* Darren Bailey was asked recently how he would counter Jesse Sullivan’s huge campaign finance advantage in the GOP primary…
I’m not a bit worried about that because every bit of his $10 million is Democrat-controlled money. If people will check Jesse Sullivan out they’ll see that his number one supporter that dumped in $5 million. All these people are from the Silicon Valley, from California and Colorado. Chris Larsen, his number one supporter, $5 million. He was on Joe Biden shortlist for vice president March of 2020. February of 2021, he donated $250,000 to Nancy Pelosi. This is nonsense. Go to Illinoissunshine.org. Look at all of his donors, click on his donors and you will see who else they have been donating money to. This is a Democrat ploy to put someone to make them look like a Republican and it’s nonsense. So the more people get educated about this, the more that they will see this, the more that they will understand this. Yes, that is, so that’s what’s going on. There is no doubt about this.
We’ve got almost 15,000 individual donors from $5 all the way to $200,000. Money is not going to win this election. Anyone in the state of Illinois from the primary all the way to Pritzker that’s going to sit here and tell us that money is going to win they are wrong. Grass roots is going to win the day. We’ve got people who have never been involved in the political process. Every one of these events that we’ve put on, people are showing up they’ve never been to a political meeting before. They’re getting engaged. They’re learning. That’s what we’re doing. That’s how we’re going to get Illinois back on track.
The most dangerous thing for Illinois to do is to elect the wrong Republican for the wrong reasons.
Wait’ll he finds out Sullivan’s spouse was a field officer for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. And, of course, the only campaign Sullivan is known to have volunteered on prior to this run was Democrat Colleen Callahan’s unsuccessful congressional bid..
I’m not saying, I’m just sayin’ this is a line of attack that could prove to be successful. Make him deny it. “I am not a plant!” The Republican Party’s conspiracy theorist wing is Bailey’s core constituency, after all. If they can believe there’s a microchip in every vaccine, or that you can “de-vaccinate,” they’ll probably buy into this.
* Moving right along, a press release…
Today, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC endorsed Congresswoman Marie Newman for re-election in Illinois’ 6th congressional district.
Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, and Jamie Raskin released the following statement:
“The Progressive Caucus has delivered for working families this year thanks to dedicated champions like Congresswoman Marie Newman who consistently put the needs of their community before corporations and special interests. Since the moment she came to Congress, Representative Newman has been delivering for her constituents, fighting to close the gender pay gap by making it easier for women to access capital, tackling the climate crisis, and creating good paying jobs by supporting investments in the future of our transportation systems. Her leadership has helped pass legislation that will strengthen organized labor and move America one important step closer to finally establishing health care as a human right. We are proud to endorse Congresswoman Newman for re-election.”
Congresswoman Marie Newman released the following statement:
“We are at a pivotal moment in this country and the Progressive Caucus is leading the charge to create an economy that works for all of us, championing policies that will uplift every single American. I’m honored to receive an endorsement from the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and I look forward to the opportunity to continue working with my colleagues in the caucus to rebuild our economy so that it is stronger, more equitable, and rooted in worker and climate justice.”
In 2020, the PAC raised $4.4 million and launched its first-ever independent expenditure arm, helping elect eight new candidates to Congress.
* And Rachel Hinton…
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia on Wednesday garnered the backing of the Illinois Nurses Association in her bid to succeed Jesse White as Illinois secretary of state.
Tori Dameron, the president of the union, said in a statement nurses “need the support of strong union allies in office now more than ever” as the pandemic continues to “strain” frontline workers and others in health care.
“Anna Valencia understands that more than any other candidate in this race,” Dameron said. “We know she will always fight for us the same way we fight for our patients every day. The INA is proud to endorse her.”
Valencia wrote that she is “committed to using the Secretary of State’s Office to advocate for all working families and make sure that our nurses, who are a critical part of the community, are supported in every effort.”
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) is touting Republican victories in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation that authorizes military spending and enacts Department of Defense policies for FY22. Rep. Davis proudly voted in support of the FY22 NDAA last night.
The legislation passed the House last night by a vote of 363-70. Republicans were crucial to bringing the bill across the finish line, providing a majority of the Yes votes. 51 Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against the legislation. You can find the roll call of the House NDAA vote here.
“We must never allow our military to be defunded, which is what voting No on the NDAA would have done.”
US Rep. Mary Miller, who may challenge Davis in a primary, voted “No,” along with Danny Davis, Chuy Garcia, Jan Schakowsky and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
…Adding… From Miller’s statement…
The NDAA still creates a federal vaccine mandate that allows President Biden to discharge healthy active duty service members from my district. The bill also includes leftist Critical Race Theory “equity” training requirements for the military that my constituents strongly oppose.
I am proud that as a result of hard work by conservatives, the gun confiscation and draft for teenage girls provisions were removed from the bill. I will always oppose radical leftwing policies being rammed through Congress by President Biden, and I will never vote for policies opposed so strongly by the constituents I represent.
It was so radical and left-wing that AOC and Jan Schakowsky voted against it. Right. She’s caught on this one.
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 11:41 am:
“Sullivan is a plant” is silly. If the Dems were going to meddle in the Republican Primary, they’d boost Bailey. He’s who they want to face.
But “Sullivan is way more moderate than most Republican Primary voters” is almost certainly true.
- allknowingmasterofraccoondom - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 11:41 am:
I don’t believe he is a “plant”, but he sure does look like a democrat.
Why would the D’s need to “plant” anything in this race? Does anyone other than Bailey actually believe some R can beat Gov Pritzker?
- Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 11:47 am:
“Chris Larsen, his number one supporter, $5 million. He was on Joe Biden shortlist for vice president March of 2020.”
I am googling with all my might. All I found was one “rumor” on one website that I have never heard of.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 11:48 am:
===All I found was one “rumor” on one website that I have never heard of===
Pretty much how the covid rumors spread.
- Regular democrat - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 11:53 am:
When people really start paying attention to the sec of state race I believe Valencia can be a formidable candidate. I hope i am right
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:04 pm:
===When people really start paying attention to the sec of state race I believe===
It’ll likely be too late.
- Illiana - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:08 pm:
=believe some R can beat Gov Pritzker?=
I believe it’s possible he could lose. Not to Bailey though, that’s laughable to me.
There was a Nov. poll conducted on the Governor’s behalf that had his approval at 50% and disapproval at 41%. Those are pretty good numbers considering the national landscape, but he did lose 14 points since last year. If that trend continued he could be in for a close race and possibly lose against the “right” R.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:12 pm:
===There was a Nov. poll conducted on the Governor’s behalf ===
Link?
- Middle Way - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:18 pm:
https://morningconsult.com/2021/11/18/phil-scott-approval-vermont-polling-senate-race/ I think she’s thinking of this Morning Consult poll not a private one from J.B.’s camp
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:19 pm:
I think this is one conspiracy bridge too far. It should be enough to tie the idea that someone who claims they’re going to “end the status quo” once campaigned for Colleen Callahan and just repeatedly hit him over the head with the aggrandized claims from when he made a quarter million dollars in Afghanistan.
I also cannot overstate how insignificant of a role a field staff hire brought on in the fall of 2008 is, but her LinkedIn does raise a lot of questions I have about their residency history in the state, but none of that really matters in the land of giving congressional nominations to your son who lives and works out of state and has for years.
===All I found was one “rumor” on one website that I have never heard of. ===
The current best practice for Vice Presidential nominee vetting involves hiring multiple white shoe firms and giving them each a different potential list of people to vet. The people being vetted are usually contacted in order to cooperate with the vetting, and most of the folks on that list are there for reasons besides they’re the likely VP nominee.
Anyone who acknowledges they’re being vetted is usually off of the list, so the best you might get is a staffer telling someone else that someone is being looked at to be VP, which is pretty meaningless.
No one who diffidently knows who got vetted and who didn’t get vetted, and no one who did the vetting would likely put their name to a claim because that would be career ending.
Even the list of everyone who got vetted isn’t something that is necessarily universally agreed on. So this is a fun rumor because there’s a very low likelihood of anyone who actually knows anything every acknowledging it or addressing it, and most of the people involved in the process don’t actually know who all was vetted.
It is very unlikely anyone at a white shoe law firm wants to end the ability for their firm to get this kind of work.
And really, this kind of rumor is usually inconvenient for the subject and even if it were true, they’re sort of supposed to deny it.
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:21 pm:
-Money is not going to win this election.-
Actually it probably is. A favorite saying of someone without money. Up there with the old Pat Quinn canard he would trot out in those races where he got trounced… “the only poll that matters is on Election Day.”
- ArchPundit - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:22 pm:
If there was ever a time to pull out the Claire McCaskill tactic of claiming the most conservative candidate is awful in the Republican Primary, Bailey’s candidacy is it.
Darren Bailey–truly a right wing nutjob. I’m JB Pritzker and paid for this ad.
- ArchPundit - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:25 pm:
The Morning Consult polling is weird as has been covered here before. It is a three month window of responses into approval and that creates all sorts of issues with interpreting it.
- Siualum - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:28 pm:
“The most dangerous thing Illinois could do is elect..” Darren Bailey.
- Bruce( no not him) - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:38 pm:
== Money is not going to win this election. ==
Boy, he really doesn’t understand elections.
- Numbers matter - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:44 pm:
He’s not a plant. But he has admitted to voting for Obama in 08 and didn’t vote for Trump either time. (he dodged the Obama 12 question) So the question that will be asked in the next few weeks is why he thinks he should be the de facto leader of the Illinois Republican Party when he doesn’t appear to have ever supported the Republican Presidential nominees? All of this on top of the Silicon Valley money makes him, (a very nice guy btw) a non-starter.
- Dotnonymous - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 12:55 pm:
“We’ve got people who have never been involved in the political process.” - Darren Bailey
Anyone know a Plumber who knows nothing about the process?
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 1:18 pm:
===Money is not going to win this election===
I’m torn between whether this comment was made by someone who is potentially naive and perhaps incredibly optimistic or someone that lost a campaign or ballot measure when they had a significant funding advantage.
Since Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has been mentioned, she’s a pretty great example of defeating the well heeled operation but that operation didn’t exactly spend heavily to win the primary in ways that mattered.
Congresswoman Mary Miller might lose votes in her district over quoting Hitler, but voting with AOC might do the trick depending on how disconnected from integrity Rodney Davis or a potential opponent might be.
- Pundent - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 1:51 pm:
=Money is not going to win this election.=
I queried Money on their thoughts and they said the same thing about Darren Bailey.
- Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 2:08 pm:
=== I think this is one conspiracy bridge too far. ===
You might not be familiar with the GOP.
These folks think that Democrats are conspiring with Big Pharma to stop Republicans from drinking bleach.
Besides, it gives Bailey a chance to talk about how Bruce Rauner and his pro-choice wife betrayed the Republican Party by expanding abortion, enabling a tax hike, and increasing government by billions.
It will sell like hot cakes Darren.
- Dotnonymous - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 2:18 pm:
In some instances, it’s difficult to tell the painful truth…it’s never difficult to tell people the lies they want to believe.
- JJJJJJJJJJ - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 2:27 pm:
Well who know Sen. Bailey and I share something in common: an appreciation for Illinois’ excellent campaign finance transparency laws and the hard working people over at Illinoissunshine that make it all easy to digest. Here’s to Illinois’ campaign finance transparency!
- MTZ - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 2:41 pm:
So let me get this straight…leaving the military unfunded over required COVID vaccination is better than leaving in the requirement which will result in a small number of people being effected in the military.
I want to rhetorically say “how does that make sense” but these are the same people who say they’re for law and order yet defend people who beat Capitol police officers during an insurrection…
- Henry Francis - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 2:41 pm:
In this week’s episode of Succession, the family patriarch is asking his son if the CEO of a company they are considering acquiring is a “serious” man, explaining “I can win any bout with a boxer, but I don’t know how to knock out a clown.”
That seems to be the challenge we have with folks like Mary Miller and her ilk.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 3:03 pm:
==The NDAA still creates a federal vaccine mandate that allows President Biden to discharge healthy active duty service members from my district ==
He’s Commander and Cheif, I suspect you would have a hard time finding a court that would say he couldn’t do that no matter what congress says.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 3:25 pm:
Try to keep up, Al. The Selective Service registration requirement for women was dropped from the bill. So you’re going to need another reason to explain her no vote.
I’ll wait.
- Furtive Look - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 5:25 pm:
Anybody with common sense would have voted against the bloated defense authorization bill. Of course Mary doesn’t have that.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Dec 8, 21 @ 7:00 pm:
==== I think this is one conspiracy bridge too far. ====
That bridge you seek does not exist.
= voted against the bloated defense authorization bill=
The US spends more on defense spending than the other highest 20 countries combined. There has not been a defense spending bill in the last 60 years that was not bloated. It is a feature of the GOP platform. SO MM has no clue who she is or what she stands for other than trying to get attention for social media lunacy.
Same as Derwood Bailey.
- Narc - Thursday, Dec 9, 21 @ 8:05 am:
Rodney Davis: government needs to spend less money!
Also Rodney Davis: military spending must never decrease!