* We’re going to link to the Tribune’s results tonight, but you can click here for the NY Times site, which is putting all results on one page. The Sun-Times results page doesn’t seem to be pay-walled, so click here for that. I may add or change this post. Let’s start with federal races…
There is a time for generational progress, CBC allies say, pointing to recent Black primary victors like Summer Lee in Pennsylvania and Jasmine Crockett, both of whom vyed for open seats. That progress, they maintain, should not come at the expense of Black incumbents. Party leaders have signaled they agree: Both Jeffries and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stumped for Davis, and President Joe Biden offered a rare primary endorsement of him over the weekend. Opportunities for All, a new super PAC, has dumped more than $440,000 into the race’s final days to boost Davis. (Justice Democrats have spent $422,000 on Collins’ behalf.)
“Democratic leadership and Democrats in general should be very careful of being dismissive of young, working class Black women like myself,” Collins says in response to the blitz. “The message that’s being sent to my campaign and the people who are helping me in this campaign says I am not welcome in the party.”
* $$$…
#ILPol: Today is Primary day in Illinois! In 2018, the #ILGov race was the third most expensive race across the country at $126M spent in its primary and general elections. In 2022, the gubernatorial race has already seen $136M.
One of the largest changes in political advertising spending within the last four years has been the explosion of CTV/streaming spending.
This gubernatorial election has demonstrated the rapidly increasing influence of CTV advertising. So far, $29M dollars have been spent on CTV marketing for this race, which is the second most CTV spending AdImpact has ever tracked. It is second only to the Internet Regulation Issue—which has seen $33M dollars. […]
Advertisers on both sides of the aisle have quickly learned how to adapt CTV spending into their marketing strategies. Billionaire incumbent J.B Pritzker has spent $5.9M on CTV, while the DGA has spent $5.2M. For the Republicans, mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin, has spent $12.5M on CTV, a staggering total
Voting was extended an extra hour for six suburban Cook County precincts in response to broader challenges in today’s primary election, with late-arriving poll workers and no-shows causing delayed starts for an election that is expected to draw fewer voters overall.
According to the Cook County clerk’s office, the office sought a court order this afternoon to keep certain precincts open at Kennedy School in Chicago Heights, Golf Middle School in Morton Grove, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Melrose Park, Roosevelt School in Broadview and Douglas MacArthur School in Hoffman Estates.
Six precincts that opened late this morning will remain open until 8 p.m., which will delay the clerk’s reporting of results, the clerk’s office said. The remaining 1,424 precincts in suburban Cook County are set to close at 7 p.m.
* Chicago elections board…
The voter turnout for Chicago as of 5:00pm is:
- 251,783 ballots counted
- 16.8% citywide turnout
As an update, there were 56 delayed openings at precinct polling locations today – but so far election investigators have not found enough needed evidence for a court order to hold any open later than 7:00pm in Chicago.
Speaking on WGLT’s Sound Ideas, [Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington] was asked what he thinks about Bailey’s campaign for governor.
“He has been very vocal about his opposition to the governor’s unilateral approach to handling COVID and the state’s response to it. That has been divisive, and it is divisive. I was of the belief that the governor was flying solo without any input from anyone. And while my tone may be different than some of my other Republicans, we desire the same thing – which is a governor who collaborates with the legislature,” Barickman said. “I think the governor was wrong there. So I’m not one who’s going to throw fire at Darren for his response, because I think … if we want a collaborative environment, if we want to bring people together, rather than criticizing a potential opponent of the governor, I think we need to look at the governor. He’s the governor. Why didn’t he bring people together?”
* Press release…
Former candidate for Cook County Sheriff Carmen Navarro Gercone appeared on voters’ ballots today with no notification being provided to the voters that their vote for her would not count.
“This is widespread. We received hundreds of calls from locations not posting a notification nor handing out a notice that their vote would not count. For this I am requesting to know how many people casted their vote for me” says Navarro.
People need to understand that their vote is their voice. My campaign messages resonated with thousands of voters who asked for change, but the system once again mislead them. Elected officials need to listen to the citizens request and demands.
On June 8, 2022, the Chicago Board of Elections spokesperson said, “Due to the ruling, notices were to be placed at early voting sites and future polling sites informing voters that Navarro Gercone had been removed as a candidate, and that votes for her will not be counted” and this did not happen.
Some of the locations reporting not notifications posted nor give included: South Shore
Several locations on the Northwest side of Chicago
Mount Greenwood
Niles
Just to name a few.
Carmen Navarro Gercone is available for an interview anytime this evening to discuss this concern.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Chicago fired off hundreds of letters Monday to Fortune 500 CEOs in states facing abortion bans, pitching the city as a more welcoming location for their businesses.
The letter, which was signed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other civic leaders, was mailed to about 300 CEOs in 25 states that are enacting trigger bans, restricting access and criminalizing abortion. It warns that employees in those states “may suffer” and see their lives upended as a result of the decision to end the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right.
“As you weigh the repercussions facing your employees, customers and vendors, we welcome the opportunity to highlight the ways in which Chicago remains a welcoming city for all,” the letter states.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wants to make the state “the abortion mecca of the nation,” GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey told Newsmax on Tuesday — Illinois’ primary election day.
“I’m just appalled, listening to the conversation about the abortion issues,” Bailey, a state senator, told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “We’ve got a fight on our hands here.”
Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, who is pro-choice on abortion, noted that a majority of Illinois voters are too. He fears Bailey won’t be able to win over many of those voters in the general election.
“People can complain maybe they don’t like what some of us did back in the eighties and nineties. But we won, and we governed,” Edgar said “If the party continues its move to the right, we will be a permanent minority party in Illinois.”
Women seeking abortions who live in state where the procedure is now banned may get help from an Illinois charity.
The Springfield-based group called Elevated Access is organizing free flights. The group recruits volunteer pilots to fly patients to medical procedures, including abortions. The charity flew its first abortion patient earlier this month from Oklahoma to Kansas.
It had been barely 80 minutes since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday when physician Nisha Verma’s phone pinged with an urgent group message from another obstetrician-gynecologist that made her catch her breath.
There was a woman in Wisconsin carrying a fetus with anencephaly, a fatal birth defect in which parts of the brain and skull are missing. With abortion likely illegal in the state, the clinic had canceled her appointment for a termination later that day. But forcing her to continue the pregnancy was cruel and risked complications. What should I do? the doctor wrote.
As colleagues in other parts of the Midwest responded with leads for out-of-state clinics, Verma mentally added the case to her growing list of gray-area situations where the new abortion bans fail to capture the complexity of modern medicine and leave doctors in the lurch.
“There are so many unanswered questions,” said Verma, an OB/GYN in Atlanta, where a six-week abortion ban law that is on hold could be activated soon. “The decision is creating confusion and fear because we know what to do medically but we don’t know what we can do based on the law.”
The parking lot of Dayton Women’s Med Center in Kettering was busier than usual Monday as patients inside tried to understand their options now that abortions are banned in Ohio after the detection of a fetal heartbeat — about six weeks into pregnancy.
“Patients are very upset, crying and desperate,” said a representative from Women’s Med, one of the few remaining abortion providers in Ohio. “There is a lot of confusion.”
“Today we saw a patient in Dayton who has cancer. Her doctors told her she would have to terminate before she received chemotherapy treatment. She will have to travel to Indiana. A mom brought her daughter in and doesn’t own a car. She will have to rent one to get her daughter to her appointment in Indianapolis later this week.”
Just five weeks before the August primary vote when Schmitt will need to win over fervently anti-abortion Republican voters, the Missouri attorney general is now empowered to investigate potential violations of the ban.
“My Office has been fighting to uphold the sanctity of life since I became attorney general, culminating in today’s momentous court ruling and attorney general opinion,” Schmitt said in a statement on Friday. “I will continue the fight to protect all life, born and unborn.” Schmitt didn’t elaborate on what shape his continued fight would take.
Indiana’s attorney general is asking federal judges to lift orders blocking several state anti-abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to end constitutional protection for abortion.
An appeal of one of those blocked Indiana laws aimed at prohibiting abortions based on gender, race or disability was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. But that was before former President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett strengthened the court’s conservative majority.
Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office asked in court filings Monday that federal judges lift injunctions against that law, along with others banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure that the legislation calls a “dismemberment abortion” and requiring parents be notified if a court allows a girl younger than 18 to get abortion without parental consent.
Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking a court to reinstate Iowa’s “fetal heartbeat” law — which bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — in her first action to limit abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to the procedure.
Reynolds, a Republican and staunch abortion opponent, signed the so-called heartbeat law in 2018, but it never took effect and was ruled unconstitutional in 2019. At the time, it would have been the most restrictive abortion law in the country.
Facebook and Instagram have begun promptly removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections for the procedure. […]
The Facebook account was immediately put on a “warning” status for the post, which Facebook said violated its standards on “guns, animals and other regulated goods.”
Yet, when the AP reporter made the same exact post but swapped out the words “abortion pills” for “a gun,” the post remained untouched. A post with the same exact offer to mail “weed” was also left up and not considered a violation.
Majorities of Americans say they disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, think it was politically motivated, are concerned the court will now reconsider rulings that protect other rights, and are more likely to vote for a candidate this fall who would restore the right to an abortion, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. […]
By a 56%-to-40% margin, respondents oppose the court’s decision, including 45% who strongly oppose it. […]
By a 57%-to-36% margin, respondents said the decision was mostly based on politics as opposed to the law. And by a 56%-to-41% margin are concerned that the overturning of Roe will be used by the Supreme Court to reconsider past rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage. […]
A bare majority of 51% say they would definitely vote for a candidate who would support a federal law to restore the right to an abortion, while 36% would definitely vote against such a candidate.
Though it hasn’t received as much attention as the fiercely competitive race for governor, this election is the first in more than 20 years without Secretary of State Jesse White on the ballot.
Almost 24 years, and that’s just statewide. He was first elected to the House in 1974. I’m old enough to have covered a couple House vs. Senate softball games he played in. Man, was he good, particularly since he was in his mid-to-late 50s back then.
* Gov. JB Pritzker has contributed $2.4 million to other campaigns and committees this June. $1.5 million of that went to the Democratic Party of Illinois, likely for stuff like this…
In the 1st Congressional District — the crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Bobby Rush — a surprise last minute surge of outside money — $823,122, according to Federal Election Commission reports — was spent to elect Karin Norington-Reaves, who is backed by Rush. Last week, I reported how crypto currency interests put in a combined $1,092,561 to bolster Jonathan Jackson.
Most of the independent expenditures for Norington-Reaves — some $758,000 of the total — comes from a shadowy political action committee called Forward Progress, whose donors and organizers are not known. The rest of the outside spend for Norington-Reaves, $65,122, came from the Collective Super Pac, whose goal is, according to its website, “to create an America where Black people are equally represented at every level of government.” […]
GOP mega donors from Illinois — Ken Griffin and Richard Uihlein — both players in the GOP governor primary — Griffin for Richard Irvin and Uihlein backing Darren Bailey — are also factors in the $12 million in outside expenditures spent in the Miller and Davis primary, where the independent expenditures are about evenly split.
Griffin is the sole donor to the Illinois Value PAC — and his $1. 5 million contribution was used mainly on ads to oppose Miller. Uihlein donated $3 million to the Club for Growth Action fund between April and May; the group spent $2.5 million to help elect Miller.
Lynn has the outside spending in other races, too, so click here.
Illinois statehouse Republicans that voted in 2019 to double the state’s gas tax and include annual increases tied to inflation face challengers in Tuesday’s GOP primary election.
The vote to double the gas tax in 2019 was bipartisan.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, supported the measure. Challenging Butler in the GOP primary is Kent Gray, who criticized Butler’s support for the doubling of the gas tax that also included a parking excise tax.
“Rep. Tim Butler, if you drive a car, he’s going to tax you as soon as it moves and he’s going to tax you as soon as you stop,” Gray said.
Butler defended his vote.
“I make no bones about the fact that infrastructure is one of the things in the state of Illinois that gives us a competitive advantage,” Butler said. “And what my opponent would like to do is strip that away, basically stop the hundreds of millions of dollars of projects that are being invested right here in this community.” […]
Don Debolt, who is challenging Springfield state Sen. Steve McClure in the GOP primary Tuesday. He said the incumbent is to blame for the state’s high gas tax.
“He voted to double the gas tax, but more importantly, they voted to put in automatic tax increases every year into the gas tax,” Debolt said.
McClure said Democrats already had the votes to double the gas tax in 2019 and if he didn’t support the measure, it would have been difficult to bring projects to his district. He said separate from the motor fuel tax is the sales tax on top of the price of fuel and that needs to be suspended without impacting infrastructure funding.
Both of those challengers are endorsed by Darren Bailey.
* Pic of Rep. Zalewski getting ready to face the last primary day…
* LBG mailer…
The governor has endorsed her opponent, Sen. Melinda Bush.
…Adding… More from Lake County…
…Adding… This endorsement arrived after 3 o’clock this afternoon…
“Organized labor is the backbone of the middle class, and families throughout Illinois’ need a representative of the court who is keeping their interests front and center. I know Judge Elizabeth Rochford will be a tireless advocate for workers because as an advocate for working people and families, she knows the value of unions in fighting for better wages, working conditions, and quality of life.”
-DeKalb County Building and Construction Trades Council President Lance McGill
“I think we can, we’re surging; there’s so many undecideds just now making up their mind,” Sullivan said in more conservative DuPage County. “We’ve also energized a whole group of people who have not voted in Republican primaries before, but they’re sick and fed up with how far left this governor has gone and want to fix the state.”
Sullivan was in Arlington Heights Tuesday morning, meeting with volunteers there.
“We’re ready to fight to save Illinois. We’re out to fight for law enforcement, fight for our kids, get this indoctrination out of our schools, fight for the unborn, fight for our faith and our freedom, ready to take our state back from these corrupt insiders who have ruined it,” he said.
Recent polls suggested there were still quite a number of undecided voters, but whether it’s enough for Irvin or Sullivan to catch Bailey is the question that will be answered Tuesday.
* From a reader comes this photo of Jesse Sullivan at the Arlington Heights Metra station today…
We had 120,000 people leave the state of Illinois last year. We just lost Caterpillar, an iconic company. We lost Boeing we are losing Citadel now. We need somebody who actually knows what they’re doing from a business standpoint. I went out to Stanford Business School after I got back from Afghanistan, and I learned how to create jobs. I’ve been running a business to do that around the world, but I’m going to create them right here at home and that requires a low-tax environment. I’m the only candidate in this race who vowed never to raise taxes on the people of Illinois because we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. And it’s also you know, as a parent, one of the biggest differences is, I’ve said, I will ban this sexuality and racial indoctrination that’s starting to happen in our schools. And we need a strong leader who’s going to stand up against it. I have faith and family values rooted in my Christian faith, to say, I’m not going to sell out the people of Illinois. Not just the Democrats, it’s these insider Republicans that have the same pay to play mentality. I don’t owe anybody anything in this system, and I’m going to change it.
“I still stand by my statements that he is the strongest candidate to challenge J.B. Pritzker in November, but J.B. Pritzker has done a hell of a job interfering in the Republican primary, and it looks like he’s going to accomplish what he set out to get — the weakest of the bunch,” said House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, who serves as Irvin’s campaign co-chair. […]
But with victory possibly in his grasp, Bailey told his Facebook followers over the weekend that his candidacy will usher in a new era of conservatism that will transform Illinois and Chicago.
“Look back into Illinois and find out when the last time Illinois had a conservative, Republican governor who actually stood and did something. It’s been a long, long time,” he said. “And I can assure you that ever since those days, Illinois has plummeted. We’ve become a laughing stock. … Friends, those days are coming to an end.”
* Aside from the silly counties argument, the original version of this Washington Post story contained a couple of weird errors…
Nothing illustrated this change more than the 2020 general election when President Biden beat Trump by one percentage point by carrying just 14 of the state’s 102 counties. (By comparison, Barack Obama won 46 counties in 2008.) Likewise, Pritzker handily defeated Republican incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018 by carrying just 16 counties. Pritzker’s strength came from the northeast pocket of the state — Cook County, which includes Chicago, and four of all five collar counties — and he barely campaigned elsewhere.
The corrected version (which is not labeled as such) changes Biden’s margin to the actual 17 points, but still incorrectly claims that the governor barely campaigned in the rest of the state. Not sure where that author was at the time. But, heck, I remember Pritzker catching flak from a Chicago reporter for holding a big pre-election event in the Metro East. Also, click here and check out that thread.
In one new twist, voters in DuPage County will be able to cast ballots in any of the county’s 263 polling places instead of going to the one closest to their house. The new option is intended to provide flexibility in casting a vote during a busy workday, but don’t be shocked if someone sees a nefarious plot to rig the vote.
That is a really good idea and I hope it eventually goes statewide.
* Contrary to this take, there are a ton of hot legislative contests…
STATEHOUSE RACES: They’re all up for grabs, but only a few are really hot. Top of the list for Democrats is state Rep. Mike Zalewski vs. challenger Abdelnasser Rashid in the 21st District. Zalewski is seen as one of the last vestiges of the Democratic machine and has the support of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Gov. JB Pritzker. While Zalelwski is a progressive with an energetic ground game.
Also watch challenges to state Reps. Denyse Wang Stoneback in the 16th, Lindsey LaPointe in the 19th, and Kathleen Willis in the 77th. Among Republican races, we’re watching for the outcome of Brett Nicklaus’ challenge to Sen. Win Stoller in the 37th District state Senate seat.
* The Post-Dispatch ain’t happy at all with the choices in the CD15 GOP primary…
Republican Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville, supported by this newspaper in his 2020 reelection bid for Illinois’ 13th District, used to be someone unafraid to stand up to former President Donald Trump and defend old-style GOP beliefs without veering off the deep end. Sadly, space aliens kidnapped that man and replaced him with someone willing to compromise his principles at every turn just to stay in office. For inspiration on hypocrisy, he turns to his spiritual and political mentor, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.
Challenging Davis from the far right is Rep. Mary Miller of Oakland, who never seems to miss an opportunity to align herself with the likes of white supremacists.
Space aliens. Whew.
* Frank Avila formed this committee last month, but has never reported any contributions. Looks like a possible Chicago FOP front group…
* One side of a Lyons Township Democrats’ palm card…
Mike Holloway has had chickens at his Loami residence since shortly after he moved there in 1976.
At some point, Holloway doesn’t remember when, they were outlawed in the Sangamon County village about 15 miles southwest of Springfield, but Holloway was “grandfathered” in and allowed to keep his chickens.
Loami voters will consider an advisory referendum Tuesday about allowing chickens back in the village’s limits. The village of Clearlake and New Berlin also have referendums.
As of 8:30 a.m., State Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Democrat running in the 3rd Congressional District race, was one of two voters who had shown up at her polling place at Harriet Beecher Stowe School in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, which opened with two of four poll workers still yet to arrive.
Ramirez said while she was enroute to vote, she saw volunteers in front of the voting site at Yates Elementary School did not have voting booths open as of 6:45 a.m. Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Max Bever did not have information about Yates but confirmed three other polling locations had delayed starts.
“Unfortunately, Lillian and I talked to a number of voters who said ‘I’m sorry, I’ve been waiting, I have to get to work,” said Ramirez, who addressed reporters alongisde Lillian Jimenez, who is running to replace Ramirez’s seat in the Illinois House.
Aurora is mourning the passing of Suzanne Deuchler, a state representative from Aurora for 18 years in the 1980s and ‘90s who died last week at the age of 92. […]
Suzanne Deuchler served 18 years as a Republican state representative from Aurora in the General Assembly, after serving four years representing the West Side of Aurora on the Kane County Board. […]
She served on the Education, Appropriations, Banking, Transportation and Environment committees in the Illinois House. She was known for her support of women’s issues, including abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment, and for supporting environmental issues. She was instrumental in establishing Nelson Lake Nature Preserve in Kane County.
She also was a supporter of education initiatives, and was one of the representatives instrumental in establishing the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, as well as the Orchard Road interchange with Interstate 88.
She was a great lady and I always enjoyed our talks. My deepest sympathies to her family.
“This is the biggest debacle I’ve ever seen. It’s the biggest screw-up I’ve ever seen and the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen,” said former Illinois Republican Party Chair Pat Brady, who is doing communications work for candidate Gary Rabine.
Dude is openly pushing an also-ran conspiracy-theorist for the top office in the state likely because his cousin didn’t get slated for secretary of state. He probably doesn’t have a whole lot of room to talk. Just sayin…
And across America, women are losing their right to make their own health care decisions.
But here in Illinois, JB Pritzker made sure we’re protected by signing a landmark abortion rights bill that made Illinois the only state in the Midwest to put those protections into law.
Because of JB, women will get the health care they need and the freedom to make their own decisions.
* How’s it looking out there? Tell us about turnout, weather, mood, or anything else you’ve seen. Also, try to tell us where you are to give us some context. Thanks.
…Adding… From the Chicago Elections Board…
The voter turnout for Chicago as of 9:00am is:
- 141,122 ballots cast
- 9.4% citywide turnout
TURNOUT BY AGE GROUP
- 18-24 year olds: 3,516
- 25-34 year olds: 16,367
- 35-44 year olds: 17,571
- 45-54 year olds: 17,349
- 55-64 year olds: 27,114
- 65-74 year olds: 33,777
- 75+ year olds: 25,410
…Adding… I asked if the totals above included early votes…
That’s correct, this is inclusive of previous Early Voting and Vote By Mail numbers.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois has been preparing for years in case Roe fell, building a facility in Waukegan (about eight miles from the Wisconsin border), and another near Indiana.
Speaking ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision last Friday, MAC’s executive director Diana Parker-Kafka said demand for her organization’s services had already tripled this year. “Like, my phone’s vibrating every five seconds now,” she said.
And she worries that, without Roe, Illinois healthcare facilities would be stretched to capacity.
Diaz asked, “Do you expect people will have to be turned away?”
“Oh yeah. Yeah. There will be people that we won’t be able to see through their abortion care that need it. And we’re also thinking about plans on how to support those people.”
Indiana
Republican legislative leaders said Friday they expected lawmakers to act on tightening Indiana’s abortion laws during a special legislative session starting July 6, but gave no details about what restrictions would be considered. Gov. Holcomb earlier this week called the Legislature into a special session to take up a tax refund proposal, but state law allows legislators to consider any subject. […]
Kentucky
What’s next: Abortion-rights activists say the suspension of abortion services in April foreshadowed what would happen in Kentucky and other Republican-leaning states if Roe v. Wade was overturned. It likely ends several legal challenges pending against other Kentucky abortion laws including a 2018 measure that abortion-rights supporters say would effectively ban a standard abortion method in the second trimester of pregnancy. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that Kentucky’s Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron, can defend the measure that was struck down by lower courts. […]
Ohio
What’s next: It is not clear what will happen next in Ohio. Activists are considering how to help Ohioans get abortions elsewhere. They may also mount a statewide ballot initiative that would embed the right to an abortion in the state constitution, though that could not happen before next year. Abortion opponents are weighing strategies for imposing a statewide abortion ban if Roe is overturned.
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb is calling the General Assembly back on July 6 and expects members to take up an abortion ban then, saying, “I have been clear in stating I am pro-life. We have an opportunity to make progress in protecting the sanctity of life, and that’s exactly what we will do.”
State lawmakers’ proposed Abortion Practical Support Fund would help by providing grants to nonprofits like Access Reproductive Justice or Planned Parenthood, which can then be used to help people, in state and out-of-state, pay for logistical costs, including airfare, taxis, gas money, childcare, or translation services. They can also be used to fund the work of staffers such as abortion navigators, or volunteer coordinators like Gray.
Local anti-abortion activists oppose the proposal.
“We’re calling it ‘abortion tourism,’” says Greg Burt, a Sacramento-based advocate with the California Family Council. “Come to California, go to the beach, get your abortion done and we’ll pay for it, by the taxpayer.”
More than 45,000 people received abortions in Illinois in 2020, according to the most recent data available from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Most of those who got abortions in Illinois were residents, with 36,000 patients from counties across the state. Yet, the majority of in-state patients were from a select few counties in the northeastern part of the state near Chicago — Cook, DuPage, Will and Lake — as well as St. Clair County near St. Louis.
There are 17 Planned Parenthood of Illinois clinics in Illinois that provide medicated abortion, said Mary Jane Maharry, interim director of marketing and communications for PPIL. Only six of those are outside the Chicagoland area: Bloomington, Champaign, Decatur, Ottawa, Peoria and Springfield.
Surgical abortion is less available, however. The closest Planned Parenthood locations providing in-clinic abortions to Peoria is Springfield, while the closest to Rockford is Aurora.
Irvin, Sullivan, and Schimpf also support abortion in cases of rape and incest. Rabine does not.
After repeated attempts for clarification, Bailey’s campaign manager didn’t directly answer the question about abortion in cases rape or incest, but would only say Bailey would back legislation supporting the expectant mother and saving unborn lives.
The court’s ruling is likely to have a minimal effect on Tuesday’s primary in Illinois, where voters choose partisan ballots. It will likely resound more strongly in the November general election, when each party will work to galvanize its base while also trying to sway independent voters.
As always, a key factor in the fall will be the vote of socially moderate and fiscally conservative suburban women. Democrats will portray the ruling as a Republican-led attack on women’s rights as well as their right to privacy, and also a precursor for attempts to restrict other rights such as same-sex marriage and legal protections for the LGBTQ community.
With Democrats facing election headwinds on the economy, crime and political corruption, Pritzker said he thinks the court’s decision will rally voters behind his party.
“A strong majority people in the state of Illinois are pro-choice,” he said. “I believe that people are going to come out and vote in very big numbers to protect their individual rights.”
Jacksonville State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer blasted Governor J.B. Pritzker for calling a special session of the General Assembly to work on codifying abortion rights into state law. Pritzker called for the special session in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Pritzker hasn’t talked about exact specifics of what he wants lawmakers to put into law after the repeal.
Davidsmeyer says the State of Illinois needs to work on issues that aren’t already settled: “Illinois is a destination for abortion already. The Democrats have already legalized everything that they can possibly do with abortion including: taxpayer-funded elective abortions, as well as a 12-year old being able to go into their doctor and get an abortion without even notifying their parents. Illinois is going to waste money – hundreds of thousands of dollars – to come back [to session] for something like this when Downstate communities are talking about having rolling brown outs because of lack of energy; we’ve got $5 gasoline; we’ve got inflation going through the roof…and we’re going to bring back a special session so that the governor and the Democrats can make a special point about an issue that the State of Illinois has already decided. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that we are wasting this time and money.”
* Better Government Association President David Greising on WBBM over the weekend…
Special sessions are a big deal. Last summer Pritzker denied calls for one focused on ethics. He also hasn’t held one to address the state’s woeful finances. Some will say Pritzker’s call for a special session is political posturing. When we see the agenda he lays out, we’ll learn if they’re right.
* This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Democratic politics here. The unions have a ton of money. They’re a type of funding source that the Republican Party simply does not have…
“I think probably in the long run, it’s a good development if we’re not relying on one guy, not that we wouldn’t welcome Ken Griffin’s money and are appreciative of it,” [Pat Brady, a former state GOP chairman] said. “But what happens is you get lazy and that’s why I think the Democrats are in that trick bag with Gov. Pritzker. They’ve got a guy who’s going to write all the checks, and that’s not good. Parties are supposed to be bottom-up organizations. That’s how you get people out to vote.”
* But, yeah, spending for the gubernatorial primary has been huge…
For this primary, industry records from the first of the year show, nearly $59 million was spent on TV ads in the governor’s race on Chicago broadcast and cable stations. The spending was led by Pritzker’s $15.1 million, Irvin’s $15 million and the DGA’s $7.45 million.
But the spending has been so pervasive that even in Rockford, the nation’s 139th-largest media market, nearly $8 million was spent on ads, led by $2.8 million by Irvin, $1.9 million by Pritzker and $1.75 million by the DGA.
* From the Chicago Elections Board…
For comparison to the 2018 and 2014 Gubernatorial Primaries:
The 2018 VBM return total 2 days out was 15,250, so combined with the EV total (2 days out: 89,213), the full vote tally for 3/18/2018 was 104,463 ballots cast.
The 2014 VBM return total 2 days out was 5,467, so combined with the EV total (2 days out: 36,707), the full vote tally for 3/16/2014 was 42,174 ballots cast.
And Primary 2022 is currently 98,512 ballots cast for two days out (6/26/22).
So, running a bit behind 2018. Things seem to have improved.
* VoteVets parked a video truck in front of one of those early voting locations and had its Gil Villegas ad running on a loop…
“Representative Danny Davis has always been an effective leader and lawmaker who is deeply rooted in his community. He serves with passion and integrity, and that’s why I’m endorsing him in his upcoming primary,” Biden said in a statement released by Davis’ campaign. “So much is at stake, and we have more work to do to bring costs down for families and keep our communities safe. I know Rep. Davis will continue to be an essential partner in getting it done.”
Davis said he was “grateful for President Biden’s support in this race and for his partnership in Washington, as we work to solve the pressing problems that families in Chicagoland face each and every day.”
But Collins said the endorsement was an example of Davis, who has served in Congress since 1997, “using his resources to call in favors to save himself” rather than assisting the district’s residents.
“He knows that voters are ready for a new generation of people-powered leadership, unbought by corporate PAC dollars, that will put our community above everything else. Time’s up on self-serving absentee leadership,” Collins said in a statement.
Collins is supported by Justice Democrats, a far-left organization that has helped to elect progressive candidates, such as “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. In addition, she has received endorsements from the Center for Racial and Gender Equity and the Illinois Youth Climate Movement.
Offering support for several controversial ideas in recent time, Collins has called for defunding the police and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Collins was front and center filming a Facebook Live video of a “Defund the Police” rally in July 2020 and marched with protesters chanting to “defund the police” in a separate Facebook Live video the same day.
Claiming in multiple Facebook posts, some of which are no longer viewable, that “immigrant families are constantly living in a state of fear,” Collins called for an end to ICE.
* Speaker Welch out campaigning with some of his members…
State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz took heat over the weekend for posting a controversial image criticizing the Supreme Court decision overruling Roe v. Wade. The sketch portrayed the image of a pope pointing a pistol at Lady Liberty. The Chicago GOP was outraged and called for Feigenholtz to resign.
“The posting of this disgusting cartoon has finally, but now openly exposed the deep contempt held by Senator Feigenholtz and her liberal woke colleagues toward not only the Catholic Church, but towards Christian religion in general,” Chicago GOP Chairman Steve Boulton said in a statement.
In a statement to Playbook, Feigenholz said, “Friday was an incredibly traumatic day — not just for me but for women around the country in the aftermath of the SCOTUS decision to overturn a woman’s right to choose. I posted an image that spoke to the moment and then later learned it offended people of faith. I immediately removed the post as I meant no ill will toward anyone who found it offensive, and am sorry. I have and will continue reaching out to friends and community members with the hope of healing.”
* Ms. Daniels is also a candidate for her party’s state central committee, so she got a nice little local press pop ahead of Donald Trump’s visit…
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood blasted Republicans and Donald Trump right before the start of the former president’s rally Saturday at the Adams County Fairgrounds.
The second-term Democratic congresswoman from the 14th District covering outer western and northern suburbs of Chicago was the featured speaker at the rally at Clat Adams Bicentennial Park. […]
Katherine Daniels, chairman of the Adams County Democratic Central Committee, told the crowd of about 100 that “Donald Trump and his circus” weren’t needed in Adams County
“Donald Trump needs to get back on his plane and go back to Mar-a-Lago, because we’ve got work to do joining people together, working together supporting working people, supporting mothers, supporting children and supporting working people all across the United States, Adams County and (Illinois 15th District),” Daniels said.
But her state central committee opponent, Pritzker-backed Liz Brown-Reeves, blanketed the Quincy and Jacksonville area with thousands of dollars in radio ads starting last Friday…
* More…
* Leaders gathered in Cairo for updates on the Alexander-Cairo port project: Mendoza promised Friday morning that the Alexander-Cairo port project is going to happen. “So far I have paid out 11 vouchers totaling 1 million dollars from the department of commerce and economic opportunity. And 43 vouchers totaling nearly 1.7 million from the Illinois department of transportation for architectural and design expenses related to the project,” said Mendoza.
* I’ve grumbled about how, while covering him a little, the Chicago political media has mostly ignored Darren Bailey’s candidacy or given it short shrift, up to and including some folks buying into a “Sullivan surge” claim that hasn’t yet been shown to be even close to true.
This story looks like it could’ve been written three weeks ago, but the race has now become a battle of a Trump-backed candidate vs. the non-Trump candidates…
The Republican primary for Illinois governor on Tuesday is shaping up to be a battle of billionaires trying to determine the face of the party in a Democrat-controlled state.
I mean, how many polls showing Irvin in third place do we need to see? And Sullivan’s billionaire backers aren’t even mentioned. Same goes for this AP story. The current second-place contestant also has billionaires behind him, but that is completely ignored.
“I am endorsed by all of the pro-life and pro-family groups here in Illinois,” he said, adding that if he is elected and Republicans regain the state legislative majority, taxpayer-funded abortions will stop “immediately.”
“Here in Illinois, a 12-year-old can get an abortion without her parents knowing anything about it,” Bailey said. “We will fight to end that. Interestingly enough, as Cindy and I have traveled the state and gotten to know many good people in Chicago, especially getting into the churches, we’ve come upon a novel idea to make abortion unnecessary. We will begin involving churches, religious groups, civic organizations to give pregnant women real choices. And I’m looking forward to that and spearheading that to make abortion unnecessary under the current makeup and laws here.”
Bailey said he will also fight against soft-on-crime leaders such as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and he believes he has been propelled to the lead spot in the gubernatorial race because 3 years ago when he was elected to the House, he started pushing back against the establishment.
“I found out the establishment wasn’t just the Democrats; but many times, it was people on our side of the aisle,” Bailey said. “So I sued Gov. Pritzker in June of 2021 over these egregious lockdowns, and then that began to propel us and gave us some notoriety across the state.”
He has some major intraparty fights left in him. And, as subscribers know, this is just one of them…
Watch for conservative Republican Darren Bailey to make a play to take over the Illinois GOP after tomorrow’s primary. Playbook hears that move could come as soon as Wednesday — right after Bailey’s expected victory in the six-man race for the party’s nod for governor.
As a member of the legislature, Bailey also has opposed LGBTQ rights, most recently contending that teaching children about the role the community has played in history in state-approved textbooks is “sexualizing kids” and forces “schools to indoctrinate our kids with their far-left ideology.”
Bailey also has spoken in biblical terms of the decline of the family unit and the role of women and has called transgender rights “the moral rot that is destroying society.”
“God, in His creation, He intended, you know, the family unit to be headed by the dad. The dad is supposed to be out, you know, teaching his children hard work, ethics, honesty and integrity,” Bailey said in an April 4 interview on “Outside the Beltway.”
We’ve been realizing that something is changing. And that something that’s changing is the people are just getting sick and tired of being burdened by a failed government, especially a woke liberal government that seeks to just indoctrinate our children. It seeks to let criminals go scot free. It seeks to just push people who dream and want to work hard in this state, push them out. That’s coming to an end. And I think despite our weather, I have hope and I’m going to make a statement that I believe Illinois will be a destination state very soon. So it’s going to take a lot of work. I’m going to need your help. But I’m telling you we can do this.
So anyway, I’m going to, let me read and get you kinda in the mode. Since it’s Sunday morning, please consider going to church somewhere wherever you’re at. Just get on Google and Google ‘a church near me’ and find a place to go. Many churches have 10:30 and 11 o’clock in the morning worship services throughout the state. Some have three, two o’clock, three o’clock in the afternoon services and evening services. Friends, I’ve said this from day one, this is the purpose of the church, to come together. We are better together. If we come together, worship our Creator and just get energized for the week ahead, listening to His word, which is truth.
* Maybe some reporters will show up for tonight’s event…
Gov. Pat Quinn said Friday that Illinois’ political campaign season should be condensed, so he wants lawmakers to push back the primary election date by seven months, from February to September.
“We don’t need perpetual campaigns and perpetual campaign fundraising in Illinois,” he said. “I think the campaign schedule, the election schedule, is one that too often contributes to that problem of perpetual campaigning.” […]
Sangamon County Clerk Joe Aiello said a shorter campaign season “might be good for everybody.” But a September primary would be “a little too close to the November election” from an administrative standpoint, he said.
David Morrison of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform said his group would favor a later primary date.
The end of June is just about the latest we can hold a primary and still comply with federal laws. September would be out of the question these days. This year’s primary was moved to late June because of Census issues.
But, as always, be careful what you wish for. While the June 28th primary date has somewhat shortened the fall campaign season, it has greatly elongated the primary season.
* The Question: Do you favor keeping the primary in late June or moving it back to March? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
A Daily Herald survey of 20 municipalities, including Chicago, showed 13 grew and seven lost population between 2010 and 2020, according to census data.
The highest loss was in Aurora, where the population decreased by 17,357, or 8.8%, over the decade to 180,542 as of 2020.
Other suburbs where population declined were Geneva and Palatine by less than 1%, Algonquin by 1.2%, Hanover Park by 1.3%, Addison by 3.4% and West Chicago by 5.4%.
Aurora leaders including Mayor Richard Irvin, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, were skeptical of initial results and will seek a special census in 2023.
Census data determines how about $1.5 trillion in federal money is distributed to states over the next decade.
“The city of Aurora has long believed the reflection in our 2020 census count was due to an undercount in the official process and not because of nearly tens of thousands of residents leaving Aurora over the last decade,” spokesman Clayton Muhammad said.
“We remain hopeful that things can be rectified through the official process, especially with the most recent news of this issue being statewide.”
At a rally with former President Trump on Saturday, Republican Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois applauded the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, saying it was a “historic victory for White life in the Supreme Court.” Her campaign immediately responded, saying it was an error and she meant to say “a historic victory for right to life by the Supreme Court.”
“Mary stumbles while saying ‘Right to Life’ and the fake news vultures are out,” her spokesperson Isaiah Wartman said in a statement to CBS News.
Wartman said Miller has the “most Pro-Life voting record in Congress” and that she is the “proud grandmother of two beautiful grandchildren” who have Down syndrome.
The explanation there ain’t great. She wasn’t talking about eugenics, necessarily, so why bring up Down syndrome? Also, she has mixed-race grandchildren.
During her portion of the speech, Miller also took shots at Davis and at multiple times called him a “RINO,” the abbreviation for a “Republican In Name Only.”
“Rodney Davis betrayed us by supporting Red Flag laws and voting for the disgraceful Jan. 6 witch hunt commission,” Miller said.
In the hour-long speech, Trump stuck to similar talking points since losing the 2020 election. Those points included claims that the election was stolen and slamming the January 6 committee that is in the process of investigating the insurrection that occurred at the U.S. Capitol.
“The unselect committee are pushing a fake and fabricated narrative based on doctored video lies and testimony,” Trump said. […]
“The best thing that happened about January 6 was I paid $26 for a full tank of gas,” [Bloomington resident Althea Shonn] said.
Miller’s opponent in the GOP primary, Congressman Rodney Davis, said in a statement on Sunday that the first-term congresswoman’s “comments yesterday are just another part in a disturbing pattern of behavior she’s displayed since coming to Congress.”
“This is why it’s so important to vote in our Republican Primary on Tuesday and show the country Miller’s behavior is unacceptable,” Davis said. […]
After calling him an “establishment RINO,” Miller alluded to how Davis called for Trump to withdraw in October 2020 after a tape came out showing the then-GOP presidential nominee making vulgar remarks about women.
“If Rodney Davis had gotten his way, we would have had crooked Hillary Clinton in the White House,” Miller said. “And we would have had the most leftist Supreme Court in history.” […]
During an interview earlier this month with St. Louis Public Radio, Davis criticized Miller for being inaccessible to the media and emphasized that he’s built a stronger constituent service system since coming to Congress in 2013. […]
“A lot of the constituents, 80%, know that I’m a fighter,” Davis said. “I have fought Nancy Pelosi every election cycle. … Every election cycle, it’s been a race that has been at times the No. 1 most competitive race in the nation. These are the fights I’m used to.”
Donald Trump has messed with Rodney Davis’ mojo since Day One. It’s been painful to watch. Maybe he should’ve just run against Nikki Budzinski. It woulda been a race he knew how to win.
“I think this is going to be a very close race,” said Mike Lawrence, former director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and a longtime Illinois political observer. “I think it is significant that Trump came and campaigned for her. I’ve said all along that could make the difference.”
* Media advisory…
Congressman Rodney Davis will hold a pre-Election Day media availability this afternoon in Springfield with Sangamon County Republican leaders. Davis plans to discuss his campaign heading into Election Day tomorrow, thank Sangamon County Republican leaders for their support, and take questions from the media. Details can be found below:
WHO: Congressman Rodney Davis, Sangamon County Republican leaders
WHAT: Pre-Election Day media availability in Springfield
WHERE: Sangamon County Republican Headquarters, 1132 E Sangamon Ave, Springfield, IL 62702 (across the street from the Illinois State Fairgrounds)
WHEN: 3:30pm CT, Monday, June 27, 2022
RSVP/QUESTIONS: Aaron DeGroot, cell phone: xxxxx, xxxxx@electrodney.com
Congressman Davis also plans to hold two media availabilities tomorrow in Taylorville, one at 4:00pm CT and a second one after the polls close, exact time to-be-determined. The location will have tables, chairs, and WiFi access if media would like to work from Taylorville for the duration of the evening. Final details will be sent out later today.
*** UPDATE *** Rodney Davis press release…
Mary Miller has emerged from her Biden basement strategy. During one of those incredibly rare times Miller gives an interview, she has honed in on her closing message to voters just one day before the Primary Election: “I’m not a racist.”
This morning during an interview on WMAY, Miller was asked to say what she would tell an individual who may have heard her “white life” comments and thought they were racist. Miller’s response was in part, “I’m not a racist.”
Miller caused a media firestorm yesterday after she called the Supreme Court abortion decision a “victory for white life” during a rally in Adams County. Miller claims she misspoke, but she has a history of espousing extreme rhetoric. Just two days after taking the oath of office, Miller praised Adolf Hitler in a prepared speech in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, saying Hitler’s views on indoctrinating youth should be emulated.
Miller (no relation) was asked “Are you racist?” Her reply…
It’s so ridiculous. Not one person I’ve talked to that was at the rally, or heard it on TV thinks that I didn’t, that I didn’t stumble over saying ‘right to life.’ That’s all it was. I’m not a racist. I don’t know what else to say.
“Darren is a farmer and he’s a fighter and he has been an outstanding warrior in the Illinois state Senate where he’s totally totally respected by all of them,” Trump said.
Not sure where the former president obtained that insider information about the Senate.
On Saturday, he went further: “Darren is just the man to take on and defeat one of the worst governors in America, J.B. Pritzker.”
“He will crack down on the violent crime that is devouring our Democrat-run cities and restore the state of Illinois to greatness,” Trump said. “Darren has my complete and total endorsement.” […]
Calling Pritzker “pathetic,” Trump criticized the governor’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and compared gun violence in Chicago to the military situation in Afghanistan during his presidency.
“Everybody’s fleeing your state. This is a disaster,” Trump said.
“He wants to cut your taxes,” the former president said. “He wants to lower your regulations down to the lowest in the country and make Illinois competitive again, because it is not competitive at all.”
Trump then launched into a seemingly unscripted anecdote involving Bailey when the two were posing for pictures with one another backstage.
“I wanted to say hello because I’m hearing Darren’s really doing a job,” Trump began. “And we’re standing up, and I’m shaking his hand. He said, ‘Sir, you have a hair coming down right in the middle.’ It was coming down. He said, ‘Let me get it, sir.’ And he grabbed it and pulled it out. I said, ‘Oh, that’s terrible. That’s terrible.’ I’m still looking for that hair. He just ripped it out.
“Which tells you a lot about Darren. There’s no games, right? Somebody else would’ve patted it gently back. He ripped it out,” Trump laughed. “That’s going to be one I remember. We’re still searching for that hair.” […]
“I’m glad President Trump told the story about his loose hair because here’s the deal. I will not lie to anyone, and I will not let anything go unnoticed,” Bailey said. “And when I see it, I will name it. And when I name it, we will fix it. And we have our work cut out for us in Illinois, friends.
“We have our work cut out for us here in Illinois, friends,” Bailey said. “I’ve made a promise to President Trump that in 2024, Illinois will roll the red carpet out for him because Illinois will be ready for President Trump.”
Trump lost Illinois by 17% of the vote in his winning bid for the presidency in 2016 and his losing reelection run in 2020.
Trump, who has often delayed endorsements unless he was sure of a candidate’s victory, predicted Bailey would “win the primary very big and you’re going to go on and win the election.”
It could make a difference in the general election, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker will use the endorsement against Bailey, should he prevail. Hours before Trump’s rally, and in anticipation of some roasting, Pritzker’s campaign blasted out a video of the governor calling Trump “a narcissist who values power over principle and seeks out darkness over light.”
The campaign said Trump’s visit was an attempt to prop up far-right extremists running for office — even though Pritzker himself paid for ads to help boost Bailey’s campaign with ads calling him “too conservative.”
“We stand with the people who barred the doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6th – not the ones who were trying to knock them down,” Pritzker said in the video. “And any candidate who refuses to speak out against Trump’s Big Lie has no business running for office. Not in Illinois.”
Gary Rabine, another GOP hopeful, was also there working the crowd. His bus was kicked off the fairgrounds and supporters were told to cover their t-shirts if they want to get in the rally.
Rabine said Trump was close to endorsing him but it was blocked at the last minute.
…Adding… DGA…
“With this new endorsement from Trump himself, there’s no question: Darren Bailey is the most MAGA, far-right conservative candidate in this race,” said DGA Illinois Press Secretary Yael Sheinfeld. “A would-be Governor Bailey poses a serious threat for Illinoisans everywhere. Voters know Darren Bailey is far too conservative for our state.”
* Man, there is so much whining in this New York Times article about the primary race…
“This has never happened in the history of our nation that a Democrat would spend this much money stopping one individual from becoming the nominee of the Republican Party,” Mr. Irvin said in an interview after touring a manufacturing plant in Wauconda, a well-to-do suburb north of Chicago. “There are six Republican primary opponents — six of them. But when you turn on the television, all you see is me.”
Ken Griffin has almost ten times the wealth of JB Pritzker. Griffin said he was going “all in” to beat Pritzker and then he split town before the first round was even over. I don’t wanna hear about money, or the lack thereof.
Representative Darin LaHood predicted an “overwhelming” Bailey primary victory in his Central Illinois district, but warned that he would be toxic for general-election voters.
“Bailey is not going to play in the suburbs,” said Mr. LaHood, who has not endorsed a primary candidate. “He’s got a Southern drawl, a Southern accent. I mean, he should be running in Missouri, not in suburban Chicago.”
Southern Illinois is the south. Has been forever. Congressman LaHood should maybe get out more.
“Whether or not Darren and I win the general election, if we can at least get control within our own party, I think long term we have an opportunity to be successful,” Mr. DeVore said at their stop in Green Valley.
* And, of course, it’s gotta have uninformed voters with a grievance about the big city…
“Everything that we pay and do supports Chicago,” said Pam Page, a security analyst at State Farm Insurance from McLean, Ill., who came to see Mr. Bailey in Lincoln. “Downstate just never seems to get any of the perks or any of the kickbacks.”
“The rest of the 90 percent of the land mass is not real happy about how 10 percent of the land mass is directing things,” Mr. Bailey said in an interview aboard his campaign bus outside a bar in Green Valley, a village of 700 people south of Peoria.
Anthony Williams 0.2%
Bobby Piton 3.3%
Casey Chleback 1.3%
Jimmy Lee Tillman II 2.2%
Kathy Salvi 20.1%
Maryann Mahlen 2.0%
Matthew Dubiel 6.3%
Peggy Hubbard 11.2%
Undecided 53.3%
Anthony Williams 6.1%
Bobby Piton 9.4%
Casey Chleback 4.2%
Jimmy Lee Tillman II 4.7%
Kathy Salvi 38.2%
Maryann Mahlen 5.8%
Matthew Dubiel 10.0%
Peggy Hubbard 21.6%
Ogden & Fry conducted an eight-question poll June 24, 2022, with 518 respondents. Respondents were selected by random sampling of likely Republican voters. Responses were gathered through SMS to web. The margin of error for this poll is +/- 4.39% at the 95% confidence interval.
As I’ve been telling my newsletter subscribers for several weeks now, talks began in mid-May about a possible special state legislative session to address the abortion issue.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch had some brief chats about bringing legislators back to town back then.
Illinois is already an abortion rights oasis in the region, but the Democratic leadership wants to do more, so they talked about possibly having the legislature submit a constitutional amendment for voter approval in November to protect abortion rights.
They also talked about passing some additional legislation that would, for instance, make sure abortion providers are protected from retaliatory action by other states (like revoking licenses, for instance).
Democratic state senators then met privately about the issue, and their leadership eventually decided to wait until they saw what exactly the U.S. Supreme Court did.
Then, in mid-June, as the deadline for the U.S. Supreme Court was fast approaching to issue its ruling on overturning Roe v. Wade, Democratic senators were again surveyed on when they could come to Springfield for a special session.
The following week, just ahead of the Supreme Court’s striking down the decades-old precedent, House members were polled. Gov. Pritzker announced he’d call a special session the day the high court finally acted.
As I write this, Senate Democrats have been advised to keep open July 6th and 7th as possible return dates.
So, what will they do?
Planned Parenthood of Illinois has a list of demands that is worth looking at as a possible roadmap. The group’s political arm, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, recently told its supporters abortion rights are “meaningless without the resources to access abortion,” and their list reflects that belief.
For instance, they want the state legislature to allow nurse practitioners to provide “early abortion procedures.”According to the group, doing so “would quickly expand the pool of qualified providers.”
The group also wants to streamline the process for “out-of-state health care professionals to be licensed and credentialed in Illinois,” to help increase the number of abortion providers. Gov. Pritzker said on “Meet the Press Now” that perhaps as many as 30,000 people a year will travel to Illinois to receive an abortion, which is up from 10,000 last year.
“We’re going to need to expand capacity in our state,” Pritzker said. “We’re going to need to make sure that we have the healthcare personnel that are necessary to perform these procedures and to guarantee that medical abortion is available.”
Despite campaign claims by several House and Senate Democratic legislators that the General Assembly “fully funded” Planned Parenthood earlier this year, the group wants a lot more state money spent on things like helping providers to “build capacity” in existing and new locations.
Planned Parenthood also wants the legislature to provide funding for “practical and logistical support for patients who face barriers to access because they have to travel,” calling the money “essential to ensuring that people can access abortion.”
Pritzker told reporters last week the state doesn’t “provide direct subsidies to people coming from other states,” saying folks who come from elsewhere “benefit from the capacity building that we do, from support that we provide to providers.”
The idea of subsidizing travel and even temporary housing for out-of-staters could be a tough sell in the General Assembly, even among many pro-choice Democrats. But I was told by the governor’s office that nothing is yet off the table.
Something that Planned Parenthood hasn’t asked for but is being actively discussed is a non-binding statewide referendum on the topic this November, now that it’s too late to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The question could be as simple as asking voters if they want a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights. It would have the benefit of helping Democrats drive voter turnout.
But Planned Parenthood issued several warnings last week that made clear it wanted more than a few feel-good measures, including an official telling a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter if the governor “wants to join the ranks of other haven states that are truly protecting access and putting money behind that promise, then [funding] is a critical component of that work.”
In other words, political moves and simple changes to state law will not be enough for Planned Parenthood. And so the Democrats have now somehow found themselves looking at a potential political minefield during the special session instead of what they likely thought would be a quick and easy lay-up.
