Lauren Underwood released her third ad of the General Election Oct. 24, after a dominant performance at her one and only public debate with her incumbent Republican opponent, Randy Hultgren.
The ad, which will run on broadcast, cable and digital platforms, highlights the story of Plainfield residents Carrie and Tom Jackson. The couple’s son, Tyler, was diagnosed with cancer at age 18. Carrie attended Hultgren’s one and only town hall event of 2017, and heard her representative make a promise.
“When I attended Randy Hultgren’s town hall in April 2017, I felt as though he made a personal promise to protect my son Tyler’s health care. He broke that promise,” Carrie said. “Lauren Underwood heard the same promise. I’m voting for Lauren because she will fight for my son.”
Carrie: A few years ago, we found out our 18-year-old son had cancer. Randy Hultgren had a chance to protect people with pre-existing conditions like our son, and he failed us. And that’s when all my activism started. It’s not just about politics. It’s not about Republican and Democrat. It’s about the lack of humanity that’s being shown. The lack of common decency.
Tom: And we need people like Lauren Underwood who will bring us together. And she definitely will do that when she’s in Washington.
A robust six figure buy will blanket the Chicagoland cable markets starting tonight through Election Day targeting sensible conservatives that continue to support our President and candidates with like minded values.
President Trump: This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
Announcer: With Sam McCann as our conservative governor, he will fight alongside President Trump and the police to protect our borders and this state from illegals. Our nation is being overrun by illegals and our values are being attacked by extremist liberals. Illinois must elect Sam McCann as governor to work with President Trump and our police to rebuild Illinois together.
McCann recently reported a $430K contribution from the Fight Back Fund, a dark money group that appears to be controlled by Local 150 of the Operating Engineers Union.
Please see State Rep. Marty Moylan’s statement demanding that Marilyn Smolenski calls on her benefactor, Dan Proft to remove an unethically obtained advertisement from the airwaves.
Smolenski is a Republican running against Moylan. Rep. Moylan’s press release is here. The president of the Park Ridge League of Women Voters demanded this week that the video clip of the debate be removed from the TV ad, which is paid for by Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC. Apparently, there was an agreement by both candidates not to use any video taken of the debate in advertisements.
* So, what’s everybody all excited about? I asked Moylan’s spokesperson…
The ad is a sad attempt to disparage Representative Moylan’s record of independent leadership by using an unethically obtained sound bite from the forum to deceive and divide voters in the 55th District.
By the way, Moylan leading the “Who do we like? Mike!” chant near the end of the ad was from a union rally ahead of a screening of that Illinois Policy Institute documentary on Speaker Madigan the last election of Madigan as House Speaker. The Illinois Policy Institute had some demonstrators there, so the unions organized a counter-protest. Proft has reported spending a whopping $785,000 on ads attacking Moylan.
Courtney: I have been living with endometriosis for 20 years.
Linda: I was healthy, except for the MS. Scared to death with the MS.
Courtney: I was having to make choices between groceries or the medication I needed. When people like Erika Harold threaten Obamacare, I can’t believe how little she values people like me with preexisting conditions.
Linda: The threat of Obamacare being taken away is one of those sort of bad dreams. So when I hear that politicians like Erika Harold wanting to repeal Obamacare, I get angry, and honestly get scared.
Courtney: I can’t vote for Erika Harold.
Linda: Absolutely not.
* The Champaign News-Gazette editorial board, which endorsed area resident Erika Harold, is spitting mad…
If politics wasn’t such a sleazy business, this advertisement would set a new low for being misleading.
Harold, like Raoul, is running for attorney general of Illinois, not for federal office.
Obamacare — aka the Affordable Care Act — is federal legislation passed during former President Barack Obama’s first two years in office.
Court challenges have been filed against Obamacare and been rejected. There is nothing that Harold could do about repealing Obamacare, even if she wanted to do so.
This is classic scaremongering engaged in by a loser candidate who fears he’ll lose an election if he can’t drive his opponent’s negatives sky high.
* I asked the Raoul campaign for a response…
That’s false. Donald Trump and Republican state attorneys general are in Texas district court trying, yet again, to destroy the ACA and take healthcare away from people with preexisting conditions. Democratic AGs, including Lisa Madigan, have intervened to vigorously defend it. In 2014, Republican Erika Harold said she wanted to “repeal it all,” regarding the ACA. Not only could she do something to destroy Obamacare — we have every reason to believe she would.
The campaign is right about the court case and the News-Gazette is wrong.
* From the Champaign News-Gazette in 2014, when Harold was running for Congress…
Harold said she wanted to “repeal it all and start all over again with consumer-driven” reforms.
“Specifically on the issue of the Affordable Care Act, I don’t think it’s a bill that can be reformed. When we look at the consequence throughout the district, with people losing plans they liked, having to pay increased premiums and I think we’re going to see the full effect of it when the employer mandate goes in effect … I think it’s fundamentally flawed.”
Kwame Raoul is lying about Erika’s record because he can’t run on his own fourteen-year record of failure in Springfield. The truth is Erika supports the Illinois law barring insurance companies from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions, and Erika would not have joined the lawsuit seeking to have the Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional.
This week Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs released his first television ad for his re-election campaign: “Numbers.” This ad highlights how Frerichs’ has been standing tall for Illinoisans by protecting our tax dollars, finding savings through a performance audit, cutting Wall Street fees in half, and modernizing operations to better serve veterans, the disabled, seniors and consumers alike.
“For me, standing tall isn’t just a political slogan. It’s the values I learned growing up in the small farming community of Gifford, Illinois and it’s what I’ve taken to Springfield to stand up for people every day,” Frerichs said. “Being a good steward of taxpayer dollars is vital to bringing stability to our state for generations to come.”
As the state’s Treasurer, Mike Frerichs has been an aggressive watchdog of our tax dollars, using his office to put the public’s money to work through smart and sound investments. Mike, who grew up in the small farming community of Gifford, Illinois, is a Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO), and he has put those skills to work to cut fees charged by Wall Street banks in half and improve investment returns for Illinois’ college savings program, run his office more efficiently to save tax dollars, and provide opportunities for more Illinois workers to save for retirement.
Frerichs has put his office to work for regular people and will continue to stand tall for all Illinoisans by providing them the tools they need to succeed.
As a Certified Public Finance Officer, I work hard to make sure the numbers add up, but even I won’t try to make sense of these numbers. As Treasurer, I’m always crunching numbers to protect our tax dollars.
That’s how I found savings through a performance audit of my office. I reduced Wall Street fees and improved investment returns. I modernized operations to better serve veterans, seniors, and consumers.
I’ll always help Mom around the house, and I’ll always stand tall for Illinois taxpayers.
I’m Erika Harold. If JB Pritzker is elected governor, he and Mike Madigan will have total control over state government. That much power in the hands of any one political party isn’t good for Illiniois. I’ll be a check on the Pritzker-Madigan agenda and work for you, not them.
Can Harold win? The “wave” environment would suggest not, but if voters are looking for a check on JB Pritzker and Speaker Madigan and they can’t bring themselves to vote for Gov. Rauner, she might be a realistic option. At least, that’s what the Republicans are hoping for. It’s probably too bad she can’t just come right out and say that in an ad, but much of her money is coming from Rauner, so it’s unlikely that she can or will.
Wall: The polls show he’s down, but the governor remains upbeat, but he may politically need to do something this Saturday that he didn’t do in August - go Downstate and stand with President Trump. What do you have to do to overcome the polls that show you trailing?
Rauner: Well first of all, the polls I think, are very wrong. They’ve been wrong the last few election cycles. I don’t know if I’m trailing or leading right now, but I think I’m trailing a bit.
Rauner: We are not a sanctuary. I have blocked sanctuary status for the state of Illinois, and I’m strongly against illegal immigration. And I have fought to elect good conservatives like Mike Babcock, like Dwight Kay, and this guy McCann, he’s a phony. Nobody should vote for him. A vote for him is a vote for Mike Madigan and Pritzker. And Pritzker is a nightmare for the state. Nightmare. Turn out the lights. Job losses. Taxes. Corruption. We’ve gotta stay strong. […]
Host: What the heck is Sam McCann doing?
RAUNER: He’s pure baloney, he’s a fraud, he’s a phony. He’s a plant by Madigan. Madigan does this all the time, he does this so many elections, he did it in his own election two years ago. He brings in phony people who are just there to confuse voters and try to divert votes from the real candidates. McCann – all you need to know about McCann is that his supporters and McCann are sending out mailers attacking good conservative legislators like Dwight Kay, like Sen. Connelly in the western ‘burbs and around the state. They’re working for Madigan and Madigan’s cronies – a handful of union bosses – that’s all they’re doing. McCann is not a true conservative, he’s a Madigan loyalist who’s planted there to confuse voters and try to divert votes.
Today Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza released her second television ad of her re-election campaign: “Champion.” The ad highlights Mendoza’s accomplishments as Comptroller over the past two years featuring editorials and endorsements from around the state.
In their endorsement of Mendoza, the Herald-Whig called Mendoza “a champion for those who couldn’t advocate for themselves.” The State Journal-Register called her an “Agent of change” who “has sought to create a more transparent government” in their endorsement. In September 2017, Mendoza was called “one tough lady” in the Chicago Tribune. And in their endorsement, the News-Gazette wrote “Mendoza has shown herself to be an energetic, thoughtful steward.”
Mendoza loves standing up to big bullies and Politico called her “one of Rauner’s worst nightmares.” She has the strength and determination to keep fighting for the people of Illinois as Comptroller.
Narrator: She’s described as an “Agent of Change” creating “a more transparent government”
“A champion for those who couldn’t advocate for themselves”
Susana Mendoza…“One tough lady”
Who has “transformed the Comptroller’s Office”
“Helping Illinois rebuild”
“Energetic, thoughtful”
Mendoza’s a “fearless financial counterforce”
And one of “Bruce Rauner’s worst nightmares.”
Susana Mendoza: I love standing up to big bullies. It’s who I am. And I’m going to keep doing that as long as voters give me the chance to.
Today, the Rauner campaign is launching a new digital video titled “Bruce and Diana on Illinois’ Future.”
Bruce and Diana raised their family here in Illinois and understand the promise that the state holds for the future. Illinois is their home, and they know that home is worth fighting for.
Governor Rauner: “I was born and raised in Illinois, we’ve raised six wonderful children here, and I just feel so connected to this place. Illinois is a very special place, it’s a very special home, and I never want to leave. I think Illinois has an incredibly exciting future, and I think we’re at a key inflection point, a key turning point for the state. We’ve had a lot of frustrations. Many of our children have been leaving the state, many residents have been moving, our taxes seem to go up all the time, we’ve had not nearly as many jobs growing in the state as we should. We’ve improved some of that, but we’re at a point where I believe we can achieve dramatic improvements in the next few years. We have such wonderful people in our state. We have such great location and natural advantages.”
Diana Rauner: “The natural beauty and the natural resources of Illinois, our strategic center at the middle of the country, is actually something that is undervalued.”
Governor Rauner: “We can be, and I believe will be, a booming economy with great opportunity for everyone.”
* Everybody was yakking yesterday about Gov. Rauner’s new “Unholy union” ad featuring a wedding ceremony between Speaker Madigan and JB Pritzker. This is a screen capture from US Rep. Peter Roskam’s new ad slamming his opponent Sean Casten…
Everybody’s getting into the act.
* And check this out. A buddy took this with his phone. The Roskam ad ran immediately after the Rauner ad this morning…
Beyond President Donald Trump and almost every issue they were asked about, Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and Democratic challenger Sean Casten during their latest debate also clashed over a sex columnist.
In Monday night’s WTTW forum, Roskam referenced a recent Wall Street Journal story in which Casten cites sex columnist Dan Savage when asked to name a leader who inspires him.
“He bound himself to some people who were advocating political blackmail and political slander,” Roskam said of Casten during Monday’s debate. “And I think he should distance himself from these people.”
Casten didn’t back away from the comments.
“The person I embraced … is Dan Savage, who has been a voice for the LGBT community and particularly for the It Gets Better Project of teens who were considering suicide,” Casten said. “Mr. Roskam has been a horrible advocate for that community, and maybe he doesn’t like that I support them, but I do.”
We’re at peak something right now. I just don’t know what it is.
