* Third party testimonials by better known figures are important for first-time candidates. And lest you think this is being aired now because of the FBI tapes thing, I asked one of Pritzker’s campaign people last week about a vouching ad and was told off the record that something like this was coming soon. Rate it…
* Transcript…
Announcer: Why do so many leaders we trust support JB Pritzker for governor?
Sen. Tammy Duckworth: JB’s the one I trust to fight for women, children and families all across Illinois.
Secretary of State Jesse White: JB’s economic plan will create jobs and opportunity in neighborhoods across our state.
Hardhat-wearing guy: He’s the one we trust to stand up for Illinois workers.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza: JB will beat Bruce Rauner and bring real change to Illinois.
Sen. Dick Durbin: As Democrats, we need to come together. Let’s back the candidate ready to lead Illinois. That’s JB.
Representative Jeanne Ives, challenger to incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner, has released a new radio ad statewide. The :60 second spot, Lead the Charge, contrasts Ives record as a conservative reformer with Rauner’s record of betrayal.
My name is Jeanne Ives and I’m the conservative Republican running against Bruce Rauner for Governor.
I’m an economic liberty, pro-family West Point grad.
I’ve spent the last five years battling Chicago Democrats.
I didn’t think I’d have to spend so much time battling Bruce Rauner.
But when Rauner betrayed conservative families, that’s exactly what I did.
Rauner made Illinois a sanctuary state. I voted against it.
Rauner made you pay for abortions in all nine months of pregnancy. I voted against it–and so did every other Republican legislator.
Rauner took money from your schools to bail out the Chicago Public Schools. I voted against it.
National Review has called Rauner the worst Republican governor in the country, because he is.
Rauner betrayed us.
I honor who we are as conservatives.
Rauner can’t win re-election.
He said he’s not in charge.
With your help, I’ll lead the charge.
*** UPDATE 1 *** I was sent this new Personal PAC social media ad last night and forgot to post it today…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Statement in response to Ives ad from Jennifer Welch, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action PAC Chair:
“The latest misleading ad from Jeanne Ives further perpetuates falsehoods about abortion care in Illinois. Ives continues to attack a legal medical procedure by making untrue claims about specific details that are not a part of House Bill 40. To be clear, HB 40 did not include any language regarding when abortions are performed. Illinoisans expect their elected officials to tell the truth. Rep. Ives is falsely representing a law and misleading voters.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Press release…
The following can be ascribed to Colleen K. Connell, executive director of the ACLU of Illinois:
Seeking the Governor’s office in Illinois, Representative Jeanne Ives seems determined to mislead the electorate. Her campaign’s new radio advertisement ignores the reality that House Bill 40 – passed and signed into law over her objections – simply ensures access to health care (including abortion care) for low-income women and some state workers in Illinois. It did nothing – nothing – to expand or alter when abortion care is legal in our state. She may have opposed the legislation, but she cannot mislead people as to its actual meaning and intent.
When Don Moore, a Republican vying to run for state representative in the 108th Illinois House district, started his fundraising committee in January, he had a little more than $1,000 in the account.
Since then Moore, a Troy resident and Madison County Board member, has reported only a $2,000 in-kind contribution from the Chicago-based Illinois Opportunity Project, which paid for consulting services.
However, commercials supporting Moore, who is challenging state Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, have been running on cable television in the area as well as online.
So how does someone with little money in his campaign account have so many 30-second TV commercials, including a two-week set of advertisements with cable provider Spectrum Reach in Madison County for 282 spots?
* The answer is Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC, which has busted the caps in that primary race by doing independent expenditures with ads like this…
I gotta say, I kinda like that ad. It sticks with you.
Rep. Meier voted for the tax hike, but voted against the veto override.
* Related…
* Tom Kacich: Ives’ strategist backing more than one horse: Dan Proft, a Chicago radio host and head of the Liberty Principles Political Action Committee, has directed $105,610 into the campaign of Dan Caulkins, a former Decatur City Council member and current Eastern Illinois University trustee. Proft, formerly an ally of Gov. Bruce Rauner, now is advising the Ives campaign… The unusually sizable Liberty Principles PAC expenditures, which went to mailings, television advertising, social media and digital advertising on Caulkins’ behalf, also remove overall contribution limits for all candidates in the 101st District race.
Today, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle endorsed JB Pritzker for governor. President Preckwinkle joins U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, Secretary of State Jesse White, State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, and Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers in supporting JB’s campaign to defeat Bruce Rauner.
“Toni Preckwinkle has worked tirelessly for Cook County and I’m so proud to have her endorsement,” said JB Pritzker. “From strengthening the county’s healthcare system to reforming its criminal justice system, she has shown a deep commitment to serving the people. While Bruce Rauner slashes funding for critical services and tries to pit communities against each other, I will be Toni’s partner in the work ahead to invest in our communities and lift up Illinois families. I will be a governor who listens, brings people together, and moves our state forward and I am so proud to have Toni Preckwinkle’s support in this campaign.”
“I’ve seen JB’s record and I know what’s in his heart,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “This is a leader who has been there for our communities. From expanding early childhood education and providing school breakfasts to low-income students, to supporting critical organizations like the Center on Wrongful Convictions, the DuSable Museum, and After School Matters, JB has done the real work to build opportunity in our communities. Right now, the only question our community should be asking is who has a record of showing up for us, and I truly believe that JB is that leader.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the ILGOP…
Morning Rich,
Just wanted to flag for you that Toni Preckwinkle has already endorsed Pritzker. See the attached video from WTTW on 10/16/17. It’s a bit disingenuous for them to claim that it’s a new endorsement.
…Adding… The Pritzker campaign accurately points out that they never issued a formal endorsement by Preckwinkle until today.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Meanwhile, this campaign press release sure makes it look like Biss will get the NASW nod today at 10…
On Wednesday, February 7, Daniel Biss will hold a press conference with the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
WHAT: Press Conference with NASW
WHEN: Wednesday, February 7, 10 - 11 a.m.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Today, at a press conference in Springfield, the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers announced their endorsement of Daniel Biss and Litesa Wallace for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois.
“We’re proud to endorse Daniel Biss for governor,” said NASW IL Legislative Affairs Director Kyle Hillman. “Social workers have been on the frontlines of the budget crisis, and we know there’s no forgiving Bruce Rauner for the chaos and destruction he’s brought our communities. At the same time, we know many of our problems began before Bruce Rauner: access to care has long been restricted along lines of race, class, and geography, and decades of lawmakers have failed to raise the revenue necessary to secure funding for social services from one year to the next.
“We’re with Daniel because we’ve seen him take on our broken system as he’s led the fight for a progressive income tax and because he has a track record of passing meaningful reforms, such as banning the unscientific and incredibly damaging “conversion therapy” for minors and allowing social workers to be reimbursed by Medicaid. We’re proud to stand with him in this race, just as he’s stood with us for years.”
“I’m proud to receive the endorsement of the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers,” said Daniel Biss. “We’ve collaborated for years to resist Bruce Rauner’s budget cuts and develop policies to support social workers and the families they serve, and I was honored to be chosen as the NASW IL legislator of the year in 2017. However, as proud as I am of the work we’ve done together, I’m also frustrated at how our agenda has been stifled by Bruce Rauner, his budget crisis, and the broken political system he represents. I’m running for governor to change what’s possible—for social workers, and for middle-class and working families all across our state—and looking forward to working with NASW IL in years to come to make our progressive vision a reality.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner has won the endorsement of the Cook County Republican Central Committee over challenger state Rep. Jeanne Ives, just as her campaign has been gaining money and recognition.
Cook County was important in the 2014 Republican governor primary, when Rauner prevailed by more than 27,000 votes over his nearest competitor, then-state Sen. Kirk Dillard. Rauner won the nomination by fewer than 24,000 votes statewide.
Though the county is a Democratic stronghold in statewide elections, it also had the most Republican primary voters in Illinois that year. More than 168,000 people in Cook County voted for a GOP candidate for governor in the 2014 primary. […]
On Tuesday, the Cook County GOP announced Rauner got 66 percent of its endorsement vote to 15 percent for Ives. Its statement didn’t elaborate on the remainder.
