* After spending a not-so-small fortune on TV ads against JB Pritzker, Gov. Rauner now says that “Madigan has rigged the Democratic primary for Pritzker. That outcome in that race was determined last year. At this point they’ve decided to step in and try to change the outcome of the Republican primary and they’re actually supporting Jeanne Ives.” Have a look…
.@GovRauner on the campaign trail in Champaign today, says several times the “Democratic primary is decided,” says Madigan “rigged” the race for @JBPritzker. He says the “outcome in that race was decided last year.”
(T)he real reason Democrats are meddling in the GOP primary — which, for the record, DGA’s local communications director Sam Salustro denies — is they think Ives is so far to the right on the political spectrum that she’ll be easier to beat in November than the more centrist (and fabulously wealthy) Rauner.
That’s very true. But the DGA has Rauner squirming more than I’ve seen him in a while. The trolling factor alone is worth half a mil.
For governor, multiple sources say the race has tightened enough among both Democrats and Republicans that while front-runners J.B. Pritzker and Bruce Rauner still are likely to win, very close contests and even potentially upsets are possible.
Among Republicans, Rauner has taken down his anti-Pritzker television commercials in recent days and instead is concentrating his TV-ad fire strictly on conservative challenger Jeanne Ives.
He’s also fending off a roughly $500,000 TV ad buy by the Democratic Governors Association—some of the ads blast Rauner, while others call Ives “too conservative,” which actually may help her among Republicans—and Rauner recently raised eyebrows when he outright vetoed a bill to require state licenses for gun shops and dealers instead of ducking a decision until after the primary.
All the Rauner campaign is saying officially is that it’s “taking nothing for granted.” But you can take all of the above as a sign that Team Rauner is worried that, at a minimum, Ives could pull within 10 percent of him. That would be a huge embarrassment for an incumbent governor and raise questions about his ability to unite the party in November.
I told subscribers on Wednesday that Rauner undoubtedly wants to make sure the race doesn’t wind up being anywhere near a single-digit margin. We’ll know on Tuesday.
* These DGA ads are really stirring stuff up. Here’s a new :30 radio spot from Jeanne Ives…
* Script…
It turns out Bruce Rauner is the Democrat Governors Association’s favorite fake Republican.
Rauner and his Democrat friends are attacking Jeanne Ives for being conservative.
They don’t like that Ives voted against the sanctuary state law Rauner signed.
They don’t like that Ives voted against taxpayer funding of abortion that Rauner signed.
They don’t like that Ives voted against the Chicago Public school bailout that Rauner signed.
They don’t like that Ives has been endorsed by National Review, the leading conservative journal in America.
Fake Republican Rauner and his Democrat friends don’t like Jeanne Ives. Which is why you should.
* In other related news, Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady recorded a robocall for the Rauner campaign about the DGA ads…
* Script…
Hi. I’m Bill Brady, Senate Republican Leader. As a conservative, I’m calling to remind you to vote for Bruce Rauner on Tuesday, March 20th in the Republican primary.
The national Democrats have throw their weight behind Jeanne Ives in an attempt to sway the election. That shows how important this election is. We have to elect Bruce Rauner to have a hope of winning against the Democrats in November. It is critical for the future of our state and our party that you vote for Bruce Rauner on Tuesday, March 20th. Thank you.
…Adding… Everybody is getting in on the act. Sen. Tim Bivins just cut a robocall for Ives…
The guy has a great radio voice.
* Script…
This is state Senator Tim Bivins. I’m calling to tell you that I have endorsed and am voting for Jeanne Ives for Governor.
I know Jeanne Ives. Jeanne is the leading conservative reform legislator in Springfield.
Oh, and those political adds tying her to Mike Madigan? Well they’re just that, political ads distorting the truth. Jeanne Ives is a rock-solid conservative who has taken on Mike Madigan time and again.
Please join me in voting for conservative Jeanne Ives.
* Lots of campaigns are loading up on digital ads these days because network TV is so darned crowded. The governor has been online forever, but here’s a new anti-Ives online spot from Gov. Rauner’s campaign…
“When I served on Wheaton city council, the only thing that union membership understood were layoffs. It’s the only thing they understood. So if you can’t impose your final, best offer because the courts have blocked it, then you just start laying people off.”
The tagline at the beginning and end is: “Jeanne Ives isn’t for real reform. She’s for laying off real people.”
“The hard thing is getting customers; the hard thing is cutting expenses; the hard thing is laying people off. But that’s what good companies do when times are tough, and she just would not do it,” said Rauner, who sat on LeapSource’s board.
* Meanwhile, this came in over the transom…
On Steve Cochran’s show this morning on WGN Radio, Jeanne Ives called transgender people predators and insisted that there should be no abortions in cases of rape and incest. This kind of rhetoric and these views – which are far out of the mainstream in Illinois – are exactly why the Democratic Governors Association is trying to boost her in the primary. She’d be crushed in the general election.
On transgender people:
6:38-7:00: “What we know is that they are truly predators”
5:41-6:37: She also talks about grandmothers being assaulted because of transgender birth certificate bill
On abortion:
9:37-9:59: no abortions in cases of rape or incest
On being a bigot:
7:24-8:01: Cochran says “large percentage of the state’s population” sees her as a bigot
The truth is he took a bill that literally means there’s no medical intervention, there’s no medical sign-off on a doctor for somebody to change their sex and this has far-reaching implications. All you need is an out-of-state licensed mental health professional to say that you can change your sex. And that has real policy problems. That means your grandmother who may have to have a shared room in a nursing home or a hospital bed in a shared room, can literally be having her privacy invaded by somebody who says they’re the opposite sex. That’s true.
* She was then asked if transgender people and gays are “truly predators”…
Well what we know is that they are truly predators in some cases. Not all cases, in some cases. And this happened in the Department of Corrections where there was a transgendered male who pretended to be a girl, and went to the female - got transitioned, in Illinois, this is not an out-of-state case, in Illinois - went to the female prison then sexually assaulted another prisoner and had to be taken back to the male prison. So this is real lifetime stuff. This happens in real life.
I hunted around for a while and couldn’t find that on the Google. Not sure what she’s talking about. I e-mailed her campaign and IDOC for an explanation. I’ll let you know what I hear back.
*** UPDATE *** From the Ives campaign…
In 2017, Tom Morrison and several other state legislators were tipped off about an inmate who was transferred from Lawrence Correctional Center (a men’s prison) to Logan Correctional Center (a women’s prison) to Pinckneyville Correctional Center (a men’s prison), as well as an incident at Logan that precipitated the transfer to Pinckneyville. https://bailbondcity.com/illinois/ildoc-inmate-MAHALBASIC/M54605
Tom Morrison FOIA’ed the case at the end of May 2017. His request was denied. Morrison reached out to the IDOC liaison directly. The liaison told Morrison the request was denied because the incident was still under investigation. Morrison told the liaison that he would keep pressing the issue until he got verification. On June 6, 2017, he received a call back from the Department of Corrections legislative liaison who did not want to put anything in writing. But would confirm dates and locations for the inmate in question. The following timeline was confirmed:
10/5/2015 - The Prisoner was first sent to Stateville, on the charge of pimping minors.
10/25/2015 - The Prisoner was transferred to Lawrence Correctional Center (a men’s prison)
5/17/16 - The Prisoner was transferred to Logan Correctional Center (a women’s prison)
11/27/16 - The Prisoner was transferred to Pinckneyville Correctional Center (a men’s prison)
5 /9/17 - Prisoner received two years of parole
In discussing the Transgender Birth Certificate Bill with Governor Rauner, Morrison presented this specific case to Rauner, told him DOC was stonewalling his request for information about the specifics of the case, and suggested that, as Governor, Rauner could learn all the details.
Morrison asked “if you are in a men’s prison and could change your gender so easily to be transferred to a women’s facility, why would you stay in a men’s prison?” Morrison also presented other situations where objective biological sex and anatomical differences would be problematic, such as women’s sports, hospitals, nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, college dormitories. The Governor acknowledged to Morrison that those scenarios could be problems, but did not seem overly concerned. And, subsequently signed the bill.
There are reportedly another half-dozen such cases pending at DOC.
* Ives says she can win, Rauner’s support is thin: “Bruce has no base,” she says, “He’s counting on uninformed voters to go to the polls and believe he’s still fighting Mike Madigan and to believe I’m Mike Madigan’s lacky, which everybody knows is completely false. He’s counting on you not knowing the truth about him.”
* Ives Blasts Rauner Over Ads: Rauner and Ives have only appeared once together in the same room – for a Chicago Tribune Editorial Board forum last month. Ives said that’s because he can’t defend his record. “He embarrassed himself in that debate,” Ives said, “and he’s worried because he can’t talk to anybody about real policy choices and he can’t defend his record. He wants to blame everything on Mike Madigan and not take ownership of his three years of failed governorship. And that’s the truth. And that’s why he doesn’t want to debate me.”
* Trump factor looms large in Illinois governor primary campaigns: At the same time, however, the Wheaton legislator has embraced Trump and urges what she calls the “silent majority” that elected him to rise up against Rauner… How does Ives reconcile campaigning on an honor code that prohibits lying and cheating as a rationale to take on Rauner, while not only tolerating but actively promoting Trump? Asked that question recently, Ives paused for several seconds. “For me, it’s a personal affront to what Gov. Rauner has done because I’m part of that Republican caucus he lied to, OK?” she said. “So, it’s a very personal thing. That’s the thing. I can affect him (Rauner) and the outcome of this election. I can’t necessarily affect Donald Trump.”
* Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Endorses Jeanne Ives for Governor in Illinois: “For three years, Illinois has been led by a liberal governor – a man who presided over a massive personal income tax increase, failed to negotiate a state budget for two years, broke a campaign promise when he decided that abortions should be paid for with taxpayer dollars, and signed a bill making the Land of Lincoln effectively a ‘Sanctuary State.’ Sadly, that liberal governor is a Republican – a Republican who campaigned four years ago as a conservative, making promise after promise to assuage the concerns of conservative Illinois voters, then betrayed them once he took office.”
Pamella Gronemeyer, who is running for the low-profile position of Democratic state central committeewoman in the 13th Congressional District, hasn’t promised to try to unseat longtime Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan.
But one of Madigan’s campaign committees, Friends of Michael J. Madigan, has paid for robocalls by Sen. Dick Durbin and AFL-CIO President Mike Carrigan that endorse Gronemeyer’s opponent, Jayne Mazzotti of Taylorville. […]
“I think it’s been a very tough fight with him and Rauner. Certainly, I’m opposed to Rauner,” said Gronemeyer, a pathologist who lives in Glen Carbon and owns SEMC Pathology in Highland. “But I think that maybe it might be time to contemplate a change [in party leadership]. I think (Madigan) should want to embrace some of the people who are running on the slate with me.
“We are good Democrats. We went to the convention. We supported things. We got out the vote. I think he should embrace us rather than run ads against us. Or come and talk to us even.” […]
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the robocalls for Mazzotti are simply “in support of incumbent members of the committee who have been longtime Democratic activists.”
This message is sponsored by Friends of Michael J. Madigan.
This is Sen. Tammy Duckworth. Democrats need to stand up to Donald Trump. I’m supporting Jane Mazzotti for Democratic state central committee because I know Jane will stand up to Trump and speak up for us. A vote for Jane Mazzotti is a vote against the extreme
Trump agenda.
Paid for by Friends of Michael J. Madigan.
They have to put the disclaimer right up front because of federal law.
After the Democratic Governors Association bought ad time to meddle in the Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary, the Rauner campaign launched a new ad, ‘Conservative Voter Alert.’
“Washington Democrats have teamed up with Mike Madigan’s favorite Republican Jeanne Ives because they know they can’t beat Governor Rauner in November. Governor Rauner’s message of growing jobs, cutting taxes, and rooting out corruption in Illinois has Democrats running scared.” - Communications Director Will Allison
Announcer: This is a conservative voter alert. The same Washington liberals that support JB Pritzker are now helping Jeanne Ives with last-second ads. Why? Because Jeanne Ives has already surrendered to Mike Madigan.
Ives: “We’ll work with Mike Madigan.”
Announcer: Liberals are hijacking the Republican primary in Illinois. They will do anything to keep the Madigan machine in power. That’s why they support Ives.
Ives: “We’ll work with Mike Madigan.”
Announcer: Stop Mike Madigan. Elect Bruce Rauner.
* Meanwhile, National Review has endorsed Ives. Press release…
This morning, the renowned conservative opinion journal National Review, which previously named Bruce Rauner ‘The Worse Republican Governor in America,’ announced its endorsement of Jeanne Ives for Illinois Governor, writing,
Failing to pass the fiscal reforms he promised wouldn’t alone justify his ouster in the primary. But Rauner’s duplicity on the issue of abortion should be disqualifying to conservatives. During the election, Rauner — who is pro-choice, had once donated to Planned Parenthood, and whose wife is an abortion-rights activist — insisted that he was merely running to fix the state’s coffers. He had, he said, “no social agenda.” When a bill to guarantee abortion as a right if the Supreme Court ever overturned Roe v. Wade and provide public money for abortions through all nine months of a woman’s pregnancy began circulating in the state legislature, Rauner said he would veto it. In September, he signed it into law. Pro-lifers who voted for Rauner put their trust in a man who is now forcing them to underwrite third-trimester abortions. His record is not just dreadful, but features a glaring lie.
Which is why Jeanne Ives, a state legislator, is a better alternative. Ives is an underdog and lacks Rauner’s resources, but she is both a superior candidate to the governor and a solid politician in her own right. One recent poll has her just 7 points behind Rauner. For his part, the governor is running far behind the likely Democratic nominee — J. B. Pritzker, a cat’s paw of Madigan — and has been unwilling to engage Ives in debate after an embarrassing showing in a joint appearance with her at the Chicago Tribune editorial office. Illinois Republicans should vote for Ives, the only conservative on the ballot.
In response, Ives said, “I am grateful and humbled to have the support of the leading conservative publication in the country. I thank National Review for understanding the purpose of our campaign and the importance of a small government policy revolution in Illinois.”
