State Sen. Darren Bailey, who’s running against incumbent Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, said he’ll use reduced state spending to pay down pensions.
“We’ll find the fat in the budget and we’ll begin to apply that to get this pension situation under control, but first and foremost, I will be sitting at the table with pensioners,” Bailey, R-Xenia, told The Center Square. “I fear that the pension debt may be that large looming problem that will sneak up on Illinois if we continue to ignore it as J.B. Pritzker has.”
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2022 - Posted by Advertising Department
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It’s been four days since Elon Musk finalized his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, and already he’s facing pushback from celebrities, lawmakers, and advertisers worried about how the social network will change under his leadership, even as many conservative voices rejoice.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is among those voicing concerns. Asked Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press whether she trusts Musk now that he runs Twitter, she replied, “No, I do not.”
The Minnesota Democrat wants more content moderation and less immunity for social networks that amplify hate speech. Referring to the man who attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband this week, she said, “He was posting anti-Semitic tropes; he was showing memes that showed violence and all of this election-denying, pro-Trump, MAGA-crowd rhetoric. That’s what we’re dealing with here…I just don’t think people should be making money off of passing on this stuff that’s a bunch of lies.” […]
Meanwhile NBA star LeBron James tweeted yesterday that the surge in N-word use on Twitter since Musk’s takeover was “scary AF,” and added that he hoped Musk “and his people take this very seriously.” […]
In response to James’s complaint, Musk shared a tweet from a Twitter employee reading, “Nearly all of these accounts are inauthentic. We’ve taken action to ban the users involved in this trolling campaign—and are going to continue working to address this in the days to come to make Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone.”
* More…
Evidence suggests that bad actors are trying to test the limits on @Twitter. Several posts on 4chan encourage users to amplify derogatory slurs.
For example, over the last 12 hours, the use of the n-word has increased nearly 500% from the previous average. pic.twitter.com/mEqziaWuMF
— Network Contagion Research Institute (@ncri_io) October 28, 2022
* The Question: Are any of you thinking about abandoning Twitter? Why or why not?
* For a little context, here’s an SJ-R story from this past April…
In November, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law which banned judicial candidates from accepting donations from groups which don’t disclose their funders, such as so-called “dark money” groups organized as 501(c)4 organizations. These include groups like the Judicial Fairness Project or the Illinois Opportunity Project, groups which together gave $550,000 to the campaign against Kilbride.
The airwaves are clogged with Hallowe’en-scary ads this fall, making preposterous claims that voting for Republican candidates for the state Supreme Court will cause Illinois to criminalize abortion. When desperate, you do desperate things.
The absurdity is obvious to any thoughtful voter, to wit: Illinois is a Blue state that strongly supports a woman’s legal right to an abortion. Right or wrong on the issue, Gov. J. B. Pritzker has been bending over backwards to expand abortion rights, and the veto-proof Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
Illinois Supreme Court judges don’t make laws. They interpret laws enacted by the legislature and governor. And there is no way the legislature is going to enact a law that jeopardizes their support for legal abortion.
* Anyway, the Judicial Fairness Project is now being accused of blasting this text message…
* PPIA responded…
Attributed to Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action
“Today we sent a cease and desist notice to the Judicial Fairness Project for the false use of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action’s (PPIA) logo and taking quotes about the security of abortion access in Illinois out of context. Unlike what the Judicial Fairness Project stated in texts to supporters, abortion access is in grave danger in Illinois. When Roe was overturned, abortion remained legal in Illinois because we passed the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which recognizes that providing abortion is health care, not criminal activity, and includes regulations that reflect current medical standards, not political standards. However, a change in the Governor’s office, a shift in the Illinois Supreme Court or a proposed federal ban would supersede the RHA, meaning abortion could be banned or severely restricted in Illinois. The Judicial Fairness Project is clearly trying to mislead and confuse voters because they know people are motivated to keep Illinois a safe haven for care. We denounce their tactics and urge voters to seek the facts from reputable organizations.”
The White House confirmed Wednesday that President Joe Biden will stump in Illinois Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s midterm balloting — likely in the Chicago area — and Vice President Kamala Harris hits Chicago on Sunday.
Biden will lead a get-out-the vote for Democrats with a focus on boosting suburban Chicago congressional incumbents — especially Reps. Sean Casten and Bill Foster — who are in races that may be tightening.
The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris visits Chicago on Sunday. […]
The vice president’s office said Harris will “deliver remarks” at an Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders event in Chicago. Another source said the stop is likely an event for the AAPI Victory Fund, a political action committee. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., an Asian American, and on the Tuesday ballot, is also scheduled to attend the event.
* Illinois early vote totals…
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (11/02/22): Total VBM requested: 860,663 Total VBM returned: 467,112 Total VBM outstanding: 393,551 Return Rate: 54% Total Early Vote: 419,002 Total Grace Period: 6,580 Total Already Voted: 892,694https://t.co/44ga6Axjmq
The statewide vote by mail return rate (as of today) is 54.27%. Only a few jurisdictions are below that, but they include some of the most populous areas, like City of Chicago (37.42%), Lake County (43.51%) and Suburban Cook County (52.05%).
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 70,656 ballots cast.
Additionally, 76,071 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 208,003.
The grand total is 146,727 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
FOR COMPARISON:
As of June 22, 2022 (6 days out from the 6/28/22 Primary Election): 61,377 ballots cast
As of October 27, 2020 (6 days out from the 11/3/20 Presidential Election): 583,372 ballots cast
As of October 30, 2018 (6 days out from the 11/6/18 General Election): 152,320 ballots cast
Chicago is still at 16 percent of total votes cast, even though the city is 21 percent of the population.
* Michael Flynn’s The America Project is leafleting in suburban Cook County and it looks like they’re piggy-backing on the anti-union group’s bandwagon…
Republican Regan Deering, running for the new 13th Congressional District, appeared Wednesday to accept the endorsements of the Illinois, and U.S., Chambers of Commerce.
As she paints opponent Nikki Budzinski as a “political insider,” the discussion turned to why elective office seems to be the only job for which experience is a liability. After answering that she would represent business experience and new blood, Deering volunteered, “I also am a supporter of term limits. I think America is tired of career politicians.”
What term limit will she place on herself?
“I’ll get myself elected in six days, and then we’ll see.”
But she just said she supports term limits. What sort of term limits is she talking about?
“We can talk about that when it comes to a vote. That would be great.”
House Republicans’ top congressional super PAC is betting that a last minute cash infusion can flip two deep-blue districts on the edges of the House battlefield.
The Congressional Leadership Fund is going on air with seven-figure buys targeting Democratic Rep. Sean Casten in suburban Chicago and the Long Island seat held by retiring Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice. The super PAC is investing $1.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively, on broadcast buys in the expensive Chicago and New York City media markets.
Neither district has seen much outside spending before the final days of the midterms, and President Joe Biden carried both of them by double-digits in 2020. But the late ad buys suggest Republicans see opportunities in both places as the country grapples with high cost of living and the possibility of an economic recession looming.
House Majority PAC, CLF’s Democratic counterpart, also recently invested in both districts — a sign that both parties believe the seats are at risk of flipping.
Two-term Congressman Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) and challenger Mayor Keith Pekau (R-Orland Park) are locked in a closer-then-expected race than the major ratings services indicate:
- Cook Political Report with Amy Walter: Likely Leans Democrat
- Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: Likely Democrat
- Elections Daily: Safe Democrat
- RCP: Toss-up
While no published independent polling is available in this race, Mayor Pekau is broadcasting TV commercials on broadcast TV in Chicagoland. Congressman Casten has been on broadcast TV since Labor Day. Casten launched attack ads against Pekau in late September, possibly indicating Pekau and Casten are close according to internal polling.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Black voters drive the right crazy by showing strength in numbers during elections: The strength of Black vote turnout in densely populated metropolitan areas drives the right crazy. The fact that urban Blacks vote in high numbers is one reason Republicans like to bash big cities. That’s partly why Darren Bailey, the GOP nominee for governor, called Chicago a hellhole. Black voters in the Southland are a big reason why Democrats enjoy one-party rule in Illinois. The concentration of likely Democratic voters on Chicago’s South Side and in the south suburbs makes this place ground zero for political power.
* Vaccines used to be apolitical. Now they’re a campaign issue: Pro-vaccine advocates worry that the rise of these candidates, along with an emboldened anti-vaccine movement, could spell trouble for public health in the years to come.”I think it’s really unfortunate that an issue that has saved so many lives has become partisan and hyper-political,” says Northe Saunders, the executive director of the SAFE Communities coalition, a nationwide nonprofit committed to supporting pro-vaccine political candidates and policies.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pledged to remove a barrier to abortion for people in prison after a WBEZ investigation found incarcerated people had to pay for the procedure and the wages of the correctional officer required to accompany them to appointments outside the prison.
“Moving forward, abortion procedures and their associated expenses will not be covered by incarcerated women,” IDOC spokesperson Naomi Puzello wrote in a statement announcing the policy change. “Those who previously paid for expenses will be reimbursed.”
Advocates for abortion rights were surprised and elated. “With access to abortion care under attack across the nation, Illinois should ensure that every person in need of abortion care, including those in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, has unfettered access to this critical health care,” said Emily Hirsch, a legal fellow at the ACLU of Illinois. “We applaud the Governor’s Office for taking an important step toward that goal.”
Puzello said the new guidelines were implemented immediately and that Wexford, the company that is contracted by the state to provide healthcare in prisons, and all impacted facilities have been notified of the change. However, the corrections department did not specify how access will be ensured, how reimbursements will be provided or how incarcerated pregnant people are being made aware of their rights.
Although the WeCount report did not document where interstate abortion travelers came from, the states with large increases were located near states that banned abortions. (Not all clinics gave this information to the group when they shared the number of abortions they had provided.) North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado and Illinois had the largest increases by percent. But some women did travel outside of their region: New York, which does not border any states that banned abortion, had a substantial increase. […]
Though clinics in states bordering those with bans have been struggling to see all the patients who come to them — some cannot schedule appointments because they are overbooked — many had been able to expand access before Roe fell, in preparation for the surge in demand.
Illinois had the biggest increase in the number of abortions: 2,710 more in July and August than in April and May. Clinics there had already been serving many patients from Missouri, where abortion was largely inaccessible before Roe’s overturning. Two of them, Hope Clinic for Women and the Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights, Ill., had prepared for the post-Roe surge by expanding their hours and clinic space, hiring more doctors and creating a hotline to help patients with travel logistics.
The data also shows a small increase in abortions provided through telemedicine providers who do not have brick-and-mortar clinics. These were made possible last December when the Food and Drug Administration legalized telemedicine abortions. These abortions are legally available in only some states, and accounted for 5 percent of all abortions in August, the new data shows.
A new analysis shows that Illinois protects access to abortion services and has seen an uptick since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in April.
* Our state had one of the largest increases in abortions from April to August, at 28%.
* Only three had a higher increase: North Carolina (37%), Kansas (36%) and Colorado (33%).
The big picture: In August, abortion services became completely unavailable in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
* Since the Dobbs decision, there were 5,270 fewer abortions in July and 5,400 fewer in August nationally.
* In states with bans or severe restrictions, there were 7,870 fewer abortions in July and 8,040 fewer in August for a total of 15,910.
Earlier this month, the Springfield News-Leader reported the story of a Missouri woman named Mylissa Farmer who was forced to travel to Illinois after being denied a life-saving abortion due to Missouri’s near-total abortion ban and its ambiguous exception for threats to the life of the pregnant person. Farmer had reached out to the office of her state senator for help—and instead, they referred her to an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center and promised to contact the Republican state attorney general, Eric Schmitt, who also happens to be running for U.S. Senate. Farmer says she never heard back.
Shortly after sharing her story, Farmer—who once identified as “pretty pro-life”—appeared in a damning ad for Schmitt’s Democratic opponent, Trudy Busch Valentine, highlighting Schmitt’s extremist stances on abortion. And on Friday, Missouri House Rep. Crystal Quade (D) sent a letter to the attorney general’s office alleging that the state had launched an investigation into Farmer and Freeman Hospital—which had ruled that Farmer’s pregnancy wasn’t viable—and requesting records and transparency.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) confirmed in an email to Jezebel that the department “does have an ongoing EMTALA investigation underway, as authorized by CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] on October 20, regarding the situation you’ve described at Freeman Hospital in Joplin.” In a follow-up email, the spokesperson specified that DHSS is investigating the hospital and not Farmer, specifically.
In Quade’s letter, the Democratic lawmaker alleges that Schmitt sent several cease and desist letters to Missouri television stations that aired the Busch Valentine ad featuring Farmer—and that the state then opened a retaliatory investigation into the hospital that cared for Farmer as the ads continued to air.
[Park Ridge Republican Mike Lupo] said his experience of finding out that his son would be born with significant health problems informed his stance on abortion. He said he knew “what’s right for one family is not right for another” and would support abortion laws as written in Illinois.
“While our decision unwaveringly was to have our son, I feel and understand the difficulty of this decision for others,” he said. “It’s a decision that doesn’t come without consequence.”
Lupo then took a swipe at [Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines], saying his campaign had sent out misleading mail to voters that called him a danger to reproductive access.
Moylan said that he was “100% pro choice. I believe in a woman’s right to choose.” He added that he stood by the campaign mailers he had sent out about Lupo.
While abortion rights remain protected in Illinois, Budzinski supports keeping them safe at the federal level and said if a national abortion ban were to go into effect, it could impact people in Illinois.
“If a national abortion ban actually is put forward by House Republicans, and they take control of the House, those same protections that women in Illinois have today would also be affected and rolled back,” Budzinski said.
Deering does not support a national abortion ban and said it’s up to individual states to decide whether to restrict abortion access.
“If I’m going to be an advocate for making it a state’s issue, I’m not going to support a national ban,” Deering said.
All Steven knew was what time and where. A part-time pilot from the Chicago area, he was picking up a total stranger in his single-engine plane, a passenger who needed to fly more than a thousand miles, across state lines, from the midwest to the east coast.
“Within 15, 20 minutes of arriving and meeting the person, we were in the plane and I got the engine fired up, ready to go,” he said. […]
The passenger was seeking reproductive health services and needed to travel to a state where they could access them. Steven is just one of hundreds of pilots across the US, who have been volunteering the use of their small planes to fly people seeking abortions and other services from states that have outlawed it to states that haven’t.
The effort to connect volunteer pilots with patients is led by Elevated Access, a non-profit organization based out of Illinois. It was founded in April in response to a growing number of women being forced to embark on expensive and time-consuming journeys in attempts to obtain abortions
“Make no mistake about it, abortion is on the ballot in November,” said Jennifer Welch, Chair of the Planned Parenthood Illinois Action PAC.
The nationwide campaign is in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had protected abortion rights for nearly 50 years.
While Democrats, nationwide, received a boost in the polls earlier this summer, momentum is now fading with two weeks until the midterm election.
“Abortion as a topic has been down in the polls, compared to issues like the economy, inflation, even immigration and crime. Some of those things that Republicans have focused on,” said Francesca Chambers of USA Today.
Midterm elections are fast approaching and abortion rights are quite literally on the ballot in a number of states, following the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Experts have documented the impact abortion bans have on women’s participation in the labor force, and their findings have inspired James Beard Award-winning chef Beverly Kim (Parachute, Wherewithall).
“It’s very difficult to raise a child in this industry because of the lack of support systems both locally and nationally,” says Kim, a mother of three. “We’re already fighting for healthcare benefits, parental leave, and livable wages. Having that access and choice is a really important matter, it’s a puzzle piece that helps narrow the gap of gender disparity [in hospitality.”
In 2020, Kim co-founded the Abundance Setting, a Chicago nonprofit that supports advancement for mothers working in the hospitality industry. Under her group’s banner, Kim has assembled an all-star lineup of chefs for “Love is on the Menu,” a benefit dinner supporting the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF), a local nonprofit that provides financial, logistical, and emotional support for abortion patients throughout the Midwest. The dinner on Tuesday, November 15, features a five-course meal from Top Chef alums Stephanie Izard (Girl & the Goat), Joe Flamm (Rose Mary), Damarr Brown (Virtue), plus Jason Hammel (Lula Cafe), Tayler Ploshehanski (Wherewithall), Kim and husband (and fellow Beard Award winner) Johnny Clark, and Los Angeles’ Mei Lin (Daybird). Tickets ($275) have already sold out, but hopefuls can request add their names to the waitlist via Resy.
“Everybody loves someone who has had an abortion, whether they know it or not,” says Kim. “Bringing people together around the dinner table helps to soften the dialogue, it destigmatizes [an experience] that is pretty widespread so we don’t have to whisper about it.”
Scott Lennox, 21, of 3300 N. Lake Shore Drive, is charged with one felony count each of threatening a public official, telephone harassment and harassment by electronic communications, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
According to a Chicago police report, Lennox left Bailey a voicemail at 10:27 p.m. Oct. 28 in which he threatened to “mutilate and kill” him. Illinois State Police learned Lennox used his cellphone to make the threats against Bailey. Police said Lennox admitted making the threats.
Police say he admitted it. I’m hearing the threat was really gruesome.
Bailey had Illinois State Police protection the other day because of this awful man.
Pritzker on Wednesday took to Twitter to condemn the incident, saying “the violent rhetoric and division we’re seeing across our country is unacceptable.”
“Hatred in any form has no home in Illinois,” the governor continued.
Also condemning the incident was Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, of Hillside. “We need these violent threats to stop,” Welch tweeted. “Politicians on both sides of the aisle need to lower the rhetoric and bring back civility to our politics. I don’t agree with Mr. Bailey’s policies, but I want nothing but the best for him and his family.”
The voicemail in question followed a fight Lennox had at a Chicago bar after a political ad appeared on the bar’s television. The ad — and repeated ads he had seen during the campaign — made Lennox “angry,” prosecutors said, and a “heated argument” began between Lennox and his friends, leading him to send a voicemail to Bailey’s Springfield office, prosecutors said.
“I’m going to skin Darren Bailey alive, making sure he is still alive, and I’m going to feed his f****** family to him as he is alive and screaming in f****** pain,” prosecutors say Lennox said in the voicemail. He also made statements about abortion in his message.
He further said, “He is a piece of white a** racist s***, and honestly if he doesn’t kill himself, I will. You know what? I know where he lives. I know where he sleeps. I know where his kids sleep. And I know the f****** school he works at,” prosecutors allege he said. Lennox also said “the candidate teaching all this mother f****** misinformation is going to die. So honestly he should just kill himself before anything else happens.”
“Divisive, inflammatory, and misleading rhetoric is driving hatred across our state as some attempt to label political opponents as dangerous threats,” Bailey said in a statement Wednesday. “Whether we agree or disagree on policies, we are all Americans. I pray this young man gets the help he needs. We must bring our state together and fight for the safety and prosperity of every Illinoisan.”
Over the past two-plus decades, the Foundation has accomplished a great deal thanks to your steadfast support. Our first major effort, in 2005, was to help establish the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield, IL. To date, we have raised more than $42 million in support of museum programs, projects, and the Foundation’s one-of-a-kind Taper Collection of Lincolniana. […]
The Foundation’s future simply could not be brighter.
The Foundation reported to the federal government last year that it had $9.25 million in liabilities, including $8.33 million in debt. It had cash and investment assets of $8.57 million, with total reported assets of $33.97 million.
So, the Foundation appeared to have had enough liquidity to pay off its notorious Taper Collection debt last year, including the infamous hat with the shaky provenance.
* But if the Foundation had paid off that debt on or before October 31st, then the collection would have reverted to Illinois’ ownership and remained at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, according to ALPLM executive director Christina Shutt. Instead, the Foundation chose to yank the entire collection from the ALPLM. From an email sent yesterday by Shutt…
Greetings ALPLM staff:
I want to give you an update on a few things, particularly the status of the Taper Collection of Lincoln materials.
As you may know, the collection was purchased 15 years ago by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation (earlier this year, the group renamed themselves Lincoln Presidential Foundation). This private foundation borrowed millions of dollars to buy the collection and said it would be given to the state of Illinois once that debt was paid off. Throughout those 15 years, the ALPLM and the foundation had a loan agreement that called for the presidential library to house and protect the collection, allowing our institution to display, research and showcase artifacts in the museum.
It has long been expected and anticipated that the Taper Collection would ultimately become the property of the people of Illinois, but the loan agreement expires today and the foundation has chosen to remove the collection from the ALPLM. It is unknown where the foundation will store these artifacts or whether the items will be publicly accessible in the future. Though it has been asked, the foundation not provided this information.
What is known is that, in government-mandated documents required of not-for-profits, the foundation has revealed that it has the money to pay off the remaining debt on the collection. Doing so prior to today would ensure that the collection would become the property of the people of Illinois. Regrettably, even after raising tens of millions of dollars more than the loan of 15 years ago, and even with the repeated promise to maintain a permanent home for the collection at the ALPLM, the foundation has ultimately chosen not to meet the longstanding commitment.
For years, the foundation asked donors to underwrite specific items in the collection and promised them that, because of their generosity, those items would be housed at the ALPLM “in perpetuity.” Those items, along with the rest of the collection, left our facilities as well today.
It’s hard to argue that the ALPLM is any less than the best place for the Taper Collection to be housed, protected, and shared with the public. But its absence will not interfere with the ALPLM’s mission and shouldn’t be seen as darkening a promising future.
Taken away were items such as Mary Todd Lincoln’s blood-stained fan she was carrying the night her husband was assassinated at Ford’s Theater, a cuff button he was wearing when he was shot, Lincoln’s walking sticks, some of his early writings and an ink bottle from his Springfield law office.
Also included was a beaver-skin stovepipe hat, once appraised at more than $6 million, that the museum and foundation once adamantly believed had set atop Lincoln’s head but that later was discredited because of unresolvable questions surrounding its authenticity.
These were all part of a collection of Lincoln artifacts once owned by wealthy West Coast historian and collector Louise Taper. A member of the Lincoln foundation board, she sold the items to the foundation for $23 million in 2007.
Municipal bonds were issued by the city of Springfield to help finance part of the deal, and private donations were secured with the understanding that once the foundation’s borrowing was repaid, the collection would become property of the museum. […]
A foundation spokesman said the not-for-profit still has a debt exceeding $8 million associated with acquiring the Taper collection, and a 15-year agreement that allowed for the artifacts to be on display at the museum expired on Monday.
“In accordance with that…loan agreement expiring, we arranged with the cooperation of the state for return of that collection to our control,” said Nick Kalm, the foundation board’s first vice chairman.
Kalm would not say what happens next for the one-time museum pieces.
This is the latest report in a research project established in 2019 to trace the use and provenance of local news sites created and operated for the purpose of exercising influence, be it electorally or to promote the interests of corporate clients or advocacy groups. While publishing news sites or newspapers to exert influence is not new, the increasingly involved campaign tools and tactics deployed through these networks create a challenge for independent local journalism and demonstrate how modern political campaigning makes it harder for readers to distinguish between political advertising and journalism.
This extended network is operated by a conglomerate of corporate entities—Metric Media, Newsinator (alias Franklin Archer), Local Government Information Services (LGIS), Pipeline Media (alias LocalityLabs or LocalLabs)—each of which claims ownership of different subsets of the network. […]
John Tillman, an influential conservative activist based out of Illinois, holds executive positions in at least nine organizations that, through a dizzying series of transactions, move millions of dollars around interconnected non- and for-profit organizations. As we reported last year, Tillman is also currently listed as the secretary for LGIS, the Illinois-centric subset of the network comprising thirty-four “local news” websites and eleven physical newspapers, which was subject to an FEC lawsuit for disguising campaign materials as local community newspapers (the suit was dismissed in 2019). Timpone is listed as the president of LGIS, a position previously held by Proft. In the run-up to the midterms this November, newspapers from the LGIS outlets have started appearing on doorsteps in Illinois attacking Pritzker for his policies on crime, COVID, and LGBTQ rights.
Proft’s PAC is financially backing Republican candidate Darren Bailey against Pritzker in the November election. Proft ran for office in 2010, currently hosts a show on the Salem Radio Network (which syndicates Christian political talk, conservative programming, and music), and his now-defunct PAC Liberty Principles paid Newsinator (one of the organizations in the extended network) over $300,000 for advertising. This year he started a new PAC, People Who Play by the Rules, which—at the time of writing—has received over $28 million from Uihlein, the shipping magnate and Republican mega-donor. The PAC has paid Pipeline Media just over $225,000 for services that include websites, SMS messages, and robocalls. […]
Only a small fraction of the $28 million that Proft’s People Who Play by the Rules PAC received from Uihlein—$226,668—was spent on Pipeline Media to cover services like website, SMS messages, and robocalls. […]
Since July 13, [Proft’s PAC] has spent over $12 million opposing Pritzker, of which $10,000 was disbursed to Pipeline Media for “website.”
Other anti-Pritzker domains registered in mid-September include pritzkermustgo [dot] com (which features a new ad campaign by the pac) and pritzkerbook [dot] com (which presents users with a book about “what every Illinoisan should know” about the incumbent). The book, too, is paid for by the People Who Play by the Rules PAC.
All these domains share digital identifiers like IP addresses and analytics infrastructure with other sites in the extended local news network, including the Will County Gazette, Kane County Reporter, Chicago City Wire, and DuPage Policy Journal. […]
People Who Play by the Rules isn’t the only PAC that’s received millions from Uihlein this election cycle. Restoration PAC, whose raison d’être is to “provide support to truly conservative candidates” and to “oppose Leftists and the woke agenda,” received at least $13.7 million from the founder of Uline, the privately held shipping-supply company. Of this, $1.37 million went to Pipeline Advisors LLC ($1,336,109) and Pipeline Media ($30,463) for various types of consulting and “production costs.”
It’s apparently all one thing. There’s more, so click here.
*** UPDATE *** I should’ve posted this interesting graphic. Notice the Franklin News Foundation. That’s the publisher of Center Square…
Senator Michael Hastings. This is his record. Hastings is sued for discrimination, racism and sexism. He bullied, threatened women forced to work with him. Taxpayers paid a huge settlement to his victim. Now reports to police that Hastings battered his wife, put her in a headlock, choked her, ramming her head into a door. The governor and other leaders called for Hastings to resign. On election day, tell Michael Hastings enough is enough.
Sen. Hastings is up against Republican Patrick Sheehan.
Earlier today, two former prosecutors and a former Appellate Court Justice held a press conference to highlight the unprecedented level of spending from Democratic leaders on the two contested Illinois Supreme Court races in the Chicago suburbs.
Former Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon, former Appellate Court Justice Bob Spence, and State Sen. John Curran, who served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County, all spoke out against the millions of dollars Governor Pritzker, Speaker Welch, President Harmon, and other Democratic lawmakers have spent to elect Justice Mary K. O’Brien and Judge Elizabeth Rochford.
“I and all of us are here today because the future of good government; reforms like independent map and fair maps, public safety, bipartisanship in the State of Illinois are on the ballot in this election for the Illinois Supreme Court in the 2nd and 3rd district. The independence of all three coequal branches of government is critical to restoring Illinois as a leader in job creation, public safety where people want to work and live,” said former Kane County State’s Attorney Joseph “Joe” McMahon. “An independent and impartial jury is critical to good government and is the only remaining check on the absolute political power of the Democrat Party in Cook County. Public confidence in judicial independence and impartiality is eroding when leaders of the other two branches of government try to control and dictate the outcome of judicial elections.”
“The Supreme Court is supposed to be a check on the General Assembly and on the Governor, we learned that in eighth grade - it’s not difficult, said Former Appellate Court Justice Robert Spence. “Other issues that could be decided by the court are “gerrymandering and fair maps.”
Last month, a federal judge blocked other judicial contribution limits Pritzker signed into law, including a measure that bans contributions in excess of $500,000 per election cycle from a single source to independent expenditure committees set up to support or oppose judicial candidates.
Before the now-suspended law went into effect, billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin, a chief Pritzker political rival, gave $6.25 million to an independent expenditure committee called Citizens for Judicial Fairness that is supporting the Republican candidates for the two open Supreme Court seats, Mark Curran and Michael Burke. […]
In October, the [Ken Griffin-funded] group reported spending nearly $4.9 million on advertising in the race between Burke, an appointed Supreme Court justice, and O’Brien, an appellate judge, and $1.3 million in the race between Curran, the former Lake County sheriff, and Rochford, an associate judge. By law, the group is prohibited from coordinating with the campaigns.
Two other outside political action committees, Fair Courts America and Restoration PAC, also have been spending to aid the GOP candidates, kicking in nearly $2.3 million for advertising in Curran’s race and nearly $267,000 in Burke’s, state campaign finance records show. They were two of the plaintiffs that sued to block the new limit on contributions to independent expenditure committees in judicial races.
And there’s more, including Richard Uihlein’s money.
The odd thing about the complaining is that these races have some actual financial parity between the two parties, mainly thanks to Ken Griffin’s $6.25 million contribution just before the new cap law took effect.
Showing the high-stakes nature of the state’s Supreme Court races, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has dipped into a trust fund to contribute to two Democratic judicial candidates in races that could reshape the Illinois Supreme Court — a decision Republicans say is skirting contribution limits the governor set himself. […]
Pritzker on Sept. 23 contributed $500,000 each to the candidates from his campaign fund. And on Oct. 28, the Democratic governor contributed another $500,000 each to Rochford and O’Brien — this time from a personal trust fund called the Jay Robert Pritzker Revocable Trust, records show. […]
“This is nothing more than an attempt to skirt the judicial campaign contributions limits that the governor himself signed into law five months ago,” the Republican [former Kane County State’s Attorney Joseph McMahon] said.
(T)he Illinois State Board of Elections says Pritzker’s multiple contributions are allowed.
“We have always treated trusts as separate entities,” state board of elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said in an email. “Absent a complaint alleging otherwise, we would not consider this a violation.”
* Related…
* Uihlein-funded super PAC dumping cash into local congressional races: A political action committee largely funded by conservative Lake Forest billionaire Richard Uihlein dumped at least $526,580 into five Chicago-area congressional races last month, records show. The Restoration PAC paid for digital advertising, direct mail and door hangers promoting or opposing candidates in Illinois’ 3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th and 14th congressional districts, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. The amounts spent per race varied. Some rose into six-figure territory.
*Gary Grasso: Moderate Republicans can win races in Illinois — if they raise their voices: Once we stop handing the tools to Democrats to label all Republicans as too extreme, we will be able to effectively focus on Democrats’ failed policies and giveaways, porous borders, conciliatory policies toward countries that want to harm us and soft-on-crime prosecutors. And we will win on the issues that matter. Let’s turn the tables rather than repeatedly plow headlong into the Democratic playbook.
* After Madigan’s not guilty plea, Republicans warn more corruption charges could be ahead: “My guess is that we will see some more entities down the road who will suffer the same fate of as CommonWealth Edison and AT&T all at the hands of Mike Madigan and also his enablers that are currently running the House of Representatives,” Durkin said during a virtual news conference after Madigan’s plea Tuesday.
* Illinoisans to use six types of voting machines in upcoming election: At polling places across the state, Illinois voters will use one of six different voting machines. The Democracy Suite 5.6-D, the EVS 5.5.0.3 machine, the Unity 3.4.1.1 machine, GEMS 1.18.24 machine, Verity Voting 2.6 machine, or the OpenElect 2.1.0.2 voting machine will all be used in the coming week. Illinois Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said the voting machines are vetted before use.
* Popularity of mail ballots continues increasing as voter turnout looks to match 2018 midterms: “Now we’re looking healthier,” Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesperson Max Bever said. “Compared to 2018, we’re nipping at the heels.” One week ahead of Election Day, Nov. 8, voters are increasingly using mail ballots to make their selections, a trend experts say could point to permanent changes.
* Highland Park shooting: Prosecutors give defense attorneys 2,500 pages of evidence: The update came at the first court hearing since August for Robert Crimo III, who has been charged with more than 100 felonies in the shooting. Authorities say Crimo also wounded dozens of other people by firing a semi-automatic rifle into the crowd watching the Highland Park holiday parade. Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said prosecutors have given more than 2,500 pages of written material to the defense, along with audio and video recordings. They are expecting to tender a substantial amount of additional discovery material within the next few days.
* Some Dem leaders want to dump Cook County’s chief judge: But political insiders confirm some activity is occurring, with two pols going public with their call to fire Evans: 42nd Ward Ald. and Democratic Committeeman Brendan Reilly, and Michele Smith, who recently stepped down as alderman of the adjoining 43rd Ward. Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, says he, too, is urging voters in his ward to join in the dump Evans move. “He’s made a mess of the court system and turned it into a revolving door that’s endangering my constituents,” said Reilly, referring to an order Evans issued several years ago that directs judges to avoid imposing cash bail. “He needs to go.”
* Chicago area election judges prepare for midterms as FBI warns of nationwide threats: Local election officials tell the I-Team they have not had any threats against election workers here in Illinois. Just last month, the FBI issued a warning about election worker threats tied to the midterms across the country. Election workers surveyed by experts at the Brennan Center are also sounding the alarm.
* How anti-Pritzker PAC is trying to suppress the Black vote in Chicago: It’s an old-school political technique — in the days before a vote, put election flyers under car windshield wipers. They are likely to be read since they are hard for a driver to ignore. In a parking lot in Bronzeville last week outside the Lake Meadows apartments,a multitude of yellow flyers — designed to look like road warning signs — were on cars in this heavily Black and overwhelmingly Democratic community.
* With 1 week to go, Pritzker and Bailey campaign in suburbs: With one week before the election, Pritzker is picking a fight with Bailey over accepting the election results. Governor Pritzker’s campaign manager sent the Bailey team a letter dated Oct. 31 pledging to accept the results of the election “win or lose.” “Election denialism is a dark plague that threatens the very foundation of our democracy,” Mike Ollen wrote. Bailey told WGN News he has made that commitment and pointed to speculation that Pritzker is eying a White House run in 2024.
* Pritzker names retired CPD Chief to Prisoner Review Board: Jeff Grubbs will join the board after serving nearly 30 years with the Carbondale Police Department, retiring as Chief in 2020. Grubbs’ appointment comes as the Prisoner Review Board faces tough questions about its makeup, with Republicans calling on the governor and Democratic leaders in the Senate to be more transparent about the nominations and confirmations.
* In district that has Highland Park, Schneider, Severino differ on how to prevent mass shootings: Weeks after the July 4 shooting in his hometown of Highland Park, 10th District incumbent Democrat Brad Schneider led an effort in the House to revive an expired ban on assault-style weapons. The measure hasn’t yet cleared the Senate. Schneider also has called for universal background checks, gun safety education, mental health services, and better training and equipping of first responders — all part of what he calls a “wholistic approach” to addressing gun violence.
* ‘We Cannot Continue to Normalize This’: Activists, Alderman Outraged At Garfield Park Mass Shooting: At least 14 people were hit by gunfire, including three children. A woman was also injured trying to escape when she was hit by an oncoming car. “It began, then it is over in about three seconds,” said Supt. David Brown at a press conference Monday night. “A car is pulling out after driving by and shooting randomly really into the crowd.”
* Vigil planned as CPD continues search for those responsible in East Garfield Park shooting: A vigil is planned Wednesday, as Chicago police continue to look for the gunman behind a shooting incident Monday night in East Garfield Park that injured 15. One of the most seriously injured victims of that shooting is hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.
* Why Cook County residents are being asked to pay more taxes for forest preserves: The county’s forest preserve system is the first and largest of its kind in the country, making up about 11% of Cook County. A coalition of more than 150 organizations that support the quest for additional funds laud the environmental and human health benefits of the preserves, which advocates say became particularly evident during the isolation of the pandemic.
* Democrats push hard to cement GOP’s ‘super-duper’ minority on Cook County Board: The question is whether Republicans will claw back one of the seats it lost four years ago or lose even more ground, most notably a seat for Chicago’s Far Northwest Side and northwest suburbs that has been held by a retiring Republican for more than a quarter century.
* Artist Nick Cave tackles a new challenge: Making tiny, artful cheesecakes with Eli’s Cheesecake: The medium may indeed be the message, as Marshall McLuhan once told us, but what to make of a recent morning watching a group of people making messages and then eating them with delight? Esteemed artist Nick Cave was standing alongside his creative and life partner Bob Faust inside Eli’s Cheesecake bakery/retail shop/cafe on the city’s Northwest Side. They were wearing gloves and decorating mini cheesecakes, very tiny mini cheesecakes known as Cuties, one-inch by one-inch morsels.
* This time, Rick Hahn — not Jerry Reinsdorf — picks Pedro Grifol to be the new Chicago White Sox manager: The Chicago White Sox managerial search ended with a stunning pick two years ago when Tony La Russa was brought out of retirement at age 76 to try to take them to the promised land. General manager Rick Hahn issued the announcement, but everyone knew the decision had been made by Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who bypassed his own GM for a chance at a storybook ending — watching his old pal at the helm of a World Series champion on the South Side.
* Pritzker Administration Launches Effort to Strengthen Children’s Mental Health Care: The Administration of Governor JB Pritzker announced today it is launching a new state program designed to help pediatricians and other providers meet children’s mental health needs by strengthening mental health services in emergency departments and schools.
* New home sales plunge: Sales of new homes in the Chicago area dropped in the third quarter to their lowest in almost four years, due in large part to supply being depleted by the pandemic housing boom.
* Trump talks Chicago crime while commenting on Pelosi attack: “With Paul Pelosi, that’s a terrible thing. With all of them it’s a terrible thing,” Trump said, before blaming an overall rise in crime. “Look at what happened to San Francisco generally. Look at what’s happening in Chicago,” he said, adding that the crime situation here is “far worse than Afghanistan.”
* Lincoln political letter from 1843 goes on display: The 1843 letter details Lincoln’s political frustrations. The future president wrote it to Martin Morris, a friend from New Salem. The public’s only access to the letter was a copy Morris made — with many spelling errors — given to Lincoln’s law partner William Herndon.
* The Governor’s Public Schedule…
* Gov. Pritzker to attend groundbreaking at Ferrero’s first-ever U.S. Kinder Bueno production facility. Nu-Way parking lot adjacent to Ferrero Bloomington, 25 Access Way, Bloomington, 10:00 AM. Watch: www.illinois.gov/livevideo
* Governor Pritzker will join Democratic leaders at Illinois State University for a GOTV meet and greet at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2022. Illinois State University, Schroeder Plaza - 427-499 W College Ave, Normal, IL 61761
