* Republican pollster shows Democrat leads in CD17…

M3 Strategies conducts unique and very powerful exit polling, combined with traditional polling to be able to make strong predictions in the days and weeks leading up to Election Day. In this survey, M3 Strategies surveyed 753 voters in Illinois’ 17th Congressional District from November 1 -3rd. The survey has a margin of error of 3.57%.

Respondents were randomly selected from a pool of individuals who already voted or who are likely to vote. All responses were generated via SMS to web survey.

KEY FINDINGS

IL 17th Congressional Race:

• Eric Sorensen will win reelection by 5.7% with 52.3% of the vote compared to Judge Joe McGraw’s 46.6%,

RESULTS
Who did you / do you plan to vote for in the 2024 Presidential Election?
Prez

Donald J. Trump (Republican) 47.7%
Kamala Harris (Democratic) 49.8%
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Independent) 0.2%
Other / Unsure 2.3%

Who did you / will you vote for in the election for U.S. Congress?
Percent

Congress

Eric Sorensen (Democratic) 52.3%
Joseph G. McGraw 46.6%(Republican)
Refused 1.0%

More here.

* Republican state’s attorney candidates uses Democrats against Democratic opponent in broadcast TV ad…

Transcript…

What’s worse, Eileen O’Neill Burke railroading an innocent 11 year old Black child after a coerced confession, or calling the innocent child a ‘whole new breed of criminal’? Even fellow Democrats are disgusted. One top Democrat said this racist statement is disqualifing. Tony Preckwinkle called it systemic racism. 24 elected Democrats wrote, ‘The choice is clear, we can’t have a state’s attorney who thinks about our children this way. Punch 55 to elect Bob Fioretti Cook County State’s Attorney.

* I hope we don’t see too much of this tomorrow, but hope is not a plan…

A 24-year-old Orland Park man faces charges after he punched an election judge Sunday at an early voting site, police said Monday. […]

An election judge posted at the entrance told Schmidt to go to the back of the line and wait his turn, which Schmidt refused, police said. At that point, another election judge called to assist also instructed Schmidt to go to the back of the line, police said.

Schmidt attempted to push past that election judge and was prevented from entering by
that judge and several other employees. Schmidt began to yell profanities and
punched the election judge in the face, police said.

At that point several other people jumped in and restrained Schmidt until officers arrived, police said.

Schmidt is charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a person over 60 years of age as well as misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to police.

Sun-Times…

Schmidt refused after two election judges told him to go to the back of the line and when one of the judges prevented him from entering, Schmidt allegedly “pushed past” that judge and several other workers and began to yell profanities, police said.

After Schmidt allegedly punched an election judge in the face, knocking their glasses off, several patrons “jumped in” and held Schmidt until officers got there, police said.

While being placed under arrest, Schmidt, of Orland Park, also resisted Orland Park officers. He was held overnight and taken to the Bridgeview Courthouse for a detention hearing.

* More Center Square huffing…

Illinois Republicans are questioning the integrity of mail-in ballot envelopes from the Chicago Board of Elections.

The Illinois GOP joined Cook County State’s Attorney candidate Bob Fioretti, Cook County Clerk candidate Michelle Pennington, Fourth District U.S. congressional candidate Lupe Castillo and registered voter Jaime Martello in a complaint filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Fioretti said mail-in voters in Chicago are asked to declare their political party on envelopes used to mail the ballots, in violation of the Election Code. According the the complaint, “No part of the Code provides for the inclusion of any space for party designation of the political party of the voter.” […]

Chicago Board of Elections Director of Public Information Max Bever offered a statement in response.

“The party-affiliation line on the Vote By Mail ballot return envelope is clearly identified as ‘For Primary Election Only.’ These ballot return envelopes are routinely used for each election in Chicago. As November 5th is not a Primary Election, voters are not expected to fill out this line and it is not required in order to process the ballot. All qualified Vote By Mail ballots will be counted for the November 5th Presidential Election. No Vote By Mail ballot will be rejected because this line is or is not filled out,” the statement read.

* 17th Congressional District…

* Rockford Register Star | Illinois 17th: Heated race for congress pits former weatherman against former judge: This is is a key race in the 435-seat House where Republicans hold a slim eight member majority with three seats vacant. It is listed as one of 70 competitive Congressional House races by the Cook Political Report. but likely to be won by the Democrat. Although Sorensen retains a sizable cash advantage, Republicans have poured money into McGraw’s campaign in an effort to flip a seat red.

* WBEZ | Illinois’ 17th Congressional seat gets competitive in matchup between incumbent Eric Sorensen and Joe McGraw: Sorensen is Illinois’ first openly gay U.S. representative. He spent most of his career as a TV meteorologist in Rockford and the Quad Cities. “I don’t have a background in politics, which means I can be a different kind of person in Washington,” he said. Sorensen chatted with WBEZ after a campaign event in Green Valley, just south of Pekin, where he had received the endorsement of ACTIVATOR — the Illinois Farm Bureau’s political arm. “He was one of only four Democrats to vote for the farm bill out of the House Ag committee, and for that we’re grateful,” said Mike Deppert, president of the Tazewell County Farm Bureau. “We need more bipartisan leadership and Congressman Sorensen is… exhibiting that.”

* Advocate | Gay U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen bridges divide in rural Illinois: Since taking office, Sorensen has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, standing up to a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that has made its way from the states to the halls of Congress. “We have taken some incredibly terrible votes on LGBTQ rights that are so hurtful,” Sorensen reflected. “Sometimes I wonder to myself, where are we? Where are the people that should be standing up and shouting that this isn’t OK?”

* Rockford Register Star | Joe McGraw campaigns on border crisis, ‘transgender agenda’ in battleground Illinois race: McGraw also accuses Sorensen of “embracing the transgender agenda,” in which puberty blockers are made available to underage children “without parental consent or knowledge” and children born male can play sports on a female team. He also says that Sorensen sponsored “drag shows for kids.” Sorensen denies these accusations and major news outlet fact checkers have reported that parental consent is required across the U.S. for transitioning surgical procedures and non-surgical gender-affirming medical treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

* Rockford Register Star | In a heated race for Congress in Illinois, Democrat Eric Sorensen pledges to keep promises: Ahead of his last election, Sorensen said it was all about “protecting our democracy and securing reproductive rights.” Although he says there are other critical issues including the passage of a new farm bill to protect agriculture at stake in this election, those remain priorities as he faces Republican Joe McGraw, a former Rockford area circuit court judge.

* Cook County State’s Attorney race…

* Patch | O’Neill Burke, Fioretti Vie For Cook County State’s Attorney Job: 2024 Election: O’Neill Burke caught criticism when she proclaimed after her primary victory that she was unfairly cast as the “tough-on-crime choice.” “I think a lot of the concern was unfair that I was going to be very hard on crime. I want to be effective. That doesn’t mean we’re going to lock everybody up,” O’Neill Burke said in her victory speech.

* Tribune | In ‘weird’ Cook County state’s attorney’s race, O’Neill Burke — who progressives called a ‘de facto’ Republican — looking to defeat GOPer Fioretti: For O’Neill Burke, a former appellate court judge, that’s by design. Playing defense is the smart move for a Democratic nominee in a county that hasn’t elected a Republican as state’s attorney since 1992. After her defeat of Clayton Harris III in which she amassed and spent about $3.6 million, the retired judge slowed down fundraising efforts and she raised only about $620,000 since April, not counting a fundraiser she held Monday. Yet O’Neill Burke’s tamped-down fundraising is still better than Fioretti’s. The personal attorney and former South Loop alderman who has already waged and lost several countywide and citywide campaigns has raised less than $300,000 since the start of this run, making him unable to take his message to a broader audience.

* Sun-Times | In race for Cook County’s top prosecutor, it’s Democrat Eileen O’Neill Burke vs. Republican Robert Fioretti: It’s been more than three decades since Cook County voters elected a Republican to lead the state’s attorney’s office, but Democratic candidate Eileen O’Neill Burke says she’s running like the underdog in the race. “I am running like I am losing,” she told the Sun-Times in a recent interview. “We are out in every community every single day. We’re working long days.”

* Elected Chicago school board…

* NBC Chicago | Endorsement guide for the 2024 Chicago Public Schools Board elections: The 2024 elections are just days away, and while voters will be deciding on the next President of the United States and members of Congress, voters in the city of Chicago will also be electing Chicago Public Schools Board members for the first time. The elections follow a tumultuous few months for the district, which included the full resignation of the previous Board, the appointment of seven new members by Mayor Brandon Johnson and the recent resignation of appointed president Rev. Mitchell Johnson over antisemitic and misogynistic remarks.

* WBEZ | Mayor Johnson vs. Donald Trump? In CPS School Board races, big money defines messaging, voters’ choices: Jennie Jiang is still deciding who’ll get her vote in Chicago’s 3rd District school board race on the Near Northwest Side. But as she looks for information ahead of Tuesday’s election, she’s found herself “annoyed at the messaging and the politics.” One ad she received claimed a candidate would raise her property taxes 40%. Another claimed the opposing candidate was supported by former President Donald Trump and would gut the public schools.

* WBEZ | CPS School Board: The race in the North Side’s 4th District: Like many districts in Chicago’s first-ever school board elections, progressive and conservative groups have coalesced behind two opposing candidates in the North Side’s 4th District. But that doesn’t tell the whole story in this district, where there are six candidates with varying views on key education issues. The lakefront district is one of the city’s wealthiest, with 33 schools in Lincoln Park, Lake View, North Center and most of Uptown. All six candidates are Chicago Public Schools parents and all have worked in education in some form.

* Sun-Times | Who are the people who will vote in Chicago’s school board elections?: A WBEZ analysis finds that a majority of voters could be Chicagoans who don’t have kids currently enrolled in Chicago Public Schools. Roughly 3 in every 4 Chicago households don’t have kids, according to data from the 2022 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. And nearly 1 in every 6 Chicago students — of those enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade — attend private school.

* Beatriz Diaz-Pollack and Zindy Marquez | Chicago school board election is about the fight for public education: The truth is, this election is about much more than the dollars funneled into the race by special interests. That analysis is important, but ultimately reductive, focused on shorter-term outcomes such as how it will impact the next labor contract or the cementing of “school choice” policies. The true question is: Will we reaffirm our commitment to public education as a public good to serve all of our children? Access to quality education should not be a privilege for those who can afford it or win it through a competitive system, but a fundamental right. The school board election is an opportunity to choose candidates who will protect public education, rather than funnel public dollars into privatized models under the guise of “school choice.”

* The Columbia Chronicle | Chicago makes history with first school board election: One of the biggest issues for many parents and voters is the selective enrollment system that CPS uses for high school. There are 11 selective enrollment high school programs designed to provide academically advanced students with a challenging pre-college experience. Applicants can apply to up to six of these programs, but seats are limited and admission is highly competitive.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago high schoolers get a crash course on the city’s first school board election: A handful of Jimenez’s students, like Odeth, are of voting age this year, he said. One of them is 18-year-old Luis Garcia, a senior at Hancock. Like Odeth, he didn’t know about Chicago’s first school board candidates until he took Jimenez’s class. Luis said he knows where he stands politically. But in Jimenez’s class, he learned that “it’s good for me to learn about the other side.”