* Democrats give big bucks to IL17 Eric Sorensen, IL13 Nikki Budzinski, IL6 Sean Casten and IL14 Lauren Underwood…

* A roundup to start your day…

* Tribune | Conservative GOP operative Dan Proft’s involvement in Bailey campaign matter raises questions about his role: An internal dispute between Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey’s campaign and a recently departed Bailey political worker has raised questions about the level of involvement the conservative leader of a Bailey-aligned political action committee has had with the Bailey campaign. At issue is an attempt by Dan Proft, a longtime Republican operative and onetime losing candidate for Illinois governor, to inject himself into a potential legal settlement being sought by Brett Corrigan, a Bailey family friend who worked for the campaign for more than a year before leaving around mid-September. Corrigan’s attorney described his client’s complaint as an “internal HR,” or human resources, matter but didn’t provide any additional details.

* Politico | The districts seeing the most spending show why House Democrats are in trouble: The bulk of the fall TV spending in the House has gone into defending Democratic-held districts Joe Biden carried comfortably in 2020.

* WBEZ | Meeting abortion patients where they are: providers turn to mobile units: In response to increasing abortion restrictions in the region, a Planned Parenthood chapter in Missouri and Illinois is preparing to open a mobile unit providing abortions in southern Illinois.

* Tribune | A mobile vasectomy clinic dubbed ‘Nutcracker’ offers free procedures in Midwest amid surge in demand post-Roe: A few days a month, Dr. Esgar Guarín hits the road in his mobile vasectomy clinic, crisscrossing the Iowa heartland to reach patients throughout the state, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles from his Des Moines-area office. The 24-foot-long health facility on wheels is decorated on the outside with large images of sperm and bold-lettered slogans like “One small snip for man, one giant leap for Humankind(ness)” and “It’s time to be responsible: love with respect.”

* Chicago Tribune | Proud Boys member from Aurora pleads guilty to assaulting officers in Jan. 6 Capitol attack: James Robert Elliott, 25, who also goes by “Jim Bob,” was charged in December in U.S. District Court in Washington with six counts, including civil disorder, assault of a federal officer, entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and carrying out an act of violence on Capitol grounds. Elliott, who is free on bond, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of assault during a video conference hearing before U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth.

* NBC Chicago | SAFE-T Act’s Elimination of Cash Bail a Positive Development, Cook County’s Chief Judge Says: “There is no purge law,” [Justice Timothy Evans] said. “The public does not have to worry about any purge law. Under the current law, nor under the SAFE-T Act, is that a purge law where on the ubiquitous day out there can do whatever they want.”

* Sun-Times | New Illinois law gives cops choice not to jail people for small amounts of drugs — a follow-up to our ‘Costly toll of dead-end drug arrests’ investigation: The change follows a Sun-Times/Better Government Association investigation last year that documented the impact of “dead end” drug arrests in which people are briefly locked up, only to see the charges soon dismissed.

* Daily Herald | What’s fiction, what’s fact about the SAFE-T Act and the elimination of cash bail: There’s not a hotter topic on the campaign trail in Illinois, or in law enforcement circles nationwide, than the SAFE-T Act, the sweeping criminal justice reform package that will eliminate cash bail starting Jan. 1. And with all that heat has come plenty of confusion and misinformation about what’s really in the bill and what it means for you.

* Center Square | Candidates for Illinois treasurer agree on one big change to the office: For all the views the candidates have given since starting their campaigns, the two have agreed on one issue that has been floated for years: joining the state comptroller’s office with the state treasurer’s office.

* WSJ | Illinois Is Government Union Heaven: According to Open The Books, which focuses on government transparency, the state has 132,188 public employees with salaries and benefits over $100,000. That’s a total cost of $17 billion. The list includes 10 police department leaders and 18 school superintendents with salaries above $300,000 and some 16,592 retirees with six-figure pensions. Five of the top 10 public school employee payouts are for pensions above $330,000 a year.

* WAND | Bailey votes as election day approaches: It was one of the first appearances Bailey has made this week after receiving a telephone threat at his Springfield office from an individual who claimed he would torture and kill Bailey. A 21-year old Chicago man, Scott Lennox, has been arrested in connection with the threats.

* WCBU | Fact check: Anderson campaign mailer misrepresents Koehler comments in WCBU interview: A recent campaign mailer supporting Republican challenger Desi Anderson in the 46th District State Senate race inaccurately represents comments by incumbent Democrat Dave Koehler in an interview with WCBU. The issue centers around the no-cash bail provision of the SAFE-T Act that’s set to go into effect on Jan. 1. The ad claims Koehler “told NPR how a man arrested for beating his wife could be released,” implying a result of the no-cash bail system.

* Block Club | CTA Boss Says He Won’t Ghost A City Hall Hearing Next Week As Public Pressure Mounts To Address Rider Complaints: CTA President Dorval Carter told aldermen he’ll finally take the hot seat after months of skipping meetings as commuters complain of long wait times, security issues and ghost trains.

* WBEZ | Formerly-incarcerated Illinoisans could become a powerful voting bloc: Illinois is one of sixteen states where those convicted of a felony automatically have their right to vote restored upon release from prison. But many of those who are formerly incarcerated don’t realize they have the right to vote.

* Sun-Times | Would-be minority pot entrepreneurs say state rules are scaring off investors: Regulations for businesses who got licenses in Illinois ‘social equity’ lottery make it hard to raise cash, panelists at a City Club luncheon said.

* Shaw Local | In House District 63 race, a former teacher and incumbent disagree on school choice: Meyers agreed with Reick that there is a high property tax burden within school districts, but he felt various solutions, including consolidating districts and creating charter schools, ranged from “complicated” to outright terrible.

* Tribune | Pritzker finds a buyer for Damen Silos, industrial site once featured in ‘Transformers’ movie: MAT Limited Partnership put in a high bid of $6.52 million after the state announced in August it would auction off Damen Silos, a 23.4-acre riverfront property at 2900 S. Damen Ave. with several old, abandoned grain silos familiar to drivers on the Stevenson Expressway. Owner Michael Tadin Jr. said the company and its affiliates will eventually demolish the silos and create a new corporate headquarters, as well as infrastructure to support its trucking fleet, now operating out of 10 acres at Stockyards Industrial Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

* Sun-Times | White Sox make it official, name Pedro Grifol manager: “Pedro is a bilingual, modern baseball thinker who brings two-plus decades of experience in a variety of roles — bench coach, hitting coach, winter ball and minor league manager, director of player development and scout,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. “He is an excellent communicator and an experienced game planner who brings a high energy and detail-oriented approach to leadership. He is committed to building an inclusive and cohesive clubhouse, and we could not be happier to have Pedro leading our club.”

* Indy 100 | Man named Dick Bigger Jr becomes unlikely US political icon: He’s a farmer from Henderson County, and appears in one of her campaign videos, where he struggles to get his words out, providing a whole load of bloopers. “Oh boy”, he sighs, after several attempts at one tongue-twisting sentence. Not only that, but naturally people are obsessing over his NSFW name, despite being an innocent old man.

* Huff Post | Jimmy Kimmel Spots The Filthiest-Sounding Political Endorsement Maybe Ever: Jimmy Kimmel spotted a pretty unusual political ad that was made for a candidate in Illinois but that’s getting attention far beyond the state’s borders for an unexpected endorsement. It’s “not a major name,” Kimmel noted. “But a really good one.” That name? Dick Bigger Jr., a farmer featured in a spot for Susana Mendoza, a Democrat seeking reelection as state comptroller.

More to come!