Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » How it went down
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
How it went down

Monday, Aug 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My last weekly syndicated newspaper column was published before our break, so it’s a bit dated by now...

According to the 2020 Census, Cook County is 40% white, 26% Latino, 22% Black and 8% Asian. Chicago is 21% of the state’s population.

But the statewide ticket recently endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party is overwhelmingly made up of white Chicagoans (JB Pritzker, Alexi Giannoulias, Mike Frerichs and Margaret Croke), with two Black Chicagoans (Lt. Gov. candidate Christian Mitchell and Kwame Raoul) and no Latinos or Asian Americans.

Outgoing Latina Comptroller Susana Mendoza did not endorse a replacement, and it seems unlikely she would’ve endorsed the only Latina who tossed her hat into the ring, Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago. Villa is unabashedly progressive, while Mendoza is a far more conservative Democrat.

Villa’s progressive views may have cost her the party slating, which Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, obtained by a super-slim margin.

One contributing issue was Villa’s co-sponsorship of a bill — Senate Bill 2462 — to repeal the state ban on investing pension funds into companies that are boycotting Israel. Perhaps to quell any speculation, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle asked Villa during a party meeting if she had ever said that Israel didn’t have the right to exist. Villa “adamantly denied it,” said one top source.

Villa did not win the support of conservative-to-moderate Latino committeepersons like Alds. Gil Villegas (36th), Ray Lopez (15th) and Silvana Tabares (23rd).

Some Black committeepersons, except for state senators, also went with Croke, partly because they wanted to move away from progressive politics (quite a few were with Paul Vallas in the last mayoral election, you may recall). Others were with her because she’s a House colleague. Others obviously thought she had the best chance to win and could help them raise funds.

The bottom line, though, is that the worst-kept secret of the past several months is that Croke would run for comptroller if the incumbent Mendoza decided to step aside in favor of a probable run for mayor. Croke, therefore, had a big head start over Villa and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim.

Croke, an ally of Pritzker, and a favorite of Pritzker’s top staff, was able to line up powerful backers and gathered some expert advice. More importantly, though, she did the work, and as microscopically narrow as her victory was, a win is a win.

Unlike Croke, Villa and Kim kinda came out of nowhere. And Villa reported a paltry $12,000 in her campaign account at the end of June. Kim reported just $44,000. That’s not the sort of presentation you want to make to a bunch of folks who hardly knew you even existed until Friday. Croke had $262,000 in the bank, but it’s assumed she has access to much, much more.

Senate President Don Harmon pointed to the potential of an all-Chicago, white-dominated statewide ticket to argue for either his member Villa’s slating or for an open primary. It didn’t work. Mayor Brandon Johnson has severely damaged the local progressive brand, and Latino voters and their leaders aren’t tied to identity politics if it conflicts with their own (or their constituents’) ideologies. Not to mention that Villa lives in DuPage County and has no local base and didn’t give herself time to make inroads.

No word at this writing on whether Villa or Kim will move ahead with campaigns. Also, Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, has told some people she’s interested in running for comptroller.

Meanwhile, the Cook County Democrats’ decision not to slate anyone for U.S. Senate was a big win for U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi. He has such a huge monetary advantage in this race ($21 million cash on hand) that avoiding the threat of the party backing another candidate means he can continue flooding the ad zone without worrying about a coordinated effort to defeat him in the party’s most influential county. Frankly, a slating might have made him look “too inevitable.”

Was this a loss for Pritzker, who has endorsed Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton? Yes, at least on the surface.

But I’ve had the impression from the beginning that, while Pritzker is definitely supporting her, Stratton has to go out and prove herself.

Her quarterly campaign contribution report didn’t impress anyone, and that had to weigh against Stratton during slating.

Right now, all three candidates, including U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, are running cautious, generic Democratic campaigns, with few differences between them. The person with the most money will always win that race.

We’re expecting an announcement today from Holly Kim.

       

7 Comments »
  1. - Jr. Neef - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 8:38 am:

    Met Holly Kim at the Bloomington PrideFest. Very impressed with her.


  2. - Chicagonk - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 8:51 am:

    Caution generic Democratic campaigns is right. There is no Mamdani in this race.


  3. - low level - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 9:06 am:

    Margaret Croke would win the Dem primary for Comptrolller with or without the Cook County Dem Party endorsement.

    I certainly understand what Don is saying but dont see it being a factor. I could be wrong. We will see.


  4. - Three Dimensional Checkers - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 9:32 am:

    I’m as critical of MBJ as anyone, but I think an argument that (1) MBJ is progressive and (2) MBJ is bad, therefore (3) be less progressive can make a candidate or party out of touch with the voters too.


  5. - JS Mill - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 10:23 am:

    I continue to be surprised at the underrepresentation of Latino candidates, especially in Cook county. I suspect that part of the reason is that thier growth in numbers (for electeds) would come at a cost to the number of Black electeds.

    =I’m as critical of MBJ as anyone=

    I am not sure being less “progressive” isn’t a winner if Johnson is what a far left progressive is in Chicago. He is going full class warfare which doesn’t seem to be a winner these days. I am all for progressive taxation and people paying their fare share, but villainizing the wealthy or business class isn’t a eck of a lot different than what the gop is doing to immigrants in a way.


  6. - low level - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 10:44 am:

    JS.Mill, 100% yes. Very well said.


  7. - Chicago voter - Monday, Aug 4, 25 @ 12:08 pm:

    Holly Kim’s announcement today was super brief and seemed very poorly attended, no state or federal electeds standing behind her on the livestream. Her initial endorsement list includes Republicans. Not impressed.


TrackBack URI

Anonymous commenters, uncivil comments, rumor-mongering, disinformation and profanity of any kind will be deleted.

(required)

(not required)



* As Illinois towns debate grocery tax, new poll shows grocery prices stressing out Americans
* SB 328 Puts Illinois’s Economy At Risk
* Caption contest!
* As Republican Day approaches, statewide GOP candidates are hard to find
* It’s a law
* An almost unsaid upside to the SAFE-T Act
* Catching up with the federal candidates
* Tariffs Impact Everyone
* How it went down
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today's edition
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Live coverage
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller