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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The Daily Herald…
* The Real Deal | Where Chicago real estate money is going in Tuesday’s election: [Sen. Darby Hills,] however, has been apprehensive about supporting the Illinois Realtors-backed BUILD Act legislation championed by Gov. JB Pritzker before it stalled out during this year’s lawmaking session, due to her concerns about preempting local government zoning control to allow developers easier paths to housing construction in certain areas. The proposal may come up again in future sessions. “We need to have more affordable housing in Illinois, and I support having more options and more housing,” Hills said in an interview Friday. “But I want to make sure we have the local municipalities at the table to weigh in.” * Capitol News Illinois | On economic development, Pritzker, Bailey are miles apart: Pritzker’s opponents have criticized the governor and the supermajority Democrats who control the legislature for enacting policies they say have made the state unfriendly to business. “He can talk about economic growth, but families and businesses are still moving out,” Bailey said in February following Pritzker’s budget address. Pritzker acknowledges there’s more work to be done but believes they’re “only scratching the surface of what Illinois’ potential really is.” * Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nominating petitions to be challenged, opponent says: “He doesn’t have enough signatures, and he did a sloppy process,” Boykin said. Wilson’s objection against Johnson would be the first time a sitting Chicago mayor had their petitions challenged since Mayor Richard M. Daley faced an unsuccessful claim against his in the 2007 race. Johnson’s campaign manager Christian Perry said in a statement Monday that the challenge would be a “distraction.” * Block Club | Chicago School Board Member Rivas Scrutinized Over 2018 Work Suspension: Rivas declined an interview request but said in a statement that events in question happened “during an incredibly difficult period while caring for my mother, who was suffering from end-stage renal failure and dementia.” In a statement, he said he “took responsibility” for the incident and received support through Noble’s Employee Assistance Program. […] In August 2018, when Rivas was alumni counselor at UIC College Prep, he allegedly “engaged in an inappropriate, unwanted touching of another employee without consent” at a work event while intoxicated at the Robey Hotel in Wicker Park, according to a disciplinary notice obtained by Chalkbeat. It was written by Audrey Borling, then principal of UIC College Prep. * WTTW | City Council Votes 44-6 to Add $75M From Parking Meter Sale to Pension Payments, Opening New Budget Gap: The deal negotiated by a group of Chicago City Council members to green-light Stonepeak Partners’ purchase of the city’s 36,000 parking meters required the New York-based firm to pay the city $75 million once the deal closed and earmarked those funds for the city’s pensions. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget sends more than $2.94 billion to the city’s four pension funds. State law requires two of Chicago’s pension funds to be funded at a 90% level by 2055 and the other two by 2058, ensuring they can pay benefits to employees as they retire. * Block Club | Affordable Housing For Domestic Violence Survivors Coming To North Center: Located in North Center, the project is the first of its kind in Chicago. During the Friday groundbreaking, Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said it is only the second long-term affordable housing development designed for survivors of domestic violence in the state. The YWCA in Evanston has offered long-term housing since 2017. “While this development is the first in Chicago, it can’t be the last,” Martin said. “It’s important to tie the relationship between domestic violence and housing, because domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women in Chicago and beyond.” * Sun-Times | Early voting, mail ballot turnout in Cook County surpasses 2022 levels by nearly 30%: Early voting and mail-in ballot turnout in suburban Cook County for the midterm elections has surpassed turnout in the 2022 gubernatorial election by nearly 30% so far, Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said Monday. More than 242,000 residents have cast ballots during early voting as of Monday morning. Nearly 107,000 mail ballots have been returned and 11,000 are in the postal service pipeline. Early voting turnout is expected to exceed 2022 levels by 50,000, and mail-in ballot turnout is also projected to surpass 2022 levels by the same margin, said Edmund Michalowski, deputy clerk of elections. * New York Daily News | Tech company Brave plundered Chicago Tribune’s content and resold it to A.I. giants: copyright lawsuit: The Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and affiliated newspapers filed federal lawsuits in Manhattan Monday accusing the technology company Brave Software of using high-tech scraping tools to illegally plunder their websites for exclusive news stories to resell to A.I. giants, including Anthropic and Perplexity. A Manhattan Federal Court complaint, filed by the News and affiliated Tribune Publishing newspapers the Daily News and the Orlando Sentinel, says Brave acts as “the supplier, dealer, and distributor of stolen copyrighted content” and provides a back door circumventing paywalls to its own users as well as prominent generative A.I. companies to help build their businesses. * Sun-Times | East Aurora District 131 board member denies allegations of kickback scheme following federal charges: Annette Johnson, the former board president who signed the statement as a member of East Aurora School District 131, maintained her innocence and said she intended to “vigorously defend myself through the judicial process.” […] According to a grand jury indictment released last week, Johnson is charged with two counts of honest services mail fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud after allegedly using her position as board president to push the district to buy $2.7 million in wearable air purifiers in 2021 in exchange for a $1.3 million payment to a company that Johnson helped lead. * Tribune | Cook County Dems trying for blue sweep in board races, GOP hopes to keep one seat, make gains: In the far-reaching 17th District, Republican Commissioner Sean Morrison late Thursday shared a lengthy Facebook post about why the GOP nominee to succeed him, Liz Gorman, “SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE EVER AGAIN.” Morrison encouraged votes for every other Republican on the ballot but her. Gorman said she didn’t seek his endorsement because she never wanted it in the first place. * WAND | East Central Illinois Pre-Apprentice Program announces new graduates: Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen served as keynote speaker at the recent Champaign graduation ceremony, while East Central Illinois AFL-CIO President Luther Baker provided keynote remarks at the Danville ceremony. “We’re proud to celebrate this group of graduates in Danville and everything they’ve accomplished through Climate Works,” said Trina Taylor, CEJA Program Director at HIRE360. “They came into the program to learn about the trades and they’re leaving ready to see where that knowledge can take them.” * WCIA | Champaign-Urbana MTD offering free rides to the polls on Election Day: According to MTD, all fixed-route bus service will be free from the start of service until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. MTD Access, the ADA paratransit van service, will also be free for eligible people with disabilities traveling to and from voting locations. Officials said they hope offering free rides to voters will encourage civic participation and increase voter participation. * WCIA | Champaign Co. voters share what’s bringing them out to the polls this year: Election Day is quickly approaching, and over the weekend, WCIA took a look at what is bringing voters to the polls in the Champaign-Urbana community. Some people said they are feeling great about the election, and some said it is their “civic duty” to get out, vote to make change and support the community as a whole. Some people said they might not know everyone on the ballot, but others said they did their research on who will be on them come Tuesday.
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Bailey’s conspiracy theory gets a ‘No’ from Pritzker
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * How Darren Bailey is spending election eve…
The above clip is more than a year old. The governors were discussing Trump’s immigration raids and National Guard deployments. * Bailey is actually referring to recordings circulated by Jennica Pounds, aka “DataRepublican,” a right-wing MAGA influencer (Click here and here for more about Pounds). Bailey posted about the recordings a couple weeks ago…
In the recording circulated by Pounds, a speaker identified as former State Department official John Mongan claims he shared a memo with Illinois outlining how governors could assume government functions during a federal legitimacy crisis. He claims Illinois was interested if another state took the lead. Another participant says it went to Governors Safeguarding Democracy, which Pritzker co-chairs. * I asked Gov. JB Pritzker last week whether he or his administration had received the memo in question…
Discuss.
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Ex-Chicago FBI boss sues FBI, DOJ, says he was scapegoated for botched ‘Broadview Six’ case
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WTTW…
* The Tribune…
* CBS Chicago…
* Sun-Times…
* More DOJ news… * Press release | AG Raoul assures voters of federal poll monitor obligations: Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued a statement to remind voters that the Department of Justice has historically utilized poll monitors during elections to ensure compliance with federal voting laws. Raoul also assured voters that federal poll monitors cannot interfere with the administration of elections in any way. “Federal poll monitors are not new to this election. Historically, the Department of Justice has deployed monitors to ensure compliance with federal voting laws, and we understand that the department will undertake those efforts on Election Day in a small number of polling locations in the state of Illinois and across the country. My office has been in contact with the DOJ, and we have no reason to believe that monitors will be engaged in anything inconsistent with traditional monitoring efforts.” * Illinois Times | Federal agents expected at polling places in Sangamon County: Voters may find federal agents at their polling site on Election Day. Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray said his office was informed that representatives from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will monitor 19 polling sites in the county. […] “This is just the first time they’ve come to us,” he said. Gray, a Republican, said he’s not alarmed. “The Department of Justice has a longstanding history of monitoring elections nationwide,” he said. “So, they’ve always been a qualified agency for monitoring elections, especially since the federal government has federal elections at stake.” * Center Square | Groups remain alert as DOJ plan swaps armed agents for observers at polls: ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said trained federal elections observers being sent strictly to observe the carrying out of an election isn’t as out of the ordinary as ICE or FBI agents being sent would’ve been. “It is often true that the Department of Justice and federal officials will send observers to different parts of the country. Those observers are the same as other election observers from political parties,” Yohnka said. “Those things are perfectly appropriate, they’re perfectly consistent with what the DOJ has done for years.”
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Caption contest!
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Time to address the ogre in the room
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
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It’s time to bring safer rides to Illinois.
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Waymo is ready to bring safe, reliable, autonomous rides to Illinois. Never tired or distracted, Waymo provides hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous rides every week across fifteen major U.S. cities, from Los Angeles to Denver — navigating multi-lane expressways and dense city streets. The data shows Waymo’s technology is involved in 95% fewer crashes involving serious injuries or worse when compared to humans (as of 10/2026, see waymo.com/safety). Let’s bring safer rides to Illinois.  Waymo’s autonomous vehicles can support Illinois’ goals for road safety and enhanced accessibility for all communities. With 360° vision, Waymo helps protect pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles on the road.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: On final campaign weekend, Illinois Democrats rally while top Republicans stay quiet. Tribune…
- Bailey met with supporters and attended a worship service in Chicago on Saturday, campaign spokesman Travis Akin said. On Sunday, Akin said, Bailey stayed at his farm near rural Xenia, where he spent time with his grandchildren, did media interviews by phone and held last-minute talks with donors. He planned to return to Chicago for a final full day of campaigning Monday. - Tracy did no public campaigning Saturday or Sunday and instead spent Halloween with family in Jacksonville, spokesperson Kathleen Murphy said. She said the “campaign’s still going full force” with ads running and campaigning planned for Monday and Tuesday. * Related stories… * Gov. JB Pritzker has five GOTV events downstate today. * Crain’s | ComEd, a data center and a big fight over $1: The largest data center project ever proposed in Illinois is at risk of being scuttled over $1. That’s how much developer PowerHouse Hillwood offered to put up when Commonwealth Edison demanded a financial guarantee of more than half a billion dollars to protect other customers from the costs of supplying electricity to its proposed data center campus in Joliet. * Evanston Roundtable | Northern Illinois Transit Authority prepares to release first regional transit budget: According to NITA spokesperson Melissa Meyer, the individual agencies still have input. But that input is more akin to the role city departments play in the Evanston budget process; they develop their own proposals, but it the city staff and city council (or, in this case, NITA staff and Board of Directors) that develop and approve the budget document that goes before the public. CTA, Metra and Pace submitted their budget proposals to NITA in early October. From there, the agencies worked with NITA to refine and develop the regional budget proposal. * Tribune | Gov. JB Pritzker spending millions in Texas and beyond to extend Democrats’ reach — and his 2028 network: He’s taking a similar approach in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, states that have drawn less attention than traditional battlegrounds. Those aren’t places where Democrats have typically done well, Pritzker acknowledges. “But they are this time,” Pritzker told the Tribune in an interview at his Loop campaign headquarters about two weeks before Election Day. * Daily Herald | ‘Yes, it’s crazy,’ but independent governor long-shot believes in the mainstream: Corbett acknowledged all signs point to a Pritzker third term but would consider securing 10% to15% of the returns a victory. “JB Pritzker is pretty well focused on Chicago and has a strong voter base in Chicago,” he said. “Darren Bailey is focused downstate, whereas we’ve been focused on the suburbs. Not only are the suburbs where our most likely voters reside, but it’s also an area of the state that feels ignored.” “I like to shoot for the stars,” he said. The path to that goal is through the suburbs, Corbett thinks. * Sun-Times | Lake View hospital kitchen reopens after license pulled for ‘cockroach infestation,’ other violations: Illinois Masonic Medical Center’s cafeteria and kitchen has reopened after it was shuttered earlier this month when a “cockroach infestation” contributed to a failed health inspection, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. […] It’s the fifth time since 2010 that a kitchen at the hospital has failed a health inspection, per city records. * Sun-Times | ‘Looking for something different:’ Chicago Public Media launches online community: Chicago Public Media, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, soft-launched on Oct. 7 chicago.com, a new online platform focused on local communities. The nonprofit rolled out its pilot in Chicago neighborhoods Avondale, Bronzeville, Edgewater/Andersonville and South Shore, as well as the city of Evanston. * Sun-Times | Two-thirds of 2026 Taste of Chicago food vendors were flagged with health code violations: At Taste of Chicago this year, 81 vendors served up regional and international dishes to thousands of people across five days. According to records obtained by WBEZ/Sun-Times from the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, inspectors logged more than 160 health code violations during the festival. More than half of vendors listed received violations, our analysis shows. Some on-site infractions were minor, like slow-draining sinks, employees in tank tops and missing food safety licenses. Others were far more troubling, like food being prepared in bushes and stored at unsafe temperatures in the summer heat. * Bloomberg | ‘Free the Onions’ rally sparks debate on 68-year-old trading ban: Outside the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week, a small group of university students staged an irreverent rally that sparked a serious debate among some of America’s financial elite about what can and can’t be traded. At first glance, the target of the protest group, called For Our Futures, appeared to be obscure: a 68-year-old ban on trading onion futures, a prohibition the students want to overturn. * Sun-Times | Controversial DOJ boss takes reins in tainted ‘Broadview 6’ case, stymies judge’s inquiry: Perry also seemed interested in Boutros’ claim that he only learned of certain alleged wrongdoing by his team in late April. He’s since acknowledged receiving a transcript in October 2025 that documented some of Mecklenburg’s alleged misconduct. Woodward didn’t mention Boutros in his filing, but he did mention the feds’ past claim that “there are no communications of any nature from, to, or with anyone outside of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” * Daily Herald | Will donations from the JB Pritzker’s campaign help local Democrats?: In recent weeks, Democratic candidates and party organizations statewide have seen an influx of cash from the governor’s campaign. The Democratic Party of DuPage County received $200,000 earlier this month. Kane County Democrats got $100,000. Lake County Democrats received $30,000. That money was set aside for key state and county races. * WTTW | In-Person Early Voting in Chicago, Suburban Cook County Outpacing 2022 Early Vote Totals by More Than 30%: In suburban Cook County, more than 180,000 in-person early vote ballots were cast through Thursday, a more than 30% increase from the same time during the 2022 general election, according to a Cook County Clerk’s Office spokesperson. Also, 100,600 mail ballots were returned as of Friday morning. * Illinois Times | Judge weighs data center lawsuit’s future: Circuit Judge Adam Giganti, at the conclusion of an Oct. 30 hearing on motions to dismiss the suit, said he’s “going to take the matter under advisement and will render a decision as soon as possible.” The July 6 lawsuit was originally filed against Sangamon County and the County Board by residents who live approximately a mile or less from the site. They are seeking to overturn the county’s approval of the project, claiming procedural violations and unchecked environmental concerns. The Sangamon County Board approved a conditional use permit on April 7 that would allow a data center to be constructed on 280 acres of farmland by a vote of 17-10, with one board member abstaining. * WCBU | Peoria eyes regulations for electric bicycles, scooters: The city staff has drafted an ordinance that would update Peoria’s city code to align with updated state law that’s set to go into effect next year. “The main point of emphasis for regulation is how fast these vehicles go, particularly for the e-bikes,” city attorney Patrick Hayes said this week before the Peoria City Council voted to receive and file the proposed changes. * WPSD | New Americans celebrated at SIU naturalization ceremony: “They have to basically take a civics lesson to learn the Constitution. They have to go through background checks. They have to pass background checks,” Gilbert said. “It’s a rigorous, time-consuming process that sometimes takes a couple of years, several years before they can qualify to be naturalized.” Gherson Tovar moved to Illinois from Venezuela in 2011 and said he’s excited to start his own American dream. * WGLT | Dale Township Fire Protection District asks voters to weigh property tax increase: Three ballot questions facing some McLean County voters would raise taxes in the Dale Township Fire Protection District to avoid staffing cuts, according to the fire chief. Chief Ryan Gibson said all three passing would equal about $133 more in taxes based on a $100,000 valuation. So, the owner of a $250,000 home, which is near the average value of a home in McLean County, would pay about $330 more a year. * AP | Trump administration promises US farmers $15 billion in weeks before the midterms: Whether that will motivate more voters to turn out in agricultural states where traditionally Republican seats are now seen as competitive is unclear. It may explain his increased attention on rural areas, including visits Sunday to Iowa and Kansas, two days before the election. […] He said he expects these ad hoc payments to be a big help for farmers who otherwise would not make a profit this year, but they do not address the broader issues driving up prices. “It’s hard to go to your lender in the next spring and say, ‘OK, well, we’re looking pretty good this year, but it’s all because of these extra temporary government payments, so how much can you make me a loan (for) next year for my crop?’” he said.
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Good morning!
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Selected press releases (live updates)
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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