David Gill Ends Congressional Campaign in 13th District
Thanks Supporters & Calls on Rodney Davis to Seek Compromise To Help Middle Class
Dr. David Gill, Democratic candidate in Illinois’ 13th District, issued the following message to his supporters as he ended his campaign for Congress this afternoon:
“My exhausted campaign team has completed a county by county analysis of outstanding provisional and absentee ballots in the 13th Congressional District, as well as some precinct-based anomalies in ballot returns and turnout.
The closeness of this race (less than 1/2 percentage point) demanded that we diligently check the numbers. I am very grateful for the dedicated work of my campaign staff to go through this data in the last few days, and for the cooperation of election officials in each of the 14 counties.
It has become clear to me, based on the numbers I’ve seen, that there are simply not enough uncounted ballots remaining to wipe out the current 1,287 vote deficit I face in this election. […]
While Rodney Davis and I have very different priorities and political philosophies, I hope we share a few things in common: a deep desire to see a better future for the communities we love in this part of Illinois and a commitment to leave things better than we found them for our children. I hope Mr. Davis will seek ways to compromise and support the President so we can see real progress for middle class families.
The time has now come to bring this exciting campaign to a close. I know the friendships and partnerships we have forged in this long fight together will go on for many years to come. I will never forget all that you have done.”
* Davis’ statement…
Congressman-Elect Rodney Davis issued the following statement Friday evening following David Gill’s concession in the 13th Congressional District race:
“I would like to thank David Gill for the passion with which he campaigned. I appreciate that he has forgone dragging this out further with his concession this evening. Shannon, our family, and I are thankful for the wonderful support we’ve received. I am humbled to have the honor to serve as Congressman for the 13th District and am ready to get to work.”
* Someone once said that the end of a political campaign has all the subtlety of a freight train crashing into the side of a mountain. So, let’s have Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss make the world go away…
* You may have noticed that I haven’t picked on Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady this week, despite his party’s big losses. One reason for that is, unlike the Democrats’ top guy, the Republican chairman is rather powerless. The losses cannot really be blamed on him.
Yes, his “Fire Madigan” mantra failed miserably. But lots of commenters have already dinged the guy for that. It didn’t work. At all. Speaker Madigan and President Cullerton picked up almost every seat they targeted, and then some. And while the new map put Democrats in play, it didn’t explain some outcomes, like Sam Yingling’s huge upset win against GOP Rep. Sandy Cole up in Lake County.
I’ve talked with Pat Brady many times over the years. He’s not a bad guy at all. And I was told that he offered to resign on election night because somebody, somewhere ought to man up and fall on his sword. I respect that.
Part of Republicans’ brutal losses can be chalked up to the once-a-decade redistricting process, during which Democrats redrew political boundaries to their favor, Brady said.
But he also said Tuesday’s losses demonstrate that Illinois Republicans have a larger image problem.
“You can’t whine about the map. The map’s the map,” Brady said. “We need to take a cold, hard look at what happened, face the realities and do better, which we will.” [Emphasis added.]
* One of those realities the party needs to face is that making robocalls and even in-person calls hasn’t worked all that well. In 2010, the party claimed to have made 4 million calls to voters, urging them to cast their ballots for Republican candidates. This year, the party made the same claim about the same 4 million calls.
Our beloved Oswego Willy loves to talk about how the Republicans in this state can’t seem to get any sort of ground game going. For instance, here’s a comment from today about the 2010 campaign…
ILGOP needs to do the following:
Find more GOP voters in Cook, as simple as 4 more KNOWN votes per precinct in Chicago and Cook, given that “known” GOP voters and NOT voting, literally VOTING at a 100% turnout. (2034 Pcts in the City, 1673 Suburban Cook), that gets you 14,800 … Brady lost by just over 19,400, you now need to find 4,600 votes … in the entire state.
4 votes …4 voters … 2 houses of a couple that has a recorded GOP history and they didn’t vote … at all. Remember, not AGAINST Brady’s conservative views, they didn’t vote.
4 votes, and then the collars and the rest of the state should be ably to find the 5,000 to easily get over.
If you have a strong GOTV and Field Operation.
* As a group, Republicans just don’t walk many precincts. Some do, but not most. Still, focusing very hard on a smaller number of people could definitely help. And that can be done over the phone, and in mail, and in an efficient and aggressive vote-by-mail campaign.
It won’t solve all the party’s many, many problems. And it won’t insulate the GOP from the national freak show. But it would be a good start.
* Also, I mentioned this yesterday, but the party chairman cannot be timid about calling out the flakes. Chairman Brady could have helped insulate people like Bob Dold by publicly taking that goofball Joe Walsh to the woodshed after Walsh’s infamous “no exceptions” press conference. The far Right might’ve blown up, but it’s not like they’re in danger of voting Democratic.
Brady says he’s putting together an “after action” report. A realistic and effective GOTV program needs to be a big part of that. But he also needs to be willing to be a referee within his own party.
*** UPDATE *** As noted by a commenter, House Speaker Michael Madigan revived a bill of his today that directly impacts this topic…
Declares that the State shall appropriate for no more than an X% increase for wage increases associated with any and all collectively bargained contracts throughout State government.
States the policy of the State of Illinois that the size of, or a reduction in, the State employee workforce shall not be a topic of collective bargaining.
The bill has been languishing for a year, but was moved into the House Revenue Committee today. The proposal has bipartisan co-sponsorship.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* A friend of mine came home from work last night and found this Henry Bayer robocall on his answering machine…
This is Henry Bayer, director of your union, AFSCME Council 31.
Negotiations for a new state contract have gone on for more than ten months, and the Quinn administration is still demanding big takeaways that will reduce your pay and drastically increase your health insurance cost.
That’s why state employees are coming together to take action at their worksite next week, between November 13th and the 15th.
We have to make clear to management that we are not going to accept these very steep cuts.
If you’re not willing to settle for a contract that drives down your standard of living, then join in the Unity Days of Action at your worksite next week.
These action days are being coordinated at the local and worksite levels. I asked AFSCME for some examples of what its members will be doing. The e-mailed response….
- “Green Days” in which all members wear AFSCME green shirts, wristbands, jackets or hats;
- Displaying signs with “Stand Together” and “Fair Contract” messages in cars and throughout worksites;
- Solidarity actions such as all members marching into a worksite together in the morning, standing up as one and silently displaying signs in their worksite at an appointed time, or picketing worksites over the lunch hour.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he’s looking forward to accomplishing pension reform by Jan. 9 with bipartisan cooperation and before a new Legislature is sworn in. […]
Quinn says an overhaul of the state’s employee retirement system is needed so there will be adequate resources for schools, public safety and veterans’ programs.
He says Tuesday’s election results show that voters across the country want to see Democrats and Republicans work together.
* Over 100 people responded to yesterday’s question about state Sen. Kirk Dillard’s upcoming gubernatorial campaign. Large numbers described him as a “moderate” who would save the Republican Party.
I’ve known Sen. Dillard for a very long time. He’s a good guy and a good legislator. He’s well-known for working across the aisle, and his moderate bonafides were boosted when he cut that TV ad for Barack Obama’s 2008 primary campaign.
* But on abortion, guns and gay rights he’s no moderate. And those three issues play heavily in the suburbs.
Dillard was rated as “Fully Pro-Life” this year by Illinois Citizens for Life and was endorsed by the Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC. Judy Baar Topinka was a moderate on abortion issues, supporting most abortion rights but also supporting things like parental notification. That moderate stance got her labeled as a pro-life fanatic by groups like Personal PAC, which raises and spends big bucks in this state.
And while gay rights has become a far more acceptable issue in Illinois, Dillard attempted to intervene in a lawsuit this year on the anti-gay rights side. He also voted against civil unions.
* All campaigns are cartoons. We are subjected to black and white arguments. Nuance and moderation don’t always come through very well. Topinka was slammed in a cartoonish way for her moderation on abortion. But Dillard’s position is the same as Bill Brady’s on that issue, so he’ll be subjected to a similar assault if he wins the primary. The same goes for guns and gays.
I am not saying here that Dillard cannot win a general election. I’m also not saying that Dillard doesn’t have a moderate persona. What I am saying, however, is that he will be portrayed in TV ads as a hardline right-winger if he makes it to the general election.
When it comes to the idea of raising income taxes, about half felt that families making over $250,000 a year could afford to pay a little more. About four in 10 wanted to see tax rates frozen for everyone, while few backed the idea of an across-the-board tax hike.
Efforts to dismantle a 16-year ban on same-sex marriage in Illinois may be gaining support. Two years after the state legalized civil unions, more than half of voters said the state should legally recognize same-sex marriages. No issues involving same-sex marriage or civil unions were on the ballot.
Illegal immigrants wanting a chance to apply for permanent residency appear to have Illinois in their corner. More than 70% of voters say illegal immigrants working in the U.S. should be given a chance to apply for legal status.
Definite slippage among Catholics, so the bishops should be somewhat happy. But Obama also slipped among white voters overall this year, so that may explain at least part of the Catholic result.
* Sometimes, a graph is easier than reading. My Sun-Times column today is based on a graph I made yesterday afternoon to help myself understand Tuesday’s election. I was so blown away by the chart that I had to write about it. Using exit polling data, here is the partisan makeup of self-identified election day voters since 1992. Click for a better view…
For the first time in at least 20 years, more independents voted in Illinois last Tuesday than Republicans.
I spent part of Thursday afternoon going through some exit polling data to see if I could find anything to cheer up my Republican friends. I really couldn’t.
Way back in 1992, when Republican Jim Edgar was governor and George H.W. Bush was running for re-election against Bill Clinton, 39 percent of Illinois voters told the exit pollsters they were Democrats; 34 percent said they were Republicans, and 27 percent said they were independents.
Two years later, when the country turned against Clinton and the Republicans swept just about everything here and nationally, the two parties were tied at 36 percent each in Illinois, with 28 percent saying they were independents.
The Republicans dropped down to 32 percent two years later, while the Democrats surged to 42 percent. Things stayed more or less the same until 2006, George W. Bush’s second midterm election, when Democrats vaulted to 46 percent, Republicans dropped to 31 percent and independents plummeted to a 20-year low of 23 percent.
Obviously, the Democrats won over independents, and the Republicans lost them. Republicans continued losing more independent-minded folks in 2008, when Barack Obama was elected president. Democrats made up 47 percent of the Illinois electoral pool, but Republicans dropped to 28 percent and independents moved up to 28 percent.
And despite a national Republican landslide in 2010, people who said they were Democrats dropped just 3 percentage points, to 44 percent. Republicans moved up only three points to 31 percent, and independents dropped a couple of points to 24 percent.
Believe it or not, the percentage of voters who said they were Democrats was the same in this year’s election as it was in 2008: 44 percent. But Republicans tumbled to 27 percent and independents rose to 28 percent.
The number of people who say they’re independent really hasn’t moved a whole lot over the past two decades. It has been within a five-point range for more than 20 years.
The Republican Party’s problem is that it has been on the decline overall since its 1994 high. Part of the reason is that a triple whammy hit the GOP: George Ryan, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Ryan’s corruption turned voters away from their favored state governing party; Bush turned Illinoisans off altogether, and Obama is the home-state guy.
So, it’s possible that with both Georges long gone and Obama having won his final election, Republicans might start returning to a more reasonable level of support. But they probably can’t turn around numbers like this on a dime.
For starters, women have left the party in droves. In 1994, 61 percent of Illinois women voted for the pro-choice Edgar’s re-election bid. By 2010, just 44 percent of women voted for the pro-life Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady. And this year, a mere 35 percent of women here voted for Mitt Romney, according to the exit polls.
If the Republicans don’t do something differently, and soon, they’ll hurt their brand so much that most women will eventually refuse to vote for any GOP candidate.
Latinos, the fastest-growing ethnic group in Illinois, also have trended more Democratic. In 2004, 53 percent of Latinos voted for John Kerry. Two years ago, 63 percent of Latinos voted for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. This year, 81 percent went with Obama.
The bottom line here is that the GOP has to stop alienating women and Latinos. Now. Today. There is simply no other path back to relevance in Illinois.
Illinois state Sen. Kirk Dillard says he’s preparing to make another run for Illinois governor.
The Hinsdale Republican’s name has often been mentioned as a top candidate for the 2014 race. He narrowly lost the 2010 gubernatorial primary to Republican Sen. Bill Brady.
Dillard tells WIND-AM in Chicago that he’s more committed to the race now and that he has a proven track record and statewide recognition from his work with previous Republican governors.
* Michael Sneed has very good federal and Jackson organization sources, so this is fascinating…
Sneed has learned U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who handily won re-election Tuesday despite a lengthy stay at Mayo Clinic for depression and bipolar disorder, is in the midst of plea discussions with the feds probing his alleged misuse of campaign funds.
“No one has pled guilty, but plea discussions are ongoing,” said a top Sneed source, who said Jackson is still undergoing treatment at Mayo Clinic.
Sneed is also told Jackson, who returned to Mayo Clinic after undergoing outpatient treatment in the seclusion of his home in Washington, D.C., is not only being investigated for allegedly using campaign funds to decorate his Washington home — but also Sneed hears he may also have used campaign funds to buy a $40,000 Rolex watch as a gift for a female friend.
* That last item about the watch has set off a fury among some female aldermen…
“In every marriage somewhere down the line, you think that your husband might fool around on you, but not necessarily commit adultery. Being a high-profile person, how constrained could he be? But, to have it all now slammed in her face. That has got to be so humiliating, it’s like, I don’t want to get out of bed,” said Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), chairman of the City Council’s Budget Committee.
“You fooled us all — including your wife. We respected you were ill. [We said,] `Let the man heal.’ And then, you come out with this poppycock? I’m angry that you would wait until the day after the election that you won handily with the support of all of us. Nobody came against you. Then, you come out the next day working out a deal? We’ll deal your butt out of the Congress. Get somebody in there who’s gonna be honest with us and work on our behalf. Maybe, it should be Sandi.” […]
“She’s tried to stand up under all this pressure. She’s tried to be a good wife [and] stand behind her husband. Then, you turn around and do this? You bought this hussy a $40,000 watch? He would need to stay at the Mayo Clinic if he was my husband,” Austin said.
“This is a real expensive girlfriend. Wow. What $40,000 watch have you bought for Sandi, you buzzard?” […]
Ald. Deborah Graham (29th) said she was “heartbroken” for Sandi Jackson and the humiliation she must be enduring.
“She’s got to be torn. She’s got to be going through a lot of different emotions. It’s a terrible time for her and her children,” Graham said.
If she was in Sandi’s shoes, Graham said, “I would be devastated, but there’s some vows that you make. Now, she has to make some decisions about whether she stands by him or makes other choices. Those decisions belong to her. She’s a beautiful and bubbly person. My heart goes out to her. It’s a sad time.”
“Today I stand before you as a new man. I’m excited again about representing the people of the 10th district, and I intend to work hard, and work hand-in-hand with those who voted against me and those who worked against me, because that is the best thing to do for the individual constituents of the district,” Smith said.
Meantime, [Smith attorney Victor Henderson] framed Smith as a trailblazer in Springfield, and an independent voice standing up to all the legislators who have worked against him.
“There were a lot of ministers who didn’t want Martin Luther King up here in the ’60s because he said he was causing problems. Look what good he did. People wanted Nelson Mandela to be quiet. People wanted Jesus to be quiet,” Henderson said.
* Out of the two, only Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno appears to be in any sort of trouble, right now and that’s not a sure thing either…
Ms. Radogno and House Minority Leader Tom Cross are also facing calls to step down, but the “million-dollar question,” as another party operative put it, is who would replace them. So far, the few names that have surfaced have been conservatives from downstate who wouldn’t necessarily be able to make the party more competitive in the suburbs of Chicago. Ms. Schuh said her boss “intends to pursue leading the caucus through the next phase.”
“They have to watch what they wish for — they might get it,” said state Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano, a moderate Republican who lost his west suburban seat after 20 years in the Illinois House. As assistant minority leader, he worked closely with Mr. Cross, who could not be reached for comment. “He’s the hardest-working guy I know, and it’s a thankless job.”
After this week’s historic drubbing, it will only take 10 votes to elect a Senate minority leader. Stuff can happen…
A day after suffering through one of their worst elections in modern times, at least one GOP lawmaker said he’s considering challenging Minority Leader Christine Radogno for control of the soon-to-be 19-member Republican caucus in the Senate.
“Obviously, it’s something that has to be addressed,” said state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon. “We need to do a better job of delivering our message. We’ve got to restructure our party from the bottom up.”
McCarter’s potential candidacy emerged after Tuesday’s Democratic tidal wave gave Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, a 40-seat, veto-proof majority beginning in January, while House Speaker Michael Madigan saw his Democratic majority increase by seven seats to a veto-proof 71.
Actually, McCarter has been talking about running for months.
Republican Sen. Dan Duffy, of Lake Barrington, suggested an alternative to Radogno as leader: Sen. Darin LaHood, the Peoria-area lawmaker who is the son of Ray LaHood, Obama’s transportation secretary. Sen. LaHood could not be reached for comment.
“We’re a team,” [Sen. Bill Brady] said. “We went into this as a team. There’s no question we’re a little shell-shocked right now. But we were tremendously outspent and egregiously out-mapped.”
They were “egregiously out-mapped” because the GOP lost the 2010 governor’s race.
Get used to it. Because he wants it. And he’s reaching for it.
“I’ve thought about it before and I don’t take it off the table,” Daley told me in an interview on WLS-AM 890 on Wednesday as he sat for an hour talking national and local politics. “I think right now, to be very frank with you, the last thing in the world anybody wants to hear about is a race that’s two years down the road.” […]
“I’m not closing the door and, I know that sounds like a politician, but the fact of the matter is that these are tough days and I think there’s a lot to be done by the (state) Legislature. I don’t think it helps right now for people to be out there saying they’re going to run and they have a solution at this point. I think we’ve got to see what the Legislature does.”
And then he methodically discussed how state government, all but bankrupt under a crushing multimillion-dollar debt from unfunded pension liabilities for public workers, could deal with the red ink drowning the state. He said that each side has to give. Republicans have to give on taxes, Democrats on compelling the unions and others to pay more of the freight. Daley said a compromise wouldn’t work unless each side took actions that could cost them in the election.
I found these to be serious words offered by a serious man.
Bill Daley has been talking about running for governor since at least 1999. I kinda fell for his game three years ago. So, I’ll believe it when I actually see it.
The power of an incumbent governor during a primary is pretty significant. Just ask Dan Hynes.
Not to mention that the Daley brand is old and wilted.
Mr. Daley, the brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, sure has been acting like a candidate. He’s been booked to talk to the City Club of Chicago on Dec. 20 — a good sign of a pol who wants to raise his profile. He’s releasing a new report on state schools in a few days. And he told Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass this morning that the gubernatorial option is on the table.
But Mr. Daley made similar moves a few years ago, then backed off at the last minute. If incumbent Pat Quinn decides to run again, is Mr. Daley reallllly willing to go through what could be an extraordinarily nasty primary battle with him for the rights to battle the GOP nominee in what might well be a Republican year?
For Democrats flush with power, there are pitfalls ahead. Madigan and Cullerton can now render the governor’s veto power meaningless. Already, lawmakers and Quinn have clashed over casino expansion, with the governor using his veto despite Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s support for the measure.
Quinn, who indicated Wednesday that he plans to run again, said he did “not at all” see a downside or a threat to his own power.
They can only render Quinn’s veto power “meaningless” in the House if they hold every single Democrat (not always easy) or pick up some GOP votes. But the two chambers have a decent record of overriding vetoes already. The governor totally vetoed 8 bills in 2011. The GA overrode three.
He’s not totally irrelevant. But he is less relevant than he was, particularly in the Senate. He needs to be aware of the pitfalls, and he often isn’t.
Exultation might be the natural reaction after unleashing such a blistering conquest. But all those new lawmakers will have their own agendas, making party cohesion more difficult. And Mooney said they pose other problems, particularly in setting an agenda that voters in distinct legislative districts will support in the next election.
“It’s unlikely they’re going to just cram through something crazy,” Mooney said. “One, it’s hard to get everybody on board, and even if they did, they’re going to pay for it down the road.”
* Soon to be ex-Congressman Joe Walsh was asked by the Daily Herald where the Illinois GOP needs to go…
My answer is simple. This state has fallen off a cliff. It’s a one-party state. We need a GOP that clearly and forcefully and cheerfully articulates a different vision. The state party hasn’t stood for anything for years. It’s enabled House Speaker Mike Madigan to have so much power. […]
It’s by having a clear stance. You have to go to independents and say to guys and girls, “The state has the worst foreclosure crisis in the country.” Republicans need to go to Latinos and Hispanics and blacks and say, “the education you’re getting at city public schools is terrible.” I believe in school choice. Republicans have to stand for real ideas. If all we have to do to get more voters is sound like Democrats, we’re never going to win. We can’t out-Democrat the Democrats.
Calling them “girls” probably won’t work, Joe. That’s actually part of the problem with the GOP.
Also, as long as you’re extreme on national issues, most Latinos won’t listen to you, either.
And as far as African-Americans, the GOP will have to actively kick the “white identity” types out of its party the way the Democrats did decades ago before black people will view the Republicans as an alternative.
Q. What about a bid for governor for you? A possibility?
A. You know that I believe fervently in that vision. I don’t know of many other candidates who articulate that vision. Am I going to do something? Oh gosh, I don’t know. People approach me every day and ask, “Walsh, are you going to run for the governor? Are you going to run for Senate?” I want to do my part to lead a movement to present a vision to this. I’d rather go down fighting. Democrats have ruined this state but they’ve been able to do it because the Republicans have allowed them to.
Yeah, I’m sure lots of people want him to run for governor. Put Pat Quinn at the top of that well-wisher list.
* Congressman Aaron Schock takes stock of his party’s stunning losses…
“We have to run candidates who can compete in districts that are swing or Democratic seats. Don’t offend moderate women and young people. We can’t have candidates who say silly things.”
Easier said than done. Moderates are often outgunned in primaries by unelectable ultra-conservatives, who then go on to offend moderate women and say “silly things.”
Party leadership needs to start hitting back at these people. Where was Schock when Joe Walsh went off about “no exceptions” for abortion including life of the mother? Where was anybody else, for that matter?
The only way the GOP can “run candidates who can compete in districts that are swing or Democratic seats” is by making sure that those sorts of candidates win their primaries. And that means taking a hard line against the far Right. And that wing has a different take on the election than does Schock. Here’s John Tillman from the right-wing Illinois Policy Institute…
Romney was attacked all summer long; he did not respond and thus fell behind. His high point was when he went on offense in the first debate. Rather than continuing an aggressive offense after this surge, however, he returned to a passive, defensive posture in an attempt to win over more women and independents. You cannot win from a defensive posture.
Oh, please.
The Republican Party, particularly in this state, is in real danger of turning moderate suburban white women into hardcore Democrats. Time and time again, the GOP has gone out of its way to freak out those women. Eventually, they’ll just turn off their ears entirely to the GOP.
You can’t win statewide in Illinois without moderate suburban women. And you can’t win suburban legislative and congressional races without them, either. The GOP is simply not an hospitable refuge for that demographic.
In Illinois, the gender gap among women was even more pronounced, based on exit polling conducted for The Associated Press and the major TV networks. Fully 63 percent of female voters backed Obama to 35 percent for Romney.
Obama garnered 71 percent of the Latino vote nationwide compared to Mitt Romney’s 27 percent, according to the exit polls. Romney’s showing among Latinos in 2012 is the worst for a GOP candidate since Bob Dole won 21 percent of the Latino vote in 1996. When President George W. Bush won in 2000, he received 44 percent of the Latino vote, and in 2008 John McCain won 31 percent of the vote.
The Latino population is exploding in Illinois. Yet, the GOP continues to snub them. The party is doomed forever if it doesn’t change its ways. Simple as that.
Among the estimated 12 percent of Illinois voters who are Latinos, 81 percent backed Obama compared with only 18 percent for Romney, the exit polls showed.
“If you know you’re a party that needs to win independent and Democratic voters, you can’t be so strident,” he said. “You can’t just placate the base all the time, ’cause at the end of the day, if you just win Republicans in Illinois, you are going to lose on Election Day.”
He said that means that in the suburbs, Republicans will need to be less socially conservative, while Downstate, they’ll have to show stronger cooperation with unions.
The Downstate union vote derailed Bill Brady’s race against Pat Quinn.
Here again, Schock is talking a good game. But let’s see how his voting record matches up to his rhetoric in the coming months as he ponders a gubernatorial bid.
Look, I just don’t trust DC politicians. Period. They get infected with a hyper-partisan disease that doesn’t work well in state government. Long before he was arrested, Rod Blagojevich governed like he was still sitting on a back bench in Congress. All hype and partisanship all the time. For me, anyway, Schock must overcome this very severe handicap if he wants to run statewide here.
* I want to thank everyone who came to my election night party on Tuesday. I heard it was a lot of fun, but I was working most of the time, so I didn’t really get to enjoy it.
Also, many thanks to Google for organizing the event and picking up the tab. That couldn’t have been cheap. And thanks to NBC5 for its active participation.
Pretty much everybody had a great time. A couple were over-served, but that happens with an open bar. No blood, no foul, no arrests. No big deal.
I don’t think I’ll do it again unless we can find a location where I can have a private office. I work on election night, so the party was a huge distraction. Barton Lorimor did a great job for us, but I felt like I was constantly torn between what was going on outside the party and what was going on inside, so I never got a good handle on anything. I hope you weren’t disappointed.
* The party ended at around 11 o’clock. Some of us headed to the Senate Democratic event just down the street. After that party ended, I was walking back to the parking garage when I heard someone behind me say, “Hey! Can I walk with you?”
Now, if you know the State Street block between Kinzie and Hubbard, you also know that it’s populated by some sketchy types. I used to enjoy that block in my younger days because it was so, um, interesting. Now, it’s just kind of a pain. So I kept walking and didn’t turn around.
And then the guy behind me said, “I’ll buy you a cannoli.”
Yes, it was Oswego Willy. He came late to the party and apparently just happened to see me walk by. We went to Mother Hubbard’s for drinks and some of their famous wings and talked for a good, long time. He is as funny and as witty in person as he is here on the blog. I loved every minute of our time together.
This blog just wouldn’t be what it is without people like Oswego Willy and Wordslinger and so many, many others. One day, I want to have a party just for this site’s regular commenters. They could all out themselves to each other. I’m sure it would be a ton of fun.
I have often said that I have the best commenters, bar none, of any blog anywhere in the country. You really make this place what it is. Thanks.
Thanks also to my advertisers. This site is a lot of work, so your support makes it worthwhile. I don’t like to do stuff for free, unless it’s charity, so many, many thanks.
* But most of all, thanks to my subscribers, without whom I wouldn’t be here today. You may have no idea how much I appreciate your support, but just know I’m always overwhelmed at how this endeavor has been such a success. Y’all mean the world to me.
* The Sunlight Foundation took a look at the best and worst returns on investment for outside groups making independent expenditures. Here is their ist of the top spenders’ best ROI…
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION PEA-FEDERAL
84% of $15,202,306 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
SEIU COPE (SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL EDUCATION)
70% of $14,318,192 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
MAJORITY PAC
69% of $34,359,657 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
WOMEN VOTE!
69% of $6,072,693 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
* The worst…
NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA POLITICAL VICTORY FUND
0% of $10,955,688 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
AMERICAN CROSSROADS*
1% of $103,559,672 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
* Crossroads GPS had a 13% ROI
US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
5% of $31,937,037 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
AMERICAN FUTURE FUND
5% of $23,613,532 spent in the general election ended in the desired result.
The NRA’s “Institute for Legislative Action” had a slightly better ROI than its “Political Victory Fund,” at 10.25 percent. The Now Or Never PAC, which played extensively in the Joe Walsh campaign had an ROI of just 14.3 percent. FreedomWorks, which also advertised against Tammy Duckworth, had an ROI of 24.5 percent.
On the other side, Planned Parenthood’s “Action Fund” had a 97.8 percent ROI.
* The 17th Congressional District made it into the top three IE races. The result…
IL-17 (House)
Total outside money: $8,843,981
General candidate fundraising: $4,233,575
Candidate // General election outside support // Candidate fundraising
**winner BUSTOS, CHERI (D) $4,289,889 $1,964,893
SCHILLING, ROBERT T. (R) (Incumbent) $4,543,956 $2,268,682
* The Sun-Times looked at the congressional races by dollars spent per vote. For instance, each vote Walsh won “cost” $70, including IEs. More…
Bill Foster, who ousted longtime Republican Judy Biggert in the west suburban 11th Congressional District, won with the biggest margin, according to vote tallies, with 58 percent of the vote. It cost about $30 per vote for Foster, given the $4.3 million spent by or on his behalf and the 139,849 votes cast for him.
Spending on Biggert’s side exceeded $6.3 million. Ending up with 101,002 ballots cast for her, it averages out to $62 a vote.
Walsh’s challenger, Tammy Duckworth, was a relatively good investment. Duckworth’s totals meant $39 a vote with $4.7 million in spending and 120,774 votes. […]
The closest congressional race of the three was in the 10th Congressional District, where a combination of campaign and outside money added up to $7.5 million for Republican Bob Dold. Dold narrowly lost to challenger Brad Schneider, earning 128,129 votes. That comes out to about $58 per vote for Dold.
By comparison, about $3.9 million went in on Schneider’s side, and he tallied 130,676. That’s about $29 per vote.
A Republican lumber company executive is conceding defeat in a southern Illinois congressional race.
Jason Plummer made Wednesday’s announcement a day after voters in the 12th Congressional District elected Democrat Bill Enyart, a Belleville lawyer who has headed the Illinois National Guard. The Green Party’s Paula Bradshaw finished third.
Plummer says in a one-paragraph statement e-mailed to The Associated Press that he thanks the thousands of supporters, volunteers and friends who backed his campaign.
He noted that while Democrats have held the seat since World War II, he’s proud of his bid to replace outgoing Democratic Rep. Jerry Costello and hopes “southern Illinoisans can work together the solve the serious problems facing the region.”
I checked with the Bill Enyart campaign again this morning and they have not yet received a concession call from Plummer. So, he may have conceded to the AP, but he has yet to show some class and reach out to the guy who beat him.
Gill, by the way, was said to be “resting” yesterday and “spending time with his family.” He should be more than rested enough today to pick up the phone and call Rodney Davis.
