* Stay tuned…
Irvin has filed no A-1’s yet, so we don’t know where the money is coming from, but click here and occasionally refresh if you feel like it.
* Kendall County Board Chair…
That could make this a race. The other GOP candidates so far are James Marter, Michael Koolidge and Jack Lombardi.
* Edwardsville Intelligencer…
Madison County has filed a lawsuit to stop the state from dividing the Third Judicial Circuit into four subcircuits.
Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine on Saturday announced he has filed a lawsuit to halt the enforcement of the recently-enacted House Bill 3138 splitting the circuit, which includes Madison and Bond counties, into four subcircuits.
The suit seeks a temporary restraining order “barring defendants from taking any steps to enforce or institute” the new law until the court can consider the county’s request for preliminary injunction. […]
On Jan. 13, following a special Madison County Board meeting on the new subcircuits, Haine indicated the lawsuit was imminent. The board voted 21-2, with five absent, at that meeting to condemn the state law signed Jan. 7 by Pritzker that divides the Third Judicial Circuit into four subcircuits.
The bill, amended and passed within hours on Jan. 5 by both houses of the General Assembly, required candidates for one of the new Madison County subcircuits to begin circulating nominating petitions on Thursday, Jan. 13.
* Post-Dispatch…
The bill’s sponsors argued the new sub-circuits would allow voters to choose more diverse judges in some counties.
But while most Illinois judicial circuits that had judicial sub-circuits added won’t use them to choose judges until 2024, the law takes immediate effect in the state’s Third Judicial Circuit covering Madison County, where two Republicans appointed to fill vacancies are up for election to full six-year terms in November.
“This sub-circuit law has serious Constitutional issues and is being rushed forward in a reckless way,” Haine said in a statement Saturday. “We are arguing that a pause is warranted here to let clearer heads prevail. With this pause, our upcoming 2022 judicial elections can be held countywide, as they have always been, while the courts closely review this very dubious new sub-circuit scheme.”
Democrats tried to get some Democrats in and Republicans are trying to keep their local control.
There’s a hearing today at 3 pm.
* Press release…
Illinois Secretary of State candidate Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican, today announced his enthusiastic support for a newly-authorized program that can create additional jobs to help the economy while easing the supply chain delays that are plaguing the country.
The Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program authorized by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration allows those between 18 and 20 years of age who hold a Commercial Driver’s License to cross state lines after extensive training. Trucking companies will soon be able to establish apprenticeships for under-21 drivers as part of the program.
“More truck drivers means more goods can be delivered, shortages can be eased, young people can earn a living wage in a lucrative career, and our economy can literally get moving again,” Brady said. “Illinois has the third most total highway miles of any state, and with more truck drivers on our roads we stand to gain more tax revenue while getting our industrial, commercial and personal goods delivered on time again.”
The Illinois Secretary of State issues licenses to truck drivers in Illinois, and if elected Brady pledges to make sure that licensure process becomes more efficient for truck drivers of all ages while retaining all of the measures that keep the state’s roads safe. The Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program requires two lengthy probationary periods with an experienced driver, strict apprentice driver performance benchmarks, and the use of special safety features in trucks being driven by apprentices.
“We rarely have a chance to do something like this that fires on all cylinders,” Brady said. “I support this apprenticeship program, and as your next Secretary of State I will work closely with participating firms to make sure their drivers are licensed, safe and ready to go to work.”
* More…
* Assessing the Illinois Governor’s Race After a Week that Shook Things Up
* Mayor Lori Lightfoot has spent more campaign cash than she’s raised during a term marked by crises: ‘She’s not scaring anybody’
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 3:02 pm:
= The suit seeks a temporary restraining order =
This might get lost in the nuance, but is this State’s Attorney openly arguing that just the potential of electing more diverse judges will cause him immediate irreparable injury?
His only other complaints seem to be “but we’ve always done it this other way”, which seems a bit flimsy at best.
Will be interesting to see the outcome of the hearing.
- JoanP - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 3:20 pm:
@ TheInvisibleMan -
No,he’s arguing that it will cause the COUNTY irreparable injury. He is not the plaintiff; the Madison County is. He represents the County because that’s part of the job of the State’s Attorney.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 4:10 pm:
At a time and place of Irvin’s choosing…
… so the ads begin to pave the way for “sit-downs”?
Possible.
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 4:50 pm:
@JoanP
No disrespect, but you are incorrectly combining his multiple claims into a single one. The harm he is referencing is indeed harm for a specific person, not the county, also listed as a plaintiff in this filing.
He is trying to dance around ignoring the very clear fact that while he is implying the constitutionality claim is based on something that ’shall’ be done, the actual language in the state constitution he is referencing uses ‘may’ instead of ’shall’. For this he is not claiming harm, but confusion, as the basis of the claim.
He then complains that a voter(the listed plaintiff) won’t be able to vote for judges outside of the district they live in. That’s the irrevocable harm that is being claimed, not to the county as you mentioned, but that a voter can’t vote for candidates they might want to vote for outside of the district they live in.
He then complains the GIS data the county has for the district is not very accurate and the county now has to rush to fix it. Not that it is wrong, just that it wasn’t done with enough resolution. The county not doing this back in May when they should have is not the fault of the legislature or this bill. This is why it’s important to appoint knowledgeable and competent people to the local county board “legislative and judicial” committee.
Should he have his day in court? Yes. Does it rise to the level of requiring a TRO to be issued by a judge until his confusion is resolved? Absolutely not.
Even if his claims were accurate, this would at best be the job of the county clerk to address his confusion, and that office is mysteriously not listed as a plaintiff nor has submitted an AC brief.
For the curious, the full filing below;
https://s3.amazonaws.com/jnswire/jns-media/ad/43/11670542/mcsuit.pdf
- New Day - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 5:29 pm:
“Irvin has filed no A-1’s yet, so we don’t know where the money is coming from…”
If his ads are starting tomorrow, the funds need to be at the TV stations which means the $$$ had to come from somewhere. So either this is an IE or he’s starting his campaign with a likely (not guaranteed but likely) campaign finance violation.
- Furtive Look - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 6:14 pm:
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Tom Haine, Kurt Prenzler and the rest of a far-right clique have taken over Madison County government.
- Unconventional wisdom - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 6:46 pm:
=Irvin TV ads start tomorrow=
- Unconventional wisdom - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 6:46 pm:
=Irvin TV ads start tomorrow=
Can’t wait. This should be interesting.
- Candle - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 8:20 pm:
A1s must be filed within 5 business days of date of deposit. So wait til like Friday people.
- NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Tuesday, Jan 25, 22 @ 5:09 am:
The GA could have avoided the subcircuit mess by redistricting the entire state to about 40 or so new circuit court districts. With districts not necessarily contiguous to county lines, and based on demographics, voting patterns, etc. Similar to legislative districts.