The state’s political world may have been shocked, but I doubt many in that world were surprised at the level of vitriol in Rep. Sam Yingling’s, D-Grayslake, press release last week that claimed he’d been “attacked” by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Pritzker’s “offense” was endorsing Yingling’s Democratic primary opponent Mary Edly-Allen in the race to replace retiring state Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake.
Edly-Allen is a former Democratic state representative and is also backed by Bush. She had a pretty good couple of weeks leading up to the Pritzker endorsement. Edly-Allen had by then reported raising about $266,000 just since the middle of May, including $25,000 reported last week from the Illinois Pipe Trades PAC. Yingling started the second quarter with more money (his $109,000 compared to her $11,000) but has struggled ever since, reporting just $38,000 in contributions to date.
Pritzker has yet to give any legislator more than $5,000 in campaign contributions during the primary, but Edly-Allen clearly has the funds to get the word out about his support. And while there is no polling that I could lay my hands on in that district about Pritzker, he’s generally polling very well among Democrats. So, the nod will likely help.
I privately thought going into this Senate contest that Yingling had a decent edge, but if Edly-Allen is working like she did when she first won a House race in 2018, along with all this money and numerous important endorsements, well, I may have been very wrong.
And then Yingling let loose on the governor. “As a gay man, I am used to being bullied,” Yingling was quoted as saying in his press release after Pritzker announced his decision. “But, I did not expect to be attacked on the first day of PRIDE month by a fellow Democrat.”
The press release issued by the governor’s campaign did not contain a single reference to Yingling. It was all about Edly-Allen’s positive traits.
I’m told the governor made his decision to endorse Edly-Allen the week earlier, but there was reportedly some Senate Democratic involvement in the decision to hand the story to a suburban newspaper over the Memorial Day weekend. The short-staffed and possibly disinterested paper didn’t run it.
So, the announcement was pushed out the door Tuesday evening in a wide blast. No thought was apparently given to the fact that the following day would be the beginning of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
The reason most in the political world probably won’t be surprised by his reaction is that Yingling, plain and simple, does not work well with others.
Since January 2021, for instance, Yingling has introduced 183 bills and not a single one of them has made it to the governor’s desk. Just four have passed the House. The Senate, where Yingling is trying to land, has taken up none of them. The four bills never even made it out of the Assignments Committee.
Yingling has sent out four mailers that I could find. Three of them were negative.
One mailer paired Edly-Allen with former House Speaker Michael Madigan, and Yingling also mentioned the Madigan connection in his press release. Madigan did not originally back Yingling for the House, but he sent plenty of foot soldiers to the district to keep him there. Madigan’s committees also directly gave Yingling $1.75 million over the years, and Madigan’s allies in the House and organized labor gave him millions more.
Yingling did not join colleagues to call for Madigan’s ouster until after the November 2020 election was over and his Republican opponent was vanquished with the help of about $300,000 in contributions from Madigan’s Democratic Majority PAC and the Democratic Party of Illinois.
To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But using Madigan as a cudgel against a primary opponent after taking help like that, while Yingling is clearly demonstrating he is having a difficult time raising money on his own without backing from a party caucus, is a bit much.
Pritzker’s campaign had no comment about Yingling’s remarks. Coincidentally or not, the governor appeared the following day with two prominent LGBTQ+ state legislators, Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, and Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, “to tour LGBTQ+ owned businesses in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood and kick off PRIDE Month.” He was not asked by reporters about Yingling’s statement.
- 14th ward - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 9:14 am:
Rich, is this the first time that the strawman fallacy has been used? You seem shocked, yet these accusations are thrown around quite often in the arena. relax and let’s report the news.
- Cheap Seats at the Ford Theatre - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 9:36 am:
I live in Sam’s House District. He used to come around all the time. I haven’t seen him or his people in ages. Meanwhile, Mary’s people seem to be out in force and her signs are popping up like weeds.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 9:50 am:
=relax and let’s report the news.=
So you are running the blog now? Oof.
=Madigan’s committees also directly gave Yingling $1.75 million over the years, and Madigan’s allies in the House and organized labor gave him millions more.=
Hypocrite much Sam?
Desperation is a stinky cologne Sam. (hat tip Super Troopers)
- Amalia - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 9:53 am:
yingling could be used as a new way to describe future behavior such as the Rep.’s now, or the behavior of 14th Ward as evidenced here.
- Roman - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 9:59 am:
I get the need to employ a strawman strategy every once in a while, but I just don’t see how it works here. He’s running in a Dem primary, where I doubt there’s a lot of value in drawing attention to the fact you’re at odds with a Democratic governor.
- Back to the Future - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:01 am:
Actually liked the behind the curtain look at Sam Y’s Senate race.
Complaining about Madigan seems a stretch in light of the help he got from Madigan.
- Responsa - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:14 am:
==Pritzker’s campaign had no comment about Yingling’s remarks.==
A wise decision. During campaign season not every political remark deserves or requires a responding political comment.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:20 am:
===relax and let’s report the news===
Bite me.
- Chris in ChiTown - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:21 am:
If a State Rep gives up their seat, they should have been sure that they had a decent shot at the seat. Rich, all the bad messaging from Yingling just hurts his chances to make a transition after the primary into a staff role in the State House, State Senate, or a state government department.
- Left of the Lake - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:37 am:
I just saw that JB signed HB 568 last week. So Yingling did actually get one of those bills to his desk this year.
- Cheap seats at the Ford Theatre - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:42 am:
=Bite me.=
It’s Rich’s blog and he can do what he likes. Don’t like it? Don’t read it. Dem’s the rules.
=A wise decision. During campaign season not every political remark deserves or requires a responding political comment. =
Sam should have done the same. Instead - he gave this thing more oxygen. A PR no no. Whoever is advising Sam is doing more harm than good.
- vern - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 10:51 am:
=== I privately thought going into this Senate contest that Yingling had a decent edge, but if Edly-Allen is working like she did when she first won a House race in 2018, along with all this money and numerous important endorsements, well, I may have been very wrong. ===
I know I’ve gone a few rounds on this race already, but I do think there are big differences between this election and 2018. It’s a primary, so name ID is a lot more important. There’s no straight-ticket voter base she can start from. Her 2018 opponent was newly appointed and totally crazy. I know Yingling doesn’t have the most popular personality among insiders, but that’s a lot harder to communicate than the Helene Walsh oppo.
The fact that Yingling isn’t starting from scratch can’t be understated here. I know the messaging you’re seeing from him is mostly negative against MEA, but I haven’t seen any evidence of MEA going negative on him. That means the Democrats who have voted for him every cycle for 10 years have no reason to walk away from him this time. His half of the Senate district will have higher turnout than Mason’s half, and he’s going to win it by a decent margin. MEA needs to blow him out of the water in Mason’s district, and Mason endorsed Yingling.
MEA will have enough money to earn votes there, but her spending edge won’t be enough to totally swamp Yingling where they’re both new to voters. I just don’t see the path for her here.
- 14th ward - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 11:22 am:
First, I think every one is getting dramatic here? My comment was meant to say “We should not be surprised by anything anymore on the campaign trail”
- low level - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 11:47 am:
Maybe Yingling’s head could have been made the state rock. He clearly has rocks for brains…
- MisterJayEm - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 11:56 am:
“My comment was meant to say ‘We should not be surprised by anything anymore on the campaign trail’”
Then maybe you should pause for a moment and ponder why you did such a poor job of communicating that trite observation.
– MrJM
- Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 12:09 pm:
Bless your heart, vern
- Rabid - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 12:27 pm:
Jussie smollett school of acting graduate
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 12:54 pm:
Whenever I’ve written about Yingling lately, the worst sort of scum have crawled out of the woodwork to attack me. That shows me pretty much everything I need to know about their guy.
- Amalia - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 1:18 pm:
oh my, Rich, that is very awful. sorry you have to endure really bad attacks.
- stateandlake - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 2:04 pm:
== but I haven’t seen any evidence of MEA going negative on him. ==
I got one MEA mailer citing Yingling votes against $ for breast cancer research, and DV support services. There is also a negative ad against Yingling on streaming services (Samsung TV Plus) though I haven’t seen it on broadcast or cable.
- stateandlake - Monday, Jun 6, 22 @ 2:54 pm:
Didn’t take long to catch the streaming ad again. It is about gun issues, Yingling’s NRA rating, and vote record on concealed carry. Sponsored by MEA.
- LC Progress - Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 8:37 am:
Mason supporting Yingling is a real head scratcher. Is he extorting her with a political “bomb”? Mason has never come across as a gambler. I suspect if Yingling loses the primary, Mason will turn her seat back over to the GOP. Much of Mason’s election success in 2018 can be directly attributed to Melinda Bush.
- SMH - Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 2:45 pm:
LC progress Bush took credit to for the 2018 success but had little to do with it. She has divided the party in an attempt to gain wealth and power. Any losses in 2022 will be her fault. She decided not to run again and should just go away.