* Since we last discussed this topic, Gov. Pritzker has contributed $55,000 to Avon Township Democratic Chair Hal Sloan’s campaign for state central committee. Tom Maillard is the incumbent, but despite receiving several endorsements, he has reported raising almost no money.

And then this hit the mailboxes today…

Former Senate President Cullerton voted with Pritzker on the DPI chair election, accurately predicting that the state party would face some big legal hurdles to raise and spend non-federal campaign funds if Robin Kelly won. Cullerton is running against Sen. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago), and Martwick wasn’t surprised with the endorsement.

Also, Martwick and Pritzker have tangled a bit on MWRD candidate Daniel Pogorzelski. “Pogo” was endorsed by the county party and he’s close to Martwick. Pritzker is going up against the party in that race and is backing former staffer Chakena Perry, who was appointed to the MWRD.

That makes seven public endorsements so far in contested races. The others are here.

*** UPDATE 1 *** The governor has contributed another $500,000 to the Democratic Party of Illinois. He also gave $15,000 to Karen Yarbrough, who’s running unopposed for both state central committee and for county clerk. He also contributed $5,000 to Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Rep. Gordon Booth, a strong Pritzker ally at the Statehouse, is running against two other Democrats in this open-seat contest, Pam Davidson (who has also sent a mailer) and Linda McNeely…

*** UPDATE 3 *** Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford) just confirmed that he was endorsed by Gov. Pritzker. West is running against Virgil Mayberry in the 17th District.

       

18 Comments - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 4:46 pm: Love it. Win your races. You made a choice, now win. Hope Pritzker wins all of these. - DuPage Saint - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 4:55 pm: For an “outsider business man” he is playing awfully inside politics. He must have learned fast and is playing hardball. That is all cliches I have at this time - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 5:01 pm: ===That is all cliches I have at this time=== Bless you. - Telly - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 5:02 pm: White dudes in suits with neck ties standing in a downtown office. Not usually part of the mail plan. - OneMan - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 5:21 pm: What is the over/under on the final number of these races he is going to cut 55,000 checks for? 7? - Dirty Red - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 5:24 pm: = Not usually part of the mail plan. = That’s why I only punch for the Strange Women Lying in Ponds Distributing Swords ticket. - vern - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 5:59 pm: This is a perfect example of why I described Pritzker’s approach to primaries this year as “myopic.” Willy and I have gone round and round on the first-order question of who should win these state central committee races, so I’m going to try hard to avoid that angle. I just want to look at it from Pritzker’s point of view. Is endorsing Cullerton over Martwick good for JB Pritzker politically? In one sense, sure. As we’ve discussed ad nauseam, he wants control of the SCC and thinks the only way to do that is to replace the current members. This furthers that one goal. But Martwick isn’t only running for SCC. He’s the incumbent in a contested Senate primary. I think it’s unlikely that a positive mailer for Cullerton hurts Martwick in his Senate race, but when races get very close the little things start to matter. I don’t think Pritzker will like the choices he made if Erin Jones wins by 3 votes. But if Jones doesn’t win, then Pritzker has worsened his relationship with a senator. There aren’t that many senators, so alienating them is ill-advised. Pritzker isn’t just choosing what he thinks is best for him regarding DPI, he’s making marginal cost choices on other issues, possibly unpredictable ones. We’ve already seen him struggle to get appointments through the Senate. We’ve already seen the Senate throw up a months-long brick wall on CEJA. We’ve seen the Senate hold public hearings on the Tollway mess long before Pritzker got around to sorting it out. None of those get easier to resolve with a more alienated Senator Martwick. They’re definitely not easier to resolve with a permanently alienated Senator Yingling. Maybe you want to blame those guys, and the other legislators whose friends and allies are on the wrong side of $55,000 checks. That’s the right of every blog commenter. But governors don’t always have the luxury of indulging in every single one of their rights. They have to take a more holistic view. Personal relationships matter in politics and governing. As someone else (I think Arsenal?) said in an earlier thread, politics is a game of addition. If Pritzker cannot do wrong, but can only be wronged, he joins the long line of Governors who failed miserably with that philosophy. Every single one of them was within their rights, but rights are broader than the bounds of effectiveness. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 6:39 pm: - vern - Pritzker owes none of these folks anything, including Martwick Giving Martwick a pass won’t mean anything to appointments, bills, nothing. Politics ain’t bean bag. The elitist, these folks thought they could just do things without repercussions. That’s not how politics has ever worked Addition? These folks gonna hop and help the likes of Mary Miller, Darren Bailey or any Trumpkin? I hope Pritzker beats every single one of these folks. Get ‘em out. If they can’t win their race, what are they worth exactly? Mending fences with the sitting governor versus the sitting governor asking for help that 99.9% of folks couldn’t name? Yeah. No. Nope. It don’t work that way. Take them out, 99.9% of prooor ring even know, and if people “care”, then those people better help in this election, because this is about settling family business, and the *voters* will do the settling. - vern - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 7:16 pm: “I forego the vengeance of my son. But I have selfish reasons.” The Godfather is a much more complex movie than you give it credit for. You seem to want a more straightforward revenge flick, which are definitely a lot of fun. John Wick, Taken, The Man from Nowhere, and Hard Candy are great options. All the catharsis with none of the pesky realism. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 7:24 pm: === forego the vengeance of my son. But I have selfish reason=== Michael then handled ALL family business. The entitled and the lazy elite need to *earn* their sests. More than fair. - Amalia - Wednesday, Jun 15, 22 @ 9:51 pm: vern’s point about Erin Jones is well taken. that said, I don’t get why Martwick is running for the State Central spot. - Sonny - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 8:01 am: Yeah nothing says definitely not elitist like John Cullerton. Super normal career path and status. OW champion of the little guy. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 8:07 am: - Sonny - You know you’re an elitist when you feel entitled to a role and don’t want voters to have their say in it. Keep up. - T - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 8:18 am: Dems to JB “please buy us all.” Repubs to Griffin “please buy as all.” History gave us the Gilded Age. Now we live with the politics of “benevolent” billionaires. - Illinois - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 1:10 pm: OW - You might add this to your definition of an elitist: You know you’re an elitist when you can just write big checks to win. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 1:13 pm: ===You might add…=== I won’t. Thanks. Outspent candidates that outwork wealthy ones exist very often. Good try, no. Be well. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 1:35 pm: ===when you can just write big checks to win=== Didn’t work for the Fair Tax. Stop whining and start working. - Thomas Paine - Thursday, Jun 16, 22 @ 5:48 pm: Time, people, and money. Those are the three resources a campaign has. Dick Durbin has had over 40 years to assemble a political operation. Dick Durbin’s political staff knew well that Pritzker was going to spend money to win the stat central committee. What did Durbin’s political folks do about it? Seemingly nothing. Maybe they should not have flip-flopped on the governor. Unless they have some plan, they should probably just throw in the towel, and tell JB they are sorry. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.