*** UPDATE 4 *** Fran Spielman…
Vallas explained by saying that he and his wife, Sharon, have “lived apart” for decades.
“When I left Philadelphia to go to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, my wife did not want to go with me. She wanted to move back to where she was most comfortable. She bought a home right next to her aged parents in the same house where she grew up….My kids were still relatively young, and she thought that’s where she could be most easily supported,” Vallas said.
“Sometimes, people stay married because they make certain arrangements…I’ve always lived where I’ve worked. This has been our understanding. I wanted my wife to be in her most comfortable setting with her friends and family…while she allowed me to do what I do: rescues, turnaround projects, crisis management.”
Vallas said he listed Palos Heights as his home address when he contributed to Giannoulias because his wife, who cares for her parents and his 94-year-old mother, “pays the bills and handles the finances.” They have one credit card between them that’s in her name.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* The Paul Vallas residency story has been floating around Twitter for a bit now…
* WTTW took a look at it…
Vallas, who has been registered to vote in Chicago at an apartment in Bridgeport for less than a year, declined to answer questions about his residency directly from WTTW News. Instead, a spokesperson for his campaign issued a statement saying he lives in Chicago while his wife, Sharon, lives in Palos Heights to care for her elderly parents and 93-year-old mother-in-law.
“The couple has made this sacrifice so that their elderly parents can be cared for in their residences,” according to the campaign, which said Vallas visits the Palos Heights home “when his schedule permits.”
However, when Vallas contributed $250 to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias’ successful campaign for secretary of state in September, Vallas listed his address as his Palos Heights home, according to records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. A spokesperson for Vallas said that was an error and would be corrected.
Vallas also uses the address of his home in Palos Heights for his consulting business, according to documents on file with state officials. A spokesperson for Vallas said that was done when Vallas was living in New Orleans more than a decade ago.
Vallas has been registered to vote in Chicago since 2018. These candidate residency requirements are not difficult to skirt. But he has some more explaining to do.
Also, I’m told Vallas flatly denies owning any property in Monee.
*** UPDATE 3 ***
*** UPDATE 5 *** From the assessor…
Because Ms. Vallas applied for the exemptions and the documents provided by her representative established that the Palos Heights property is properly receiving an exemption, and neither she nor Paul Vallas are receiving homeowners exemptions elsewhere, the investigation is concluded with no violation.
* Meanwhile…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Another Vallas hit from the Kam Buckner campaign…
During his time at CPS, Paul Vallas censored students by banning a coming of age novel that depicted the life of a young woman on Chicago’s South Side after protests from religious and conservative leaders. If Vallas had actually read Coffee Will Make You Black, he may have realized that the book is about having pride in your heritage, love for your family and hope for a brighter future.
“Republican politicians ban books because they are cowards,” said Kam Buckner. “Paul Vallas’s history of book banning, specifically a book with a strong young Black female protagonist, demonstrates how little he values representation, free thought, and a holistic public education.”
“This is yet another example of how Vallas failed CPS’s students. Instead of broadening and challenging their perspectives, Vallas chose to stand on the side of the establishment that has historically chosen to disregard Black authors,” Buckner said.
The 1996 story is here.
…Adding… Oof…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Vallas responds…
The Vallas for Mayor campaign is responding to a malicious, untrue story that ran last night on WTTW News that made false assertions about the candidate’s residency.
Here are the facts:
• Paul Vallas has lived in his current home in an apartment on S. Normal Avenue in the City of Chicago since January of 2022, meaning that he clearly, unequivocally meets the one year residency requirement to run for Mayor and serve in the office.
• Vallas was born and raised in Chicago and has unquestionably deep roots in the city. He has lived outside the city due to various positions in other cities over the years, but has always maintained his close connection to the community.
• The allegation raised by WTTW and the Cook County Assessor’s Office with respect to a duplicate homeowner’s exemption is FALSE. Vallas and his wife own a home in Palos Heights where his wife resides in order to care for their elderly parents. Vallas has NO CONNECTION to a second property in Monee, and this was clearly communicated to WTTW and to the Cook County Assessor’s Office prior to publication of their story.
The following is a statement from Vallas campaign counsel Steven Laduzinsky:
“As the frontrunner in this race, we expect criticism from our opponents and scrutiny from the press. However, this false attack on Paul’s residency is absolutely baseless and he clearly, unequivocally meets the legal requirements to run for Mayor. It is truly disappointing to see that WTTW pushed forward with this false narrative, apparently buoyed by the Cook County Assessor who failed to contact our campaign or even conduct any type of due diligence before releasing false information. Based on the facts, we have demanded that the Assessor’s Office publicly retract its statement and close its investigation immediately.
This kind of unprofessional reporting misleads voters and spreads disinformation. Our campaign is focused on communicating Paul’s message of putting crime reduction and public safety first and we will not be distracted by baseless allegations and rumor mongering.”
That still doesn’t explain the Giannoulias contribution.
* Here’s a Toddlin’ Town roundup from Isabel…
* Tribune | Donors to political committee supporting Paul Vallas are secret, but leadership has ties to current campaign: Like all so-called independent expenditure committees, the new Chicago Leadership Committee is not allowed under state law to coordinate with any candidate or campaign it supports, which in this case is Vallas’ mayoral bid. But recently disclosed campaign finance reports show the Chicago Leadership Committee paid $165,000 to Mad River Communications, a Maryland-based firm registered under the name of Vallas campaign adviser Joe Trippi.
* Tribune | With new campaign fund, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s allies are raising cash outside city ethics rules limits: The move follows in the footsteps of Lightfoot’s predecessor, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose allies established a massive campaign fund that raised more than $5 million in one year to help Emanuel win a second term.
* Sun-Times | Four-candidate mayoral forum turns into two-way conversation after no-shows: Scheduling conflicts kept Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and businessman Willie Wilson away from the forum, so community activist Ja’Mal Green and retiring Ald. Roderick Sawyer had the stage to themselves.
* Chicago Reader | Police brutality survivors and former cops are running in Chicago’s police district council races: Of the 112 candidates running in the newly-created Police District Council races, 63 used resources provided by CAARPR to file election paperwork. These 63 candidates support police accountability: overwhelmingly, they want Chicago Police Department funding to be redirected to violence prevention and transformative justice programs, for care workers to accompany police to mental health crises, and for their churches, block clubs, and community organizations to be included in public safety. Despite what they have personally endured at the hands of police, only a few want to totally defund or abolish CPD.
* Tribune | Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends CPS students during mayoral forum, criticizes moderator: ‘You’re describing them as if they’re dumb’: “You are characterizing our kids that are exceeding all odds, working hard every day — and, yes, the graduation rates are up despite the pandemic, yes, they’re getting scholarships at an amazing level — you’re describing them as if they’re dumb, lazy and not doing anything …”
* WTTW | Political Fund Created by Lightfoot’s Allies Used Cash from City Contractors to Attack Johnson: Those contributions exploit what campaign finance experts told WTTW News is a loophole in laws governing the role of money in Chicago’s elections opened up by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to lift most limits on campaign spending. Former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, a harsh critic of Lightfoot, said that while the political activity by The 77 Committee is legal, it is “unethical.” “Any Chicagoan will tell you: ‘Well, jeez, that’s a quid pro quo,’” Ferguson said. “It doesn’t pass the smell test.”
* Tribune | 2023 Chicago aldermanic candidates answer Tribune questionnaire: To inform voters and to help the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board make endorsements, the board posed a series of questions to the candidates running for alderman. See their answers below.
* Block Club | Debate Me, Says One Candidate Running For 34th Ward Alderman: Chicago’s new 34th Ward has not had a candidate forum so voters can hear their two choices for alderman debate key issues. One candidate alleges it’s because his competitor refuses to commit to one.
* Tribune | After alderman complained Lightfoot didn’t call when he shot himself, she texted, ‘I seriously do not understand you’: Curtis, a South Side alderman and firearms safety instructor, was one of the first members of City Council to endorse her reelection bid. But their relationship has soured in the past few months after he accidentally shot himself in the hand in October and complained to the Sun-Times that Lightfoot didn’t call him to check on his well-being.
* Tribune Editorial | Our choices for City Council: Wards 26-36: Here is the Tribune Editorial Board’s fifth installment of endorsements in contested races for aldermanic seats in Chicago’s Feb. 28 municipal election.
* Tribune | After deleted tweets emerge, 50th Ward challenger aims to shift campaign focus to rival: ‘I hope Ald. Silverstein’s record receives as much scrutiny’: Last week, those contrasts were amplified by the revelation of controversial tweets Bawany posted in 2019 with phrases like “f— all you Zionist scum” and “F— off honky.” These comments shifted the conversation from traditional voting issues like crime and education to more personal questions about the candidates’ beliefs.
* Sun-Times | Bear down at Soldier Field, Chicagoans tell team — but don’t ask us to bear the cost: More than half of the 625 Chicagoans who took part in the telephone survey said they don’t want to see the team ditch its iconic lakefront colonnades for a new stadium in Arlington Heights.
- RIP Alex Seith - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:18 am:
There’s a wedding dress in his apartment, he’s a resident. Worked for Rahm. Meanwhile is the media going to ask Kam Buckner about his DUI arrests?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:21 am:
===Meanwhile is the media going to ask Kam Buckner ===
The Google is your friend.
- Roadrager - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:23 am:
==Meanwhile is the media going to ask Kam Buckner about his DUI arrests?==
Maybe if he somehow starts polling within spitting distance of Willie Wilson sometime in the next two weeks, they will. This is like wondering why no one is asking the hard questions about Rocky de la Puente in a presidential race.
- Nuke The Whales - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:25 am:
If instead of being a candidate for Mayor, Palos Paul were a police officer or a teacher, he would be fired for violating the City’s residency ordinance.
While there is an appellate court case semi-similar to this for the CTA, the similarities are superficial. That guy slept in the City every night. Do we really think that Paul Vallas has slept in Chicago every single night for five years? Or even a majority of them? That guy did not take a homestead exemption out on the other home.
Are you really telling me that if Paul Vallas wanted to be a Chicagoan, there is not a home in Beverly that could accommodate his in-laws?
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:26 am:
ah, I love the smell of popcorn in the morning…..
- New Day - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:30 am:
Is Kasper going to do the Rahm Emanuel number this time? Oh, wait, he only defends Democrats.
- NIU Grad - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:31 am:
“Palos Paul” - Nice.
Is the address of the apartment anywhere? I’d like to see if I can find an online listing of how small it is…
- cermak_rd - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:39 am:
Vallas residence reminds me of Alan Keyes and his boxspring.
Banning books is bad. Especially from someone not part of local school leadership. If a book is to be banned in a local school library, that decision should be made by the local school leader, not the CEO of schools.
- LizPhairTax - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:39 am:
Question for the smarter people here. On the $250 to Alexi, couldn’t they have just used the address on the check? I’m not sure that he “used” an address.
- New Day - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:41 am:
“Question for the smarter people here. On the $250 to Alexi, couldn’t they have just used the address on the check? I’m not sure that he “used” an address.”
He would have had to have filled out a donor card with his address. And, besides, if he has Palos on his checks, ummm, that’s even more proof.
- LizPhairTax - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:42 am:
*they is the Alexi campaign for reporting purposes. Vallas just sends a check. He doesn’t make any declarations.
- New Day - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:43 am:
I know there may be ways around this legally and he may have complied with the letter of the law, but politically this is going to get ugly. You want to be mayor of a city you don’t even live in? Really? That’s not going to go over well.
- Hannibal Lecter - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:47 am:
What a dumpster fire this Mayor’s race is. If the opposition did their homework before now, they could have tried to get Vallas knocked off the ballot during petition challenges. It doesn’t seem like any of these candidates actually are trying to win.
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:49 am:
so the movie is Vallas Doesn’t Live Here Anymore?
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 9:58 am:
Vallas strikes me as a cat who thinks he’s always the smartest guy in the room…no matter how many times he’s proven wrong.
- Hannibal Lecter - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:01 am:
George Blakemore should have run for mayor!
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:02 am:
===If the opposition did their homework before now, they could have tried to get Vallas knocked off the ballot during petition challenges.===
Exactly. I don’t think this is relevant to any legal challenge anymore. If it is a serious issue, then someone should have challenged Vallas.
- Just saying - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:03 am:
He would NOT be the first guy to have two places
One in chicago and one some where else- under that scenario - you just have to pick which one is your residence.
It is really that simple, many people in the same bucket.
Looks like he picked Chicago to me
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:07 am:
There’s an air of desperation to how suddenly everyone is opening up their Vallas oppo books. He’s definitely the front runner. But a lot of this stuff is bad enough to hurt him, especially in the run off.
- Senator Clay Davis - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:07 am:
If it’s Vallas v Lightfoot, I could get past Vallas’ associations with unsavory right wing figures, his mixed record on education, crappy/late CTA proposal, and even the FOP endorsement. But I’m a HARD No due to his address in the suburbs. You want to run a city, you need to live in it.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:10 am:
Amalia for the win….
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:11 am:
There are so many unsavory components and trickbags in this issue. Regarding the Lincoln Park apartment that he rented prior to the last election, the landlord was his business partner who took the homestead exemption while Vallas was supposedly living there. So either the residency was fake or his business partner is a tax cheat.
- Donnie Elgin - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:12 am:
“Vallas listed his address as his Palos Heights home, according to records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. A spokesperson for Vallas said that was an error and would be corrected”
There is precedent to forgive a Mayoral candidate when they use the wrong address…
“Emanuel said his tax return with Washington address was prepared by an accountant and the mistake was corrected in a subsequent amended filing.”
- 1st Ward - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:12 am:
“There’s an air of desperation to how suddenly everyone is opening up their Vallas oppo books”
I agree. I also wonder who does this help? If you were leaning Vallas and these attacks make you question voting for him are you now staying home? What’s the alternative…. back to Lightfoot?
- JoanP - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:14 am:
He banned “Coffee will make you black”? That was such a good book. And that’s not just my opinion. It was named Book of the Year (Young Adult Fiction) for 1994 by the American Library Association and received the Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library.
- crow930 - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:18 am:
I really think the other contenders are hoping they get the second vote in the run off and that they are running against Palos Paul,
At that point ALL of the negative ads about Valas will come out then making for an easy election at that point
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:20 am:
==He has lived outside the city due to various positions in other cities over the years==
My understanding was that his home base was in Palos those years — where his family remained — and he would “commute” back and forth to those other jobs. If that is the case, Chicago could have been the home base.
- ChicagoBars - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:20 am:
Legally does this residency issue even matter at this point? Hasn’t the window for anyone to challenge that long closed?
If Ja’Mal Green managed to raise Dr. Wilson’s residency issue in challenge I’d guess other campaigns knew about the Vallas one and decided to sit on it/didn’t think they’d win?
- Norseman - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:27 am:
=== has lived in his current home in an apartment ===
Depends on one’s definition of “lived.”
- NIU Grad - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:31 am:
“He’s definitely the front runner.”
Front runner meaning 20%. A Republican isn’t going to dominate the run-off if he makes it. Whoever runs against him in the run-off has an instant advantage.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:36 am:
===Hasn’t the window for anyone to challenge that long closed?===
People have voted. It is like asking a court to overturn the result of an election at this point. Courts don’t seem to like to do that.
- low level - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:41 am:
Phony reformer Lightfoot’s secret fund bothers me a lot more than where Vallas sleeps at night. The city desperately needs new leadership.
ABL - Anyone But Lightfoot
- Northsider - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:42 am:
As my brother from another mother just noted, who from Palos doesn’t claim to be from Chicago?
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:42 am:
@BigDipper…ding ding ding. And his partner is a lawyer, so…paging ARDC
- Lakeview Lou - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:43 am:
I have a feeling this is just the opening salvo of the Palos Paul’s oppo book. Perfectly timed before early voting gears up. Just highlights his smugness and incompetency.
Instead of being on his message he is going to need to explain this residency scandal over and over. As I heard a guy from Illinois once say “If you’re explaining, you’re losing”.
- Been There - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:43 am:
====“Question for the smarter people here. On the $250 to Alexi, couldn’t they have just used the address on the check? I’m not sure that he “used” an address.”
He would have had to have filled out a donor card with his address. And, besides, if he has Palos on his checks, ummm, that’s even more proof.=====
I am not trying to defend Vallas here but from my experience the campaign worker who is inputting the information into the disclosure program will take the easy way out and just use the address on the check. Paul’s mistake was not crossing out that address when he donated. If the account was a joint account with his wife then it would be understandable that the Palos address was on the checks. But again he should have crossed it out.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:43 am:
Paul Vallas.
As a whole, part, policy, personality… persona.
“Vote Accordingly”
- cermak_rd - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:44 am:
I don’t think this is a legal matter, it’s a political one. And one that looks really, really bad.
I mean ultimately Alan Keyes did not lose because of his residency and Rahm didn’t win because of it. And both stayed on the ballot (Obama would have been an idiot to try to kick Keyes off the ballot).
- cermak_rd - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:47 am:
A lot of Democrats look back on the Clinton era badly in one respect and that is how the dems started to bow to the culture wars. The SoCons were on a roll at the time and Clinton was a triangulator. Now, with the culture wars largely won from state to state differently (and in IL the social libs won), if Vallas turns out to have been one of those culture war triangulators, he is going to be in trouble, especially if there are receipts like him banning books.
- TJ - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:48 am:
Vote for me, I moved to Chicago almost exactly a year ago! - Vallas
- Gravitas - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:49 am:
Meh. George H. W. Bush claimed a hotel suite as his Texas residence. Edward F. Dunne (the only man to serve as both Chicago Mayor and Illinois Governor) had to move from River Forest back into the city when he was nominated for mayor by a party caucus.
It is too late to challenge Vallas based upon residency before the Board of Election Commissioners. The deadline for filing such an objection was on December 5, 2022.
- Been There - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:49 am:
I believe it was last week or the week before where a CapFax story was about a candidate getting attacked and the attacker was able to find out where they lived. I can’t remember the exact story but there was a lot of discussion about not having candidate addresses easily accessible. Well, this shows why those running for office should have that information easily available to the public.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:50 am:
I dunno… you purposely create checks… that seems like someone stating a permanency?
- Nuke The Whales - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:51 am:
==There’s an air of desperation to how suddenly everyone is opening up their Vallas oppo books.==
I mean, why would a campaign open oppo books on someone if they aren’t polling well. If the guy got 5% last time, I wouldn’t be falling over myself to highlight his negatives. At best, you are just elevating them. Plus, if I were a reporter, I don’t know how much of my time I would spend digging into someone who I anticipate will be a private citizen again in less than a year. But, he can plausibly make the runoff so that calculus has changed. It’s not desparate. It’s primetime and if you can’t explain that you did not abandon your residence in primetime, then you aren’t the candidate for the job.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:56 am:
===There’s an air of desperation===
It’s called a campaign.
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 10:57 am:
==I also wonder who does this help?==
Any and all of the non-Vallas options. Multi-candidate municipal races are weird, ideological lanes just don’t matter as much. If someone was leaning toward Vallas but it turned off by the avalanche of bad press (which seems entirely possible, it’s easy to imagine that person) they might not look for the next closest to Vallas, but pick one of the others based on some other criteria. Or even, like you said, stay home.
==Front runner meaning 20%.==
For sure. Half of me thinks that this flurry of oppo is about laying down markers for the runoff. But it still kinda feels like they’re hitting the panic button*, like they’re worried about him even making the runoff.
Of course, with only two tickets to the runoff, I guess it’s pretty rational to try to make sure he’s not guaranteed half of them.
*- And I know that that is a really subjective statement.
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:02 am:
==It’s called a campaign.==
You’re absolutely right, and I usually bristle at saying that doing completely normal campaign things like attacking your opponent is actually a sign of weakness.
- Huh? - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:05 am:
I’m from Palos Heights.
Where’s that?
Chicago.
- Montrose - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:07 am:
What Arsenal said - It’s both getting your backers the polls and getting your opponents backers to stay home.
With Vallas, you have this residency thing, and the thing with his son in San Antonio, and this talk of coordination between campaign committees that isn’t suppose to happen, and then the whole “he is a Giuliani backing Republican”. All these little cuts just feed into the cynicism that folks already have around politicians and increases the likelihood they check out and just don’t vote.
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:08 am:
opening the info box is certainly about campaign tactics…go negative to affect. but it’s also about right and wrong. sometimes things that are wrong are discovered in the process of a campaign. and they may be discovered by other campaigns, or someone who thinks something is terrible or the news. campaigns gonna campaign.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:11 am:
I think the election attorneys looked at the case legally and decided he probably would meet the standards the Supremes laid out in the Rahm Emanuel case. So, this went into the oppo bin not the law bin.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:12 am:
===All these little cuts just feed into the cynicism that folks already have around politicians===
Stop. Asking voters to reconsider their current leanings is a completely legit thing. Sheesh.
- levivotedforjudy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:13 am:
Chuy and Vallas are positioned with clear paths to a run-off. I think because Paul would be really well-funded in a run-off and Chuy’s base is hard to nip atm the others have to throw hay-makers at them, especially Paul. This one on where Paul lives is pretty good.
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:15 am:
Remember, Rich wrote it best, he called it OR Goldmine.
- CT Guy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:16 am:
===Legally does this residency issue even matter at this point? Hasn’t the window for anyone to challenge that long closed?===
The point is not to boot him off or force him to step out of the race, all this is a pre-emptive attack on him for the run-off.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:16 am:
===this went into the oppo bin===
Maybe. But what we almost assuredly have here is a reporter who likely saw something on social media and then checked it out. Not hard to do.
- JoeMaddon - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:17 am:
**Phony reformer Lightfoot’s secret fund**
If it is so secret, how do you know about it?
- Tood Aloo - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:19 am:
Maybe it’s a smart move by vallas to use this shiny object to distract from something egregious in his background. He’s definitely spent quality time with some unsavory people, not the least of which is John cantezarra.
- Pundent - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:19 am:
=There’s an air of desperation to how suddenly everyone is opening up their Vallas oppo books.=
Paul Vallas is the Darren Bailey of the mayoral race. Everyone wants to face him. The problem is there are 8 other hopefuls vying for that chance and only one will get the opportunity. So it creates a scenario where the strategy may be to run against Vallas but at the same time try to occupy the slot that he currently has. Because at the end of the day there’s only room for two.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:21 am:
It’s as though some comments here are from those not understanding the politics of campaigning?
1) Define yourself, who you are, your policies, your goals, the “why you”
2) Define your opponent(s) wether you’re down 10 points, up 10 points, and make opponents play defense or have self own moments
3) Use OR for its maximum impact with it having legs to last beyond a news cycle or be part of ongoing narratives
4) Be ready to answer your own OR by extensively know and understand your own OR
No one is scared of anyone. It’s SOP, it’s called a campaign, Rich called it as it is, not what others are trying to… redefine.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:28 am:
===But what we almost assuredly have here is a reporter who likely saw something on social media and then checked it out. Not hard to do.===
Fair enough. I’m not upset with Paris Schutz. The law is not a game though. He shouldn’t be on the ballot if he doesn’t live in Chicago.
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:34 am:
My question is why someone who has spent so little time in Chicago over the last 20 years even wants to be mayor? How could he possibly be emotionally invested in its success when he chose to leave it soon after leaving CPS? So it looks like he just wants power somewhere and the statewide run For LG didn’t pan out.
- CT Guy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:40 am:
Funny enough, I did see his name when scanning over some of the 11th Ward/9th PDC petitions. Will look them over to see if they looked like it was from a ‘door-to-door’ gatherer.
- Montrose - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:40 am:
“Stop. Asking voters to reconsider their current leanings is a completely legit thing. Sheesh”
I agree they are 100% legit. I was just stating what the desired effect is. Personally, I really hope all this info makes people think twice about voting for Vallas.
- Huh? - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:44 am:
Hi I’m from Palos Heights.
Where’s that?
Chicago
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:52 am:
so Paris Schutz and Heather Cherone of WTTW are deemed as reporting unprofessionally by the Vallas campaign. they could have attacked the story without going at the journalists. how Trumpy.
- Been There - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:56 am:
====I dunno… you purposely create checks… that seems like someone stating a permanency?====
I don’t think he denies that he has ever lived in that house. But he did say he has been living in the city since he first reregistered I think in 2018. We all use checks a lot less than we use to. I can’t even remember the last time I reordered a box. So he very could have been living in Palos when the checks were ordered years ago. Either way, as I said, he should have crossed that address off.
- Almost the Weekend - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:56 am:
When Rahm didn’t run again, it was the beginning of the end of competent people trying to run this city. Vallas is the most qualified based on his resume, and the city needs someone who knows and can handle the workload. I don’t agree on all his policies, but it’s better than Lori doing nothing besides tweeting for four more years.
And there’s a candidate with two DUIs trying to cancel someone for banning a book 27 years ago? Sums up the current state of the Democratic Party currently.
- Chicago Voter - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 11:58 am:
I consider myself an educated voter and, like many, not happy with the current field of candidates for Mayor. In the last couple weeks, I have moved away from the candidate I know and like but thought didn’t have a chance. I started leaning toward Vallas because I don’t care for Chuy or Lightfoot. Admittedly, I would have held my nose voting for Vallas.
So, now what do I do?
I can overlook somethings but being a Chicagoan, I can no longer vote for Vallas. As has been said, he could have used Chicago as a base all the years he was working elsewhere but he fled to Palos. He gets an apartment in Bridgeport a year ago to get residency. Sorry, not good enough for me,
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:06 pm:
==Sums up the current state of the Democratic Party currently.==
Lucky for you that Vallas isn’t a Democrat.
- Marquez Elem - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:09 pm:
Almost the Weekend…..YOU SAID IT BEAUTIFULLY, Vallas is THE MOST QUALIFIED AND MOST COMPETENT. At this point, he could live in D.C. and would have my vote.
- cermak_rd - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:10 pm:
Almost the Weekend,
The reason why banning a book 27 years ago is so bad for Vallas is that he is running as socially liberal but fiscally conservative. Social liberals don’t ban books
Like I posted, if there is a problem with a book then the local school should be the ones making a decision, though frankly I can’t imagine a book being read by a large number of students causing them to be problematic and every schoolteacher in that building not plotting to get the author to write a sequel.
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:21 pm:
All caps is shouting, dude.
- Here for the laughs - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:25 pm:
== And there’s a candidate with two DUIs trying to cancel someone for banning a book 27 years ago? Sums up the current state of the Democratic Party currently.==
Careful. Your Republican stripes are showing.
- Orland (R) - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:32 pm:
Palos Township Democratic Organization looks foolish since Vallas’ Palos Heights home is in Worth Township. PTDO is a minor league organization with Maloney, Gleffe and Bauer.
- Geezus - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:33 pm:
Wasn’t there a bill being considered (maybe just introduced) to “block” public access to the addresses on the State Board of Elections website for candidates? A similar law already exists for the blocking of judicial candidates’ addresses.
I know that security and safety for candidates and elected officials is a bigger issue in today’s age (many can politely disagree why), but if we start eliminating public access to things like candidates’ home addresses, are we not eliminating and/or limiting scrutiny regarding arguments like this one? And is that good for the public-at-large?
We now have to just assume that subcircuit judges actually live in their subcircuits (and that has been a sketchy truth many times in the past). Maybe it’s time to reflect on these proposed policies and ask if the public doesn’t deserve to know where the ballot choices live spatially, and that it is a part of the process as much as policy positions and other political things.
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:45 pm:
=== Vallas is the most qualified based on his resume, and the city needs someone who knows and can handle the workload.=== Which part of the resume is that, the part where he didn’t pay CPS pensions?
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:50 pm:
=== And there’s a candidate with two DUIs trying to cancel someone for banning a book 27 years ago? Sums up the current state of the Democratic Party currently.===
Yes Vallas is a Democrat.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 12:52 pm:
===trying to cancel someone===
Campaigns are, by definition, a zero-sum game. People unfamiliar with that concept should probably leave this blog.
- Almost the Weekend - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:06 pm:
=Campaigns are, by definition, a zero-sum game. People unfamiliar with that concept should probably leave this blog.=
So in theory Vallas can get Buckner’s mug shots from his dui convictions, and ask Chicago voters if he is the person to help reduce/prevent crime because that is a major issue for Chicago voters in the municipal election.
Campaigns by definition are a zero sum game.
- Dupage mom - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:07 pm:
Excellent job highlighting Tavern Styled, one of the cruelest trolls on the internet.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:13 pm:
===So in theory Vallas can get===
Not in theory, in fact. Are you really that dense?
- Heat Wave - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:19 pm:
I think the Vallas sock puppets are my favorite ones since the Rauner days…
Johnson may be picking up steam depending on which poll you are looking at, but I truly wonder what CTU is going to do if its Lightfoot v. Vallas in the runoff.
- JoeMaddon - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:28 pm:
**So in theory Vallas can get Buckner’s mug shots from his dui convictions, and ask Chicago voters if he is the person to help reduce/prevent crime because that is a major issue for Chicago voters in the municipal election.**
LOL. Of course Vallas could do that, and it would be totally fair game to do so.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:30 pm:
===my favorite ones since the Rauner days===
There is an eery similarity.
=== I truly wonder what CTU is going to do if its Lightfoot v. Vallas===
They and the rest of the city’s Left will experience one of the most gigantic meltdowns in Chicago history, perhaps only second to the White reaction when Harold Washington won the Democratic nomination in 1983.
In other words, epic.
- Suburban Mom - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:46 pm:
===you purposely create checks… that seems like someone stating a permanency? ===
In Vallas’s defense (phrases I never thought I’d say for $500, Alex), I write so few checks anymore that I still have some with my address on them from before I moved, six years ago. I basically write them to the PTO and my landlord, both of which know me and are aware it’s my prior address.
Definitely going to think twice now before sending one to someone else, though. Do I have to order checks? Ugh
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:51 pm:
===I still have some with my address on them from before I moved, six years ago. I basically write them to the PTO and my landlord, both of which know me and are aware it’s my prior address.===
So, you write checks, knowing the address is wrong, without a thought to even cross off the address or change it… even if others know that the address is wrong?
For six years, you’ve been doing this?
You know, with free checking you can get checks that are correct. It’s quite easy, like “it don’t take 6 years to fix it” easy.
- Back to the Future - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 1:55 pm:
First, Paul welcome to Chicago.
It truly is a wonderful place to have a vacation home and Bridgeport is a great neighborhood to camp out in for a while.
You will find lots of nice restaurants, you are not far from beaches, museums are close and if you are still around in the spring you should try and catch a White Sox game.
Also don’t forget the local bars (unless you are a Cubs fan. If that is the case you should definitely not bring that up in a Bridgeport Bar).
Great to have you visit the city and don’t forget to vote wherever you can.
- Nuke The Whales - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:02 pm:
So not only did the Alexi campaign not use the Chicago apartment that was supposedly Palos Paul’s residence, BUT they also spelled Nashville as National? What’s more likely, that Vallas is using out of date checks or that Vallas sloppily wrote his true home in Palos Heights on a donor card?
I also avoid paying for new checks when I move between apartments. On the occasion I’m not using ActBlue, I usually a check accompanied by a notecard with my current address and have never had anyone use the address on the check as a result.
- low level - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:09 pm:
==If it is so secret, how do you know about it (MLL’s secret fund)==
Because the outstanding journalists at the Tribune and WTTW got wind of it and reported the story. This, in turn, was picked up by Capitol Fax, an Illinois political news site. Maybe you’ve heard of it?
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:11 pm:
==unless you are a Cubs fan.==
He’s wearing a Sox hat in the video where he urges Adcock to run for governor.
- Anon324 - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:12 pm:
==So, you write checks, knowing the address is wrong, without a thought to even cross off the address or change it… even if others know that the address is wrong?==
The bank doesn’t care, why should anyone else? Only places that may care are the ones who check ID as part of the verification at point of sale.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:16 pm:
===He’s wearing a Sox hat ===
He is a Sox fan, as are most thinking people in the Palos Heights area s/
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:16 pm:
===Only places that may care are the ones who check ID as part of the verification at point of sale.===
Vallas prolly wishes…
:)
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:17 pm:
===are the ones who check ID as part of the verification at point of sale===
And people who read campaign disclosure reports. Move on.
- New Day - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:22 pm:
Because I write so few checks, my checks still have my address from two homes ago - about fifteen years. But I’m not running for Mayor of Chicago. If I were, that is a mistake that would have been fixed LONG before I began my run.
- Chris - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:23 pm:
I just want to know if law and order Paul has complied with 625 ILCS 5/6-116.
Should be easy enough for him to prove.
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:25 pm:
Re update 3, so his primary residence is Palos Heights.
- Palos Dems - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:26 pm:
Hey Orland (R): Thanks for the shout out! We welcome people from all over to attend our meetings. We were so lucky to have the Democratic Committeeperson from Orland visit our last meeting!
- CT Guy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:37 pm:
Truth be told I have checks with old routing numbers still in use due to bank mergers/buyouts…
@Geezus
There probably should be a good median between ANYONE just hopping onto ISBoE/CBoE sites and pulling filings/list with that info and asking for them fill out a FOIA request with some info about the requestor.
The amount of spam you get once you run for an office was something I should have expected with that info public.
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:42 pm:
==Re update 3, so his primary residence is Palos Heights.==
I suppose his spin will be that the house is his wife’s primary residence and Bridgeport is hers. But I don’t know if that flies unless a couple is separated.
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:44 pm:
I’m pretty sure on the ballot for alderperson their home addresses are listed.
- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:46 pm:
Bridgeport is his duh.
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:47 pm:
between this and the new AWAKE info, my phone is buzzing from City pals asking what to do now? not that they were completely set on him, but he was heavy in their vote mix. Now, not so much. this is terrible for Illinois.
- IrishPirate - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 2:51 pm:
Politics ain’t beanbag.
The hits at Vallas are fair.
I’ll still be voting for him.
Also operative who’s indirectly working for da mare told me to expect this maybe 10 days ago.
Some well paid oppo researcher did their job.
Again..
Beanbag.
- Boone's is Back - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:01 pm:
Nice to see Fritz Kaegi use his office to shill for Lori Lightfoot. Didn’t he mess up 300,000 homeowner exemptions last year?
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:06 pm:
Irish pirate. Don’t come crying to us years from now when the liar you voted for lied to you too, about something you care about.
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:06 pm:
==So in theory Vallas can get Buckner’s mug shots from his dui convictions, and ask Chicago voters if he is the person to help reduce/prevent crime because that is a major issue for Chicago voters in the municipal election.==
In fact every including Buckner was expecting that to happen if he ever polled more than 2%.
- Stuck in Celliniland - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:10 pm:
==When I left Philadelphia to go to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, my wife did not want to go with me.==
Despite Vallas’ problems now, if more people downstate had woken up and smelled the coffee (or hairspray) in early 2002 the above might not have been a problem for Vallas and his wife. Maybe he would have actually had been living in the Governor’s Mansion at that time?
- Betty Draper’s cigarette - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:16 pm:
=== They have one credit card between them that’s in her name.===
So he paid Giannoulias with his wife’s credit card? Good. We can stop reading comments about old checks.
- IrishPirate - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:20 pm:
You’ve convinced me I’m voting for whoever you tell me too. NOT.
Please allow me to make my own choice. Mayor Vallas sounds better to me that whichever candidate you support.
In 2002 when Vallas was living in the 19th Ward virtually the entire Dem establishment supported Blago–including the 19th Ward regulars.
Thanks guys. The regular Dems don’t like Paul. Never have and never will. He’s imperfect, but the real thing.
Betty Draper’s cigarette - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:06 pm:
Irish pirate. Don’t come crying to us years from now when the liar you voted for lied to you too, about something you care about.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:29 pm:
===Also operative who’s indirectly working for da mare told me===
Pat Quinn just endorsed Chuy. Quinn undoubtedly still has an oppo book on Vallas from when he was vetted ahead of the 2014 race.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:30 pm:
…and that means, hold on to your shorts.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:35 pm:
…Also, too, there’s a little birdie out there tweeting privately that the oppo report was ignored in 2014.
- IrishPirate - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:36 pm:
Rich,
let’s leave my shorts out of this.
I don’t know what’s going on here and who exactly is pushing/pushed this story. If I were da mare I’d have saved it for after the first round. Maybe it leaked.
NO way Vallas voters would go to her so I’m unsure how this benefits her in round one.
Unless they have video of Vallas’ car in Palos every night I expect him to be fine. He should have gotten another credit card and used it to order delivery/take out in Bridgeport every night.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:41 pm:
There hasn’t been this much build up since Jack(banned punctuation) had OR that seemed to build on its own anticipation
- IrishPirate - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 3:52 pm:
I have serious doubts of whether there’s any serious oppo on Vallas from 2014.
Rauner lacked many things, but money and some hard nosed professionals in 2014 wasn’t part of that list.
Unless this is reminiscent of what happened to Aaron Schock with a steady and incredibly well researched political hit I don’t expect much.
Vallas is kinda boring.
Maybe I’m wrong.
- Wensicia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 4:25 pm:
Kerfluffle or major setback for Vallas? I’d say kerfuffle after the recent updates. ABC7 interviewed a neighbor close to the Chicago apartment and she says he’s been in residence for quite some time.
- Amalia - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 4:25 pm:
Vallas started in the progressive lane. Those progressives from back in the day are probably pretty unhappy about the AWAKE stuff. The residency questions, maybe not, although some of it is dicey. But not one but two AWAKE events and saying Adcock should run for gov is just disgusting. Vallas knew who they were, who they are and he stood with them. That is against progressive values. Full stop.
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 4:33 pm:
==The regular Dems don’t like Paul. Never have and never will.==
The problem with going back to 2002 is that *the voters* didn’t like Paul, either, and it’s worth asking what they found so objectionable about him that *Blago* was preferable.
==He’s imperfect, but the real thing.==
Nah, c’mon, the one thing we have on camera is that the guy is a practiced liar. He’s said he’s a “lifelong Dem” and “more of a Republican than a Democrat”. He’s said he’s pro-choice and pro-life.
Maybe you like his position on crime or maybe you think his resume is impressive. That’s defensible. But let’s not pretend he’s in any way authentic.
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 10, 23 @ 4:35 pm:
==Rauner lacked many things, but money and some hard nosed professionals in 2014 wasn’t part of that list.==
Rauner didn’t need to go after Vallas bc Quinn was already a juicy target. Indeed, it would’ve been a mistake, as it would’ve only called attention to his own questionable choice.
And anyway, I took Rich to mean that Quinn’s team put together, and then ignored, an oppo file on Vallas.