After two weeks of having the central and northwestern Illinois airwaves to himself, Democratic Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Moline, has some competition for his district’s eyes and ears.
Retired Judge Joe McGraw, Sorensen’s Republican challenger in Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, launched his first television ad of the general campaign on Wednesday, honing in on the issue of crime while casting himself as the law-and-order candidate in the race. […]
McGraw’s ad, which will appear on television and digital platforms in the Rockford, Quad Cities and Peoria/Bloomington-Normal media markets, starts by featuring pictures of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a voiceover stating that “Washington politicians coddle criminals and blame victims.”
The ad then alleges that “it’s why crime is soaring in Illinois” while criminals are “released on cashless bail,” the latter a reference to the Pretrial Fairness Act, a provision in the larger SAFE-T Act that eliminated cash bail in Illinois. The 2021 law was championed by Democrats while universally opposed by Republicans.
Recent data compiled by Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, however, showed that violent and property crime in Illinois decreased year-over-year from the first six months of 2023 to the first six months of 2024. Cash bail was eliminated in Illinois on Sept. 18, 2023.
Sorenson has been much better at district politics than I initially thought and it’s not the easiest district to represent considering the gerrymandered district map.
GOP candidate lying about verifiable statistics, and fundamentally not understanding (in intentionally lying about) how a law works. Same as it ever was.
All Illinois Congressional districts are gerrymandered
Our state has some of the most gerrymandered congressional maps in the country rated F that were signed into law by a Governor who promised to veto partisan maps
I rate it a B+, a good red meat ad for getting out the base - the hard R’s will love this. The next one should be a softer family and kitchen table economy ad for undecided.
- West Side the Best Side - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 6:03 pm:
He’s “Retired Judge” Joe McGraw. Rated it F based on that alone, and nothing else in the ad would cause that rating to rise.
- Give Us Barrabbas - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 7:50 pm:
Rauner wants his cosplay shtick back. This is an appeal for donations from the base of pro authoritarian redhats. It won’t fly in November. Full of dog whistles and easily disproven claims, it is a sad commentary on how the candidate panders to a dwindling base. I give it a gentleman’s C for a grade.
- Mason County - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:11 pm:
Typical political ad.
Not original and not inspiring.
- Henry - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:22 pm:
On message for today’s insecure men of MAGA…nothing scares them more than powerful women they can’t control.
- Chicagonk - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:27 pm:
Sorenson has been much better at district politics than I initially thought and it’s not the easiest district to represent considering the gerrymandered district map.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:29 pm:
===Sorenson has been much===
Stick to the topic.
- Homebody - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:31 pm:
GOP candidate lying about verifiable statistics, and fundamentally not understanding (in intentionally lying about) how a law works. Same as it ever was.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:34 pm:
All Illinois Congressional districts are gerrymandered
Our state has some of the most gerrymandered congressional maps in the country rated F that were signed into law by a Governor who promised to veto partisan maps
https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/redistricting-report-card/
- So_Ill - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:35 pm:
More fear mongering, more lies, another losing candidate in the IL-17.
F
- Pundent - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:49 pm:
=“Washington politicians coddle criminals and blame victims.”=
If I didn’t know better I would have mistaken this for a Democratic ad. But in this case the cognitive dissonance rates a “D.”
- Cool Papa Bell - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 3:03 pm:
A spot only designed to appeal to low information voters. Perfect in a Republican primary. Not so good in a purple district general election.
I also think he needs more patches on his biker jacket. Rauner always had lots of patches.
D- for me.
B+ for his constituents.
- yinn - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 3:36 pm:
I would rate this ad a D- for lack of originality, nonfactual content, and use of uniformed officers.
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 4:16 pm:
I rate it a B+, a good red meat ad for getting out the base - the hard R’s will love this. The next one should be a softer family and kitchen table economy ad for undecided.
- HSI - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 4:35 pm:
According to this Marshall Project article, crime stats across the country are not being reported due to changes in FBI data collection.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/07/13/fbi-crime-rates-data-gap-nibrs
- West Side the Best Side - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 6:03 pm:
He’s “Retired Judge” Joe McGraw. Rated it F based on that alone, and nothing else in the ad would cause that rating to rise.
- Give Us Barrabbas - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 7:50 pm:
Rauner wants his cosplay shtick back. This is an appeal for donations from the base of pro authoritarian redhats. It won’t fly in November. Full of dog whistles and easily disproven claims, it is a sad commentary on how the candidate panders to a dwindling base. I give it a gentleman’s C for a grade.
- Frida's boss - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 11:12 pm:
I’m curious who is he?