Campaign notebook
Wednesday, Oct 26, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We’re number 10…
* During last night’s attorney general debate, Tom DeVore claimed that AG Kwame Raoul’s negotiations over police certification “abruptly stopped” when the language was folded into the SAFE-T Act. He said the FOP was upset about it. Amanda Vinicky asked Raoul if that’s how it went down…
Raoul: No, we had, in fact, in my direct conversations with the state FOP, they thanked me for for engaging them.
DeVore: Chris Southwood would probably disagree with him.
DeVore made an accurate prediction for a change…
Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge President Chris Southwood and Chicago FOP Lodge 7 President John Catanzara issued the following statements regarding Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s assertion that the FOP “thanked” him for including the organization in discussions while the SAFE-T Act was making its way through the Illinois General Assembly in 2021. Raoul made the assertion during the Attorney General debate on October 25 with Republican candidate Tom Devore:
Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood: “Mr. Raoul needs to get his facts straight. Why would we thank him for promising to include us in those fateful discussions, only to have him ‘ghost’ us at the most crucial time in the negotiations and let the bill’s supporters completely exclude us from providing any input whatsoever? All you need to do is look at the SAFE-T Act to know that Mr. Raoul didn’t keep his pledge to us, and caved in to the pressure from his own political party.”
Chicago FOP Lodge 7 President John Canzara: “Thank Mr. Raoul? For what? For promising one thing to our faces and then breaking off the knife he stabbed us in the back with? You’d have to be crazy to think that there was any FOP input in the monstrosity that should be called the UN-SAFE-T Act by any Illinoisan who is sick of coddling criminals and punishing the police.”
Amanda says thanks for your input yesterday, by the way.
* Harrison Malkin…
According to Mark Maxwell of KSDK, Budzinski lists her assets and investment portfolio in the ballpark of $700,000 and $1.9 million.
Meanwhile, Budzinski’s opponent, Regan Deering, lists her net worth between $35 million and $142 million. Deering is the granddaughter of Dwayne Andreas, former chairman and CEO of Archer-Daniels-Midland.
* Illinois early vote totals…
* Chicago early vote totals…
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Tuesday, October 25, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 18,724 ballots cast.
Additionally, 38,672 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 195,203.
The grand total is 57,396 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* GOP eyes Indiana upset amid national push to diversify party : Democrats have represented this industrial, union-friendly corner of northwest Indiana in Congress for nearly a century. But Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan’s reelection bid is in question as the party faces headwinds around the U.S. this year, buffeted by President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and high inflation. The contours of this district, encompassing Gary, have been redrawn to be slightly more friendly to Republicans.
* Your vote on workers’ rights, Illinois Supreme Court can help improve the lives of working families: The other two races, at the end of the ballot, are just as important. Maintaining a worker-friendly majority on the state Supreme Court will assure that the Workers’ Rights Amendment, if passed, will be upheld. Indeed, it will do more than that. The two Supreme Court vacancies are arguably the most significant races on the ballot; the justices who sit on our state’s highest court are the ultimate arbiters of Illinois law. The seats at stake are for the 2nd judicial district, which includes Kane and Lake counties; and the 3rd district, which includes DuPage and Will counties.
* Candidates for Illinois treasurer take different approaches in campaigning: Demmer has done a series of Facebook videos and has hosted news conferences to share ideas. Recently, Demmer was on PBS and explained why should be elected. … Earlier this week, Frerichs, seeking a second term, released his first TV ad, calling himself the watchdog and touting things he says are accomplishments since being elected.
* How votes are cast and counted is increasingly decided in courtrooms: In the United States, election season has turned into lawsuit season. One legal challenge in Michigan seeks to remove thousands from the voter rolls. Two lawsuits in Wisconsin seek to have more absentee ballots counted, even if they are missing some information. In Arizona, a judge is reviewing a new law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. And in Pennsylvania, lawsuits challenge the state’s no-excuse absentee voting law, as well as the policy to count undated mail-in ballots.
- Weary - Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 2:50 pm:
I watched this debate and Amanda Vinicky did a great job moderating. She kept them on point
(no off topic stump speeches-thank you) and did lots of good follow up questions. More debates should be like this one, although it was more of a conversation with both candidates rather than a debate. It was civil and provided some good information for voters.
- Wondering - Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 3:36 pm:
Are those Chicago vote totals in line with previous years? They seem awfully low
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 3:43 pm:
===They seem awfully low ===
Because they are low. The city is 21 percent of the state, and that would mean their total vote numbers should be north of 90,000 today for parity.
- Stormsw7706 - Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 3:59 pm:
Vinicky is just excellent at her job overall. She should teach a class