Today, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan’s campaign for Congress released her first general election television message to voters. The spot, titled “Hike,” tells the story of a family hike that landed her son in the intensive care unit, fighting for his life. It highlights the critical importance of access to quality and affordable health care for Illinois families. The spot begins airing on television in the district tomorrow.
“For me, and for so many parents across central Illinois, health care is a personal issue,” said Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. “No family should risk losing a loved one, or face bankruptcy, because of one medical emergency. That’s why I’m running for Congress — because Rodney Davis has voted repeatedly to cut health care coverage, raise costs, and gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Central Illinois families deserve better.”
Ten years ago, a family hike almost cost our son Jack his life. A simple tick bite led to a deadly infection that put Jack in intensive care for 21 days where he was read last rites twice. I’m Betsy Londrigan and I know that without great health care, Jack [my son] would have died. Thankfully, he came home. But then the bills started coming. Without good insurance, we would have been bankrupt. I approve this message, because now I want to make sure every parent can afford good health care for their family, too.
Today, the Pritzker campaign released a new digital video featuring President Barack Obama on why he’s backing JB Pritzker for governor. In the video, President Obama commends JB’s leadership in creating thousands of jobs at 1871 and expanding the school breakfast program to over 200,000 kids.
“Juliana and I are incredibly honored to have the support of President Barack Obama as we fight for the values that defined his presidency,” said JB Pritzker. “President Obama has done so much to move our country forward: expanding healthcare for millions, leading our country out of the Great Recession, and standing up as a model of leadership and integrity for millions across our great state and nation. I was proud to play a role in his historic presidency when I led the White House Summit on Early Childhood Education, and I’m proud to have his endorsement in this election. I look forward to fighting to preserve and build on his legacy as Illinois’ next governor by putting Springfield back on the side of working families.”
“I am proud to endorse JB Pritzker to be the next governor of my home state of Illinois, and let me tell you why,” said President Barack Obama in the video. “It’s simple. JB gets things done. When folks said Illinois couldn’t be a leader in creating high tech jobs, JB thought we could, and he started a tech incubator that’s helped entrepreneurs create hundreds of new companies and more than 7,000 good jobs. When JB saw that too many of our school kids were going hungry, he made it a personal mission to change that, and working with Illinois non-profits, he helped expand a program we started to make sure more than 200,000 low-income Illinois kids have access to school breakfast.
“I know JB. I trust JB, and that’s who he is — someone who is always thinking about how he can make difference. Someone who identifies the right problems and brings the right people together to solve them. And that’s something we can use in Illinois. JB will be a governor who looks out for all of us — from downstate towns to northern suburbs to the neighborhoods of Chicago. He’ll work as hard as he can to strengthen opportunity for every Illinoisan, today and into the future. So, I’m asking you to join me in supporting and voting for JB Pritzker for the next governor of Illinois.”
Chicago billionaire J.B. Pritzker isn’t sure whether he’ll back President Obama in 2012, Bloomberg TV reported on Friday. “We’ll have to wait and see. We have to see who the nominee will be on the Republican side,” Pritzker said. “I’m a Democrat, and I tend to lean towards voting for the president.”
“As in every election, it’s going to be a choice between two people and two parties that you’re not 100 percent behind,” Pritzker said. “You just have to pick the best of a mediocre set of choices.
Billionaire J.B. Pritzker has pumped another $20 million into his Democratic campaign for governor, bringing his record self-funding total to $126.5 million with 2½ months to go before the Nov. 6 general election.
Campaign finance reports filed late Saturday night showed Pritzker made his latest out-of-pocket contribution Tuesday, two days before he was a featured speaker at Democrat Day at the Illinois State Fair.
At the fair’s Republican day, Gov. Bruce Rauner asked the gathered crowd for financial help, warning that he would be outspent by Pritzker by a 3-1 ratio, though he offered no specifics. […]
Still, the Republican governor has put $95.3 million of his own money into his campaign fund since March 2013, when he announced his first candidacy for governor. In December 2016, Rauner made a record one-time contribution of $50 million to his re-election fund.
Maxwell: Why do you think at this time in Pat Quinn’s governorship he created more jobs than you have in this time in yours? [Rauner laughs] Those are the facts, those are the dry numbers. Why do you think that is?
Rauner: So, um, Quinn was a disaster for the state of Illinois. And Pritzker will even be a bigger disaster. Regulations, restrictions, tax hikes…
Maxwell: How was he able to create more jobs at this time in his governorship than you have in yours?
Rauner: We have had the headwinds of a tax hike from Mike Madigan and the talk of further tax hikes…
Maxwell: To the same rate that it was under Gov. Quinn, to the same rate.
Rauner: And, and people see the deficit spending. People see what Madigan’s doing to the state. And it’s very difficult to persuade investors, very difficult to persuade job creators to come.
Go watch the rest. The governor claims he’s talked to business owners who’ve vowed to leave the state if Pritzker is elected. Maxwell also pressed him on all the jobs his overseas trips were supposed to create that haven’t yet been announced. The governor didn’t have much of an answer.
