* Capitol News Illinois…

The final margin of victory for Gov. JB Pritzker over Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey was a resounding one, about 12.54 percentage points. Pritzker notched more than 2.25 million votes to Bailey’s 1.74 million.

The lead vote-getter for Democrats was Comptroller Susana Mendoza in her third successful statewide election. Her 2.33 million votes to nearly 1.68 million votes for Republican candidate Shannon Teresi represented a win of just over 16 percentage points, down from her near 23-point victory total in 2018.

She assumes the mantle of most successful statewide Democrat that has for over two decades been claimed by Secretary of State Jesse White. The 88-year-old who has held that office since 1998 didn’t run again this year, paving the way for Democrat Alexi Giannoulias to win a contentious Democratic primary.

Giannoulias, the former state treasurer, received about 2.2 million votes to just under 1.8 million for state Rep. Dan Brady, of Bloomington, the Republican nominee. Last week, Giannoulias and Brady announced that the vanquished Republican would join the winner’s transition team. The margin of victory was about 10.69 percentage points.

From Comptroller Mendoza…

After the Illinois State Board of Elections certified its election results on Monday, December 5, the final stamp on Illinois’ 2022 General Election Results shows that Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza received more votes than any other candidate on the ballot throughout the state.

“The State Board of Elections’ newly certified vote totals confirm what we had set out to do and hoped for from the beginning of the campaign. Illinois voters have given me the highest vote total for any statewide candidate on the ticket in Illinois: 2,331,714,” Mendoza stated, “I am honored and humbled that you have once again placed your trust in me.”

SJ-R…

Democrats maintained their super-majority in the Illinois Senate and built on its existing advantage in the Illinois House but had several close calls. The results from ISBE showed Democrats won 78 of the 118 seats in the House and 40 of the 59 seats in the Senate.

In the local Illinois Senate District 48 race featuring state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and state Rep. Sandy Hamilton, R-Springfield, the final 50.9% to 49.1% tally favored the Democrat.

Turner distanced herself from Hamilton primarily in Sangamon County by 1,375 votes but also won in Macon County by 945 votes. Hamilton won Christian County by 913 votes although the county only had 2,667 votes of the nearly 77,000 cast in the race.

State Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, overcame Republican challenger Patrick Sheehan in the Illinois Senate District 19 race by less than 1,000 votes. The race caught the attention of many as Pritzker called on Hastings to resign from the Senate in September due to allegations of domestic violence from his estranged wife.

* Apparently, Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) had some issues in Shelby County this year, even though he was unopposed…

Another one found its way to Reddit.

* WLS Radio’s John Howell…

Retired Chief from Riverside Illinois, Tom Weitzel, is our go-to guy for things law enforcement. We’d like to get his take. He’s had, as they say, boots in the sand. He’s had a lot of years of dealing with law enforcement. He regularly lets people in Springfield know what they should be doing and maybe what they shouldn’t be doing. Chief, welcome back, sir, and happy holidays to you.

Weitzel was then asked about the SAFE-T Act revisions…

Well, there’s some good points in there. And there’s some really bad points that are still left in. And I’m fed up by saying that, you know, it’s a 308-page trailer bill that was adopted on the very last date. I don’t think anybody really read through that in the time that they had. It’s almost you remember when the law was passed to begin with? It was over 700 pages at 5am. It seems to be a pattern here. I don’t know how you can thoroughly go through that. At least the law enforcement people that were supposedly involved in these negotiations to really see what’s in there,

Has this person ever been involved in legislative negotiations? Law enforcement representatives were at the table for weeks.

* Back to Weitzel…

But there are some good things to it. They did add a good amount of felony crimes that at least have to have a bail hearing. I found it kind of interesting, though, that they added aggravated battery to a public official as one of the new pieces of legislation that you have to be at least clear in front of the judge and get a bond set or be released. But they didn’t add aggravated battery to police officer. So you can continue to seriously injure police officers and they didn’t add that to that list.

They didn’t add it to the list because it was already in the original bill…

Upon verified petition by the State, the court shall hold a hearing and may deny a defendant pretrial release only if: […]

(7) the person has a high likelihood of willful flight to avoid prosecution and is charged with:
(A) Any felony described in Sections (a)(1) through (a)(5) of this Section; or
(B) A felony offense other than a Class 4 offense.

That charge qualifies. They also revised the willful flight language to make it more acceptable to law enforcement.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Tribune | Supreme Court readies to weigh in on ‘most important case’ on democracy: The court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court because the GOP map violated the state constitution.

* Washington Post | As fatal police shootings increase, more go unreported: Even though federal records indicate that fatal shootings by police have been declining nationwide since 2015, The Washington Post’s Fatal Force database shows the opposite is true: Officers have shot and killed more people every year, reaching a record high in 2021 with 1,047 deaths. The FBI database contains only about one third of the 7,000 fatal police shootings during this time — down from half when The Post first started tracking.

* CBS Chicago | PepsiCo to cut hundreds of jobs, affecting workers in Illinois, New York and Texas: PepsiCo is reportedly planning to eliminate hundreds of corporate jobs in North America, mostly affecting its beverage unit. The company’s Gatorade, Quaker and Tropicana brands are headquartered in Chicago. According to the Wall Street Journal, along with Illinois, the cuts will affect workers in Texas and New York. Employees were sent a memo saying the company is streamlining to run more efficiently.

* Fox32 | Pritzker joins Gold Star families for Christmas tree lighting in Chicago: Gold Star families in attendance of today’s lighting were able to place a memorial ornament honoring their fallen loved one on the tree. Governor Pritzker is also encouraging families to think of those serving overseas during this holiday season.

* CBS Chicago | Volunteers for rival candidate say Ald. James Gardiner ‘accosted’ them and got in their face on sidewalk: As shown on Ring doorbell camera, three Tomic volunteers were just walking down a Northwest Side street on Saturday, Nov. 26 – collecting a petition signature from a woman on the sidewalk. It was all routine, until a blue truck pulled up out of nowhere. “The gentleman came out of the car and crossing the street, yelling, ‘What are you doing signing their petitions?’ Like, you know, ‘They’re lying about me?’” said Tomic volunteer Andrij Skyba.

* CBS Chicago | James Suh, who says Ald. James Gardiner tried to silence him, plans to run for alderman himself: The feud started more than a year ago. The claims against the alderman that resulted got him in trouble with the city’s Board of Ethics – and the matter is now in court. While that case between Suh and Gardiner is still pending, Suh is planning to file his petition to run for Gardiner’s seat next week.

* Tribune | ‘Chuy’ García gets $1 million from labor union as race for Chicago mayor enters ballot-challenge phase: Powerful labor union IUOE Local 150 is giving U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García’s campaign a $1 million donation in his bid to unseat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 announced its support for García late last month, giving his candidacy a boost after some of his key backers in his 2015 race against Mayor Rahm Emanuel declared their support for Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson.

* Center Square | Two Illinois state lawmakers set to retire after winning new terms: State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, announced Monday he will retire from the position at the end of the term on Jan. 10. He just won an uncontested race in his district. Barickman said in a statement he looks forward to spending time with family and not being taken away by phone calls…Last month, state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, announced he’ll be stepping down to become the president of the Illinois Railroad Association. He said the opportunity arose only a few weeks before he made the decision.

* Tribune | Gary LaPaille, former state Democratic chair, state senator and Madigan chief of staff, dies at 68: During his tenure as state party chairman, LaPaille played a major role in diversifying party leadership. Also a vice chair in the Democratic National Committee, LaPaille was influential in bringing the 1996 Democratic National Convention to Chicago for the renomination of President Bill Clinton. Four years later, Al Gore, who had become the Democratic presidential nominee, asked LaPaille to serve as DNC national chairman, but he turned down the offer to launch his career as a lobbyist.

* SJ-R | UIS Innovation Center officially has a new home in downtown Springfield, plans 2025 opening: The center will take over the three-story, 24,600-square-foot Illinois Sheriffs’ Association building at 401 E. Washington St. University of Illinois trustees approved $950,000 for the building purchase earlier this summer…Scheduled to open in 2025, the UIS Innovation Center will serve central Illinois as part of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) to drive innovation, economic growth, and workforce development across the state.

* Tribune | Chicago casino won’t be a ‘glitzy Las Vegas strip joint’ but a ‘series of experiences,’ developers say: As outlined Monday, the design now includes more greenspace and an additional road connections into the riverfront district to address traffic concerns. That followed an earlier decision to nix a proposed pedestrian bridge over the river following community pushback.

* Buffalo Grove | Father grew volatile, erratic leading up to Buffalo Grove family’s deaths: ‘So many red flags’: The five people found dead in a Buffalo Grove home Wednesday were likely killed in a murder-suicide carried out by Andrei Kisliak, police said Monday, as court records showed Kisliak growing more volatile and erratic in the weeks leading up to his family’s deaths.

* AP | Farmers of color sue government for promised federal aid: The federal government has illegally broken a promise to pay off the debts of a group of Black farmers, according to a class-action lawsuit. The group hopes to put pressure on officials to keep their word and to restore funding that was dropped after a group of white farmers filed legal challenges arguing their exclusion was a violation of their constitutional rights. The lawsuit filed in October remains active even as the U.S. Department of Agriculture moves forward with another effort to help farmers in financial distress in addition to paying farmers who the agency discriminated against.