX…

[Rockford] Mayor Tom McNamara is unsure if he’ll run for the 17th district seat currently held by Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.

“I haven’t made any final decisions,” McNamara said. “I’m absolutely considering the position… We as elected officials we’re here to make a difference in residents lives, and I think we can do a better job of that.” […]

McNamara said he’s getting a “strong push” by local, state and national Democrats to run for the seat. […]

Regardless of whether or not he runs, McNamara said the candidate should be someone from the district.

OK, but there are no districts yet. And there may not be until October.

* Meanwhile, from the same area…

The campaign for Republican Esther Joy King today announced it had raised over $425,000 in the second fundraising quarter that ended June 30th.

King’s campaign, fueled by grassroots momentum of a now-open seat, raised nearly $400,000 since becoming the frontrunner in the race on April 30. Her total raised since formally entering the race for the 2022 election now tops $575,000 as her campaign has moved into one of the top 3 GOP pickup opportunities nationwide. […]

King’s Q2 fundraising by the numbers:
Total Raised in Q2: $426,384.32
Total Raised since April 30: $393,101.40
Total Raised in 2021: $581,544.23
Number of Q2 Donors: 1,219
Number of Q2 IL Donors: 820
Percentage of donors from IL: 67%

Pretty good, but she hasn’t yet filed her report, so we don’t know what she spent.

* In other news, this is from the Democratic Party of Illinois and the Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association…

Fringe Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller welcomed conspiracy theorist and hate speech provocateur Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green to Illinois this week. Today, Abby Witt, Executive Director for the Democratic Party of Illinois, and Dan Kovats, Executive Director for the Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association, released the following statement:

“Mary Miller and Marjorie Taylor Green are two peas in a pod blindly following their dear failed leader Donald Trump. They voted against honoring the police officers who protected them and others from the January 6 failed insurrection instigated by Trump. Miller and Green both purposely spew hate concerning statements referencing Hitler, the Holocaust, and Nazi ‘Brown Shirts’ into their remarks.”

“The Miller and Green show are now fundraising together in Illinois, continuing their grift and conspiracy theory partnership. If they are the Republican Party, they don’t represent the majority of middle Americans and they don’t belong in Congress spewing hate and division.”

Mary Miller quoted Hitler the day before the failed insurrection. Marjorie Taylor Green, again, made another Nazi-era reference regarding the push to vaccinate more Americans – her second comment in months.

* News-Gazette editorial…

Miller’s 15th Congressional District is by far the most conservative in Illinois — Donald Trump won it with 72 percent last year — and Greene undoubtedly will be a big draw at Thursday’s event and will help replenish Miller’s campaign treasury.

But in terms of advancing thoughtful conservative values and civility in government, and in finally helping to repel the damaging myth that the election was stolen from Trump, Miller has chosen chaos over contemplation.

She is doing her district and her country a disservice by promoting Greene and driving more loosely based, ideologically suspect wedges among the broader electorate.

* And Greg Hinz…

Chicago-based Boeing has emerged as the largest corporate donor in the country this year to political groups that back members of Congress who voted against certifying the election of President Joe Biden.

In a new report, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, or CREW, said that since recently lifting a ban on congressional donations imposed after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, Boeing’s political action committee has donated $210,000 to groups affiliated with what CREW calls “the Sedition Caucus.”

Koch Industries, whose founders long have been active in conservative causes, is second, at $122,500, and Walmart third at $60,000, according to the report, based on Federal Election Commission records. The only other Illinois company on the list of top 25 donors is Deere, with one donation for $5,000.