The big question now is how many votes Rich Whitney gets.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich maintained a sizable advantage over Republican Judy Baar Topinka even as new corruption allegations surfaced involving his close supporters, a new Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 poll shows.
A week before the election, the survey of 600 likely voters shows Blagojevich backed by 44 percent, Topinka supported by 29 percent and Green Party candidate Richard Whitney with 13 percent. Another 13 percent were undecided in the survey, conducted Friday through Sunday, which has an error margin of 4 percentage points. […]
The poll also found that in the race to replace Topinka in the treasurer’s office, Chicago banker Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, has the support of 40 percent of voters compared to 23 percent for Republican state Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont. Green Party candidate Dan Rodriguez Schlorff got 5 percent.
But nearly 30 percent of voters were undecided in the treasurer contest and large numbers had never heard of either major party candidate, despite a series of stories about questionable loans given by the Giannoulias family’s Broadway Bank, the survey showed.
Two different media companies, two different Cook County Board president polls, two widely different results. The reason? Most likely it’s because the Tribune poll is recent and has a reasonable sample size, while the Daily Herald/ABC7 poll is ancient and has a tiny sample size.
First, the Tribune poll of 484 likely voters conducted Thursday through Sunday:
Stroger leads Peraica 48 percent to 33 percent with 17 percent of voters undecided—a significant gain for the Democrat since a similar poll about three weeks ago showed the contest a virtual tie.
While Stroger has surged, Peraica’s support has slipped among voter groups who are key to his chances, according to the poll of 484 likely voters conducted Thursday through Sunday. The poll has an error margin of 5 percentage points.
The new poll shows Todd Stroger increasing his advantage among city voters beyond what had already been a significant margin. The survey found 62 percent of city voters back Stroger, compared to 50 percent almost two weeks ago. At the same time, Peraica’s support in the city was essentially unchanged at 24 percent. […]
The survey found 63 percent of Democrats now say they support Stroger, up from 59 percent in the previous poll. Stroger’s support among African-American voters increased by 4 percentage points, to 79 percent.
Peraica’s edge among suburban Cook County voters has slipped to 44 percent from 48 percent, while Stroger’s suburban support rose to 32 percent from 28 percent.
Meanwhile, the latest Daily Herald/ABC poll is of just 300 voters taken Oct. 16 to 22, meaning the margin of error is plus-or-minus 6 percentage points and some results are more than two weeks old. So, the poll doesn’t take into account many of the ads that have been aired by Stroger or much of the field work by the Democratic machine.
Even though many don’t know him, Republican board member Tony Peraica led Democratic pinch hitter Todd Stroger by 9 percentage points, 51 percent to 42 percent, the Daily Herald/ABC7 Chicago poll found.
To know Stroger apparently is to not love him, poll results show. Stroger, a Chicago alderman chosen to replace his father on the ballot after the primary, was known to 87 percent of those surveyed, but supported by less than half of them. On the other hand, Peraica was unknown to 42 percent, but still favored by more than half of those polled.
“If people know Stroger and not Peraica, they’ll vote for Peraica,” said Richard Day, whose Evanston-based firm conducted the poll. “It’s remarkable.” […]
Stroger was viewed unfavorably by more than half of those polled, 53 percent, and favorably by 24 percent - a 2-to-1 negative margin. Peraica was thought of unfavorably by 24 percent and favorably by 39 percent, with 42 percent unfamiliar with him.
Constituent Dynamics has released two new polls for the 6th and 8th Congressional Districts.
* Three weeks ago, the polling firm had Peter Roskam slightly ahead of Tammy Duckworth, 47-46. Now, they’ve got Duckworth edging Roskam 48-47. Crosstabs here. Click below for a larger image.
* Two weeks ago, they had Congresswoman Melissa Bean neck and neck with Dave McSweeney, 47-44. Now they’ve got Bean ahead by a more comfortable 50-45.
However - and this is a big however - for the second time in a row the organization has failed to poll the third candidate in the race, rendering this poll useless — The Archpundit has convinced me that the third party candidate is probably picked up in the “other” category. I’d still like to see the candidate in, but the poll is not totally useless. Crosstabs.
If they can’t even figure out that there are three candidates in this race, you gotta wonder whether they can be believed on anything else.
Even more so than with the Daily Herald’s congressional polling, all of these gubernatorial numbers are postively ancient, since the poll was conducted Oct. 16-22, according to the paper. In other words, they sat on these results for eight days and some of the numbers are over two weeks old.
The governor led Topinka by 16 percentage points, 48 percent to 32 percent, in the poll. And in a sign voters view this as the proverbial “None-of-the-Above” election, little-known Green Party candidate Rich Whitney polled 12 percent support, likely an unprecedented showing for a third-party candidate in Illinois. […]
In this campaign, though, women voters backed Blagojevich by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. And the governor led Topinka by 13 percentage points, 45-32 percent, in suburban Cook, and by 12 percentage points, 47-35 percent, in the DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry and Will collar counties.
That campaign is working, the poll shows. Asked to rate Topinka on a 1-10 scale, those surveyed rated her a 4.0 - lower than any statewide candidate this fall and even lower than President Bush, who rated a 4.2. Topinka was rated a 5.6 just two years earlier.
Blagojevich’s own rating stood at 4.6, dropping a full point from two years ago, a likely indication the seemingly endless stream of stories about corruption allegations in his administration is taking a toll.
*** UPDATE *** The Tribune/WGN poll isn’t on the Web yet, but I’m told the results are: 44-29-13
For the second time in a row, Constituent Dynamics has released a poll on the 10th CD that doesn’t jibe with any other numbers.
Two weeks ago, they had Congressman Mark Kirk ahead of Dan Seals 46-44. Nobody believed it. They also had Melissa Bean in a tough race and nobody believed that, either, until the Daily Herald poll suggested she was in trouble.
This time, they’ve got Dan Seals ahead of Congressman Mark Kirk 48-46. Gitcher crosstabs here. Click below for a larger image.
*** UPDATE *** I posted this in comments, but thought it should be elevated to the main page. Here is the methodology this outfit uses:
Majority Watch, a project of RT Strategies and Constituent Dynamics, comprises telephone surveys conducted using interactive voice recognition (IVR) technology.
In each of 30 contested congressional districts, a representative sample of 5,000 likely voters based on previous vote history was selected from state voter registration files. 1,200-1,300 interviews were completed in each district […]
Completed interviews were compared to the voter registration file to validate results. Interview were discarded when the surveyed demographic responses did not match the voter file information of the sampled likely voter. In this manner, approximately 1,000 interviews were validated for each district.
Final results were weighted to represent the likely electorate by demographic factors such as age, sex, race and CD geographical subarea. No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than 3 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all voters in a CD were polled.
Most politicians like to play it safe. Not Tim Nieukirk.
He’ll blindside firefighters rushing to save cats caught in a tree. He won’t climb into bed with special interests, but he will with your sister. And he goes after a breed of criminal that most politicians prefer to ignore - the Hamburglar.
Nieukirk is the star of a series of over-the-top campaign ads promoting his write-in campaign for Illinois governor.
The campaign consists entirely of homemade ads on YouTube.com and a MySpace.com page, but Nieukirk says he’s filed the necessary paperwork in every county so that any votes he collects will be officially counted.
See all of Nieukirk’s “campaign ads” here. His MySpace page is here. And you can buy Get Nieuked gear here.
Now that the AP has done a piece, maybe the Chicago TV people will finally show an interest. After all, Nieukirk’s campaign is solely on video. What could possibly be better for a light and fluffy TV feature?
Steve Rhodes has a spot-on, in-depth take on the relationship between Stu Levine and Rod Blagojevich. It cuts right through the phony spin coming out of the governor’s campaign and is a must-read for any reporter covering this controversy.
(T)he more telling aspect of Levine’s deal in my mind was the implication of Blagojevich’s pal, Chris Kelly, in wrongdoing. Kelly and the recently-indicted Tony Rezko have been the governor’s two closest advisors. If the governor was merely betrayed by his two closest advisors, that’s still a pretty damning indictment (no pun intended) of his judgement in who he has given the keys to state government to. And, just to give the governor the benefit of the doubt for sake of argument, if he never paid attention to press reports swirling about Rezko and Kelly and never called them in and read them the riot act, he failed to do his job. If he never bothered to ask about what his father-in-law, Ald. Dick Mell once alleged - that state board and commission seats were being sold for $50,000 campaign contributions - he was derelict. (Mell recanted that allegation in the face of a libel suit, but perhaps only to clear a path for fededral investigators, much as county and state officials have done.) In addition, Joe Cari has told federal investigators that he was offered a state board or commission seat in exchange for a campaign contribution, even though Blagojevich has tried pass off Cari’s allegations as “triple hearsay” - which they are not.
Giving the governor the benefit of the doubt, in other words, doesn’t help his case because of his utter failure of vigilance after riding into office as a reformer.
Of course, I’m not so charitable as to give the governor the benefit of the doubt.
He goes on to remind people that there were big questions about Levine when Blagojevich reappointed him to the hospital board and the Teachers Retirement System board. For instance, after Levine resigned from the Gaming Board in 2001, press reports revealed that he hadn’t disclosed investments in Argosy Gaming Co., an Illinois casino owner that he had regulated. And then there’s this…
“Although Levine was known inside Illinois as a Republican rainmaker, his political contributions at the national level skewed toward Democratic officeholders. The burgeoning relationships between Levine, Cari, [former New York comptroller and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Carl] McCall, and the Blagojevich administration grew cozier in late 2003, when Levine paid more than $4,000 to fly the governor and some of his campaign operatives to fund-raising visits to Austin, Texas, and New York City, according to campaign reports and other sources. McCall hosted one fundraising event held in an exclusive New York club, and [Cari’s] HealthPoint paid for $3,500 in meals at another funder in the city the next day.”
Blagojevich knew full well who Levine was. If he didn’t question what Levine was up to, that alone makes him unfit for office
Go read the whole thing.
*** UPDATE *** The governor defends his wife’s business dealings with a state contractor.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday said anyone who suggests his wife got private real estate deals with a state contractor because he is governor is acting like a “Neanderthal” and being “sexist.”
Appearing Downstate to announce $6.8 million in state grants to build a river research station in Alton, Blagojevich was asked about a recent Tribune report that the his wife, Patricia, got more than $113,000 in real estate commissions through a woman who holds a longstanding no-bid state contract. The woman’s husband, a banker, also has business pending before state regulators.
“She has every right to pursue her business and, you know, there’s a sexist quality to that story-somehow moms who have their own businesses, who are women, can’t do things that way-that’s implicated in that story. So there’s a sexist component to that story,” Blagojevich said.
The governor then got into a black SUV and shut the door, before climbing back out to continue his point.
“Working women are very much a part of the real life experience today for families across our state. And to suggest she doesn’t have the right to have her own business and pursue her own business is Neanderthal and sexist,” the governor said before getting back in his vehicle and being driven away.
I put this here because Rhodes wrote about this topic as well.
“It’s unfair and completely ridiculous to suggest she should keep track of every client she does business with to see if they have contracts with the state,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff, of Patti Blagojevich’s real estate business.
Why?
Lawyers vet their cases for conflicts of interest within their firms. Reporters try to be similarly vigilant. Plus, Patti Blagojevich only has a few clients a year. What’s ridiculous is that a real estate agent whose husband is the governor wouldn’t keep track of whether her clients had contracts with the state. Unless she didn’t want to know - or already did.
[Updated from last night and bumped up. Also, FYI, the Daily Herald will be releasing a new poll on the governor’s race at about six o’clock tonight. A new poll for the county board president’s race will be released at 10 pm. Check back for links if you can.]
One brief bit of caution: Some of these Daily Herald/ABC7 poll numbers are eleven days old because the 6th District poll was conducted Oct. 19-24 and the 8th District survey was taken Oct 18-24. The margin of error for both polls is 4 percentage points.
The freshest numbers, according to pollster.com, come from Democratic pollster Bennett, Petts, & Blumenthal. The survey of 400 likely voters taken Oct. 23-24 had Duckworth ahead 44-43. But here’s the narrative from the Daily Herald on its poll:
In the 6th Congressional District race to succeed retiring Rep. Henry Hyde of Wood Dale, Republican state Sen. Peter Roskam led Democratic Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth 46 to 42 percent […]
Of Roskam’s 46 percent, 27 percent said they were strong supporters, with 19 percent less strong in their support. Duckworth had 28 percent say they were strong backers, with 14 percent less strong. […]
Only 36 percent of those surveyed thought the country was headed down the right path, with 54 percent saying it’s going in the wrong direction and 10 percent not sure. Bush carried the district in 2004 with 53 percent of the vote.
Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who opposes the war, is getting support from 66 percent of those who feel the country is on the wrong track. Roskam, running as the candidate of the party in control of the federal government, is backed by 22 percent of the wrong-direction voters.
The Daily Herald has the situation far worse for Bean, with the incumbent polling 8 points under 50 percent and the third party candidate eating up votes:
To the north, 8th District Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington held a 42 percent to 39 percent lead over Republican investment banker David McSweeney of Barrington Hills [third party candidate Bill Scheurer is at 8 percent] […]
Although Bean hasn’t gone out of her way to bash Bush, she gets support from 62 percent of those polled who think the country is on the wrong track. Scheurer picks up 12 percent of those voters. […]
McSweeney captured only 68 percent support among those identifying themselves as strong Republicans and just 55 percent among those leaning Republican. That presents perhaps McSweeney’s biggest challenge. “If McSweeney can persuade and energize his natural base of Republican support, he will win the race,” Day said.
McSweeney’s support is based more along party lines: 22 percent saying they back him because they dislike Bean, with another 21 percent saying they back him because he’s a Republican. About 17 percent cited McSweeney’s issues, with an additional 9 percent specifying his opposition to abortion rights as the reason they’ll vote for him.
If this poll is right, and if those Republicans come home for McSweeney, this might be a major upset in the making.
*** UPDATE *** Duckworth’s last TV ad of the season is below.
This question was suggested by state Rep. Larry McKeon:
Most candidates have a campaign website. What do you find good and what do you find bad about the websites you have visited? Why? If you were going to design one what should a really good website contain?
There was an interesting little question in the Post-Dispatch poll released over the weekend about electric rates. Even when told that the utilities are claiming that extending the current electric rate freeze could drive them into bankruptcy, a solid majority of 56 percent still wanted the freeze to go ahead.
QUESTION:As you may know, electric rates are scheduled to sharply increase in Illinois next year as the result of deregulation of the market. Some say the state should freeze those rates because there isn’t adequate competition in the market yet. The electric industry says continuing the freeze could drive it into bankruptcy. In your opinion, should the state:
“The power companies are going to need a hell of a PR campaign'’ to win over the public to the rate hikes, predicted pollster Del Ali. “It’s not enough to threaten to go bankrupt, because people don’t care.'’
That was apparent in comments by poll respondents such as Cheri Akers of Hamilton.
“I would be more than happy to see it freeze,'’ she said. “I don’t think they would go bankrupt. I think the companies are bluffing.'’
My syndicated newspaper column is about… what else?… the Levine plea.
Corrupt political insider Stu Levine was hit with so many federal indictments earlier this year that he literally was facing a life sentence behind bars.
Last week, he copped a plea that will let him walk free after five years and seven months in what probably will be a minimum security prison — in exchange for his cooperation.
We can discern one of two things from this: 1) Much of the federal case was weak and letting Levine off relatively easy was a face-saving move by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald; or 2) Levine has agreed to help the feds reel in some very big fish and used that prospect to negotiate a much better deal.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I find myself leaning toward “Door Number 2.”
There was no hint of an apology, nor any expression of embarrassment nor regret for even unwittingly keeping Levine in a position of trust. There was no acceptance of responsibility whatsoever, not even the indirect sort. He didn’t even do that thing Mayor Daley does where he acts like he’s angry about somebody letting him down.
It is hard to feel sorry for Levine. Harder still to have sympathy for one of his dearest friends, Edward “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak. But one of the twists of this case that had to be wrenching for Levine is that in trying to save himself from a lifetime behind bars, he apparently had to wire up on and sell out someone he truly cared about. And so he secretly recorded conversations that would give the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office the chance to do what they have dreamed of doing for decades: build a case against the Dark Lord of the 10th Ward.
Vrdolyak, a former alderman who once ran for Chicago mayor, is a millionaire many times over, thanks to the taxpayers of Cicero and other hapless municipalities that paid him seven figures annually for his “advice and counsel.” One of his ill-fated advisees, former Cicero Town President Betty Loren Maltese, sits in federal prison now after being convicted of corruption.
Though he has been investigated a dozen times, the catlike Vrdolyak has easily had nine lives. Until now.
- Who are the “certain State of Illinois officials” with whom Rezko allegedly had clout to influence appointments to state boards?
In the early Blagojevich years, who in the governor’s office–other than the governor himself, of course–had the authority to suggest formal appointments to state boards whose decisions had huge financial impacts?
- Did any staff member ever express concern to Blagojevich that Rezko was exerting influence over his appointment process?
- Who, if the indictment is correct, preserved a scheme to steer decisions on teacher pension system investments by derailing a proposed consolidation of that fund with two others?
- Was anyone in the governor’s office aware of the alleged plot to extort $1.5 million in political contributions from an investment firm?
- What does the Rezko indictment–and now the Levine plea agreement–say about your 2002 campaign pledge to end “business as usual” in Illinois if you became governor?
- And the seventh question: Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan says the governor’s office should make public any federal subpoenas issued to his administration–and stop withholding them from view. Illinois government belongs to the people, Governor. Why won’t you show them the subpoenas?
The Sun-Times has a “getting personal” feature that it does with candidates [and maybe other people, I’m not sure]. Here are Judy Baar Topinka’s responses:
1. Last movie you felt like walking out of? If I pay money for a movie, and it’s not good, I sit there in hopes that it will get better.
2. iPod, CD player or radio? Radio.
3. TV show you try not to miss? NY Times Discover Channel — I like the archeology segments.
4. Weirdest trick you can do? Make a face like a Sharpei dog.
5. Food you wouldn’t eat on a bet? Monkey brains or cockroaches.
6. Worst punishment you got as a kid? Making me sit quietly.
7. Book all Americans should read? 1984
1. Last movie you felt like walking out of? “I don’t know that I’ve ever walked out of a movie.”
2. iPod, CD player or radio? CDs. “But I do now have a little iPod that I rarely listen to.”
3. TV show you try not to miss? “I watch sports on TV, you know, when I’m home. And we’ll watch movies. And I love old movies.”
4. Weirdest trick you can do? “I can spin a basketball on all five fingers of my right hand. Oh, and I can memorize 43 tangible, concrete words.”
5. Food you wouldn’t eat on a bet? “Liver. Right? Oooooofff. Can’t.”
6. Worst punishment you got as a kid? Getting spanked by his father for interfering with a spanking his brother was getting.
7. Book all Americans should read? “A phony answer is Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Everybody recommends that book, and I bet none of ‘em read it. . . . Can I think about that one?”
* Rhodes: Lawyers vet their cases for conflicts of interest within their firms. Reporters try to be similarly vigilant. Plus, Patti Blagojevich only has a few clients a year. What’s ridiculous is that a real estate agent whose husband is the governor wouldn’t keep track of whether her clients had contracts with the state. Unless she didn’t want to know - or already did.
* Plan links minimum pay in state to inflation - Gov, mayor urge $1 hike, yearly boosts
* Last toll on state open-road tolling project finished
Have you seen the Crain’s endorsements yet? Wow. Commenters kept urging me to read it, but I was a bit busy and simply forgot.
The Crain’s editorial is by far the strongest denunciation of a sitting Illinois governor that I have ever seen. It’s even harsher than the magazine’s round of primary endorsements.
Her opponent, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has presided over an administration of unparalleled venality, and for that reason alone we cannot endorse him.
A man who ran as a self-styled reformer four years ago has taken the state’s pay-to-play system to new heights. His campaign promise to “end business as usual†in Springfield has been kept only in the sense that payola politics now far exceeds what had been usual before he took office.
Gov. Blagojevich allowed his top political fund-raisers to dole out state jobs and steer state contracts as rewards for campaign contributions. In so doing, he made it clear that state government is for sale.
Now a trail of indictments is working its way toward the governor’s office, forcing him into the last refuge of the political scoundrel: claiming ignorance of what goes on in his own administration.
In sum, Gov. Blagojevich has disgraced himself and the state. Nothing he may have accomplished in office can erase that taint or entitle him to another term. Voters must send a strong message that Illinois will no longer tolerate the corruption his regime has fostered.
The Democratic incumbent portrays himself as the champion of the little guy. But the working people of Illinois bear the ultimate cost of pay-to-play politics. When the state is for sale, those without cash are excluded.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** The Post-Dispatch goes the other way.
Largely because Rod Blagojevich is governor of Illinois, 500,000 more people have health coverage, and all children without health insurance can get state coverage.
Largely because of Mr. Blagojevich, thousands of Illinoisans on the bottom of the economic heap got a raise as the state increased the minimum wage to $6.50 from $5.15 an hour.
Largely because of Mr. Blagojevich, free pre-school classes are being opened for all 4-year-olds.
When Mr. Blagojevich saw that elderly Illinoisans were struggling to pay for their medications, he set up a program to import them from Canada, defying drug companies and Bush administration bureaucrats. The program never really caught on — only 3,700 state residents use it — but it was a worthy effort.
Rod Blagojevich, the son of an immigrant steel worker, is a man of compassion. His policies have done much for ordinary folk who never could give a dime to his campaign fund. Those policies have earned him our endorsement for re-election.
*** UPDATE x2 *** As I mentioned in comments, Crain’s endorsed Blagojevich in 2002. Here’s part of it.
For decades, the Republican Party has had a stranglehold on the governor’s office. And though the GOP enjoyed its share of triumphs during that time, it’s become apparent in recent years that this concentration of power also has a dark side, as evidenced by displays of blatant cronyism, woeful ethics and some very costly wheeling and dealing. The next governor will have to clean up this unholy political mess, while at the same time finding a tangible way to ease the fiscal crisis Illinois will assuredly suffer next year, when it posts a $2-billion-plus budget deficit.
As important, the next governor must stretch himself to be more than a good bureaucratic cost-cutter or aggressive naysayer. He must become highly attuned to the state’s commercial needs and be proactive about fostering a healthy business environment, especially during these tough economic times.
This is a huge job. It requires someone with vision, energy and the etermination to shake up the Springfield status quo. Of the two major gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Rod Blagojevich offers the greatest appetite for change and the political will that’s essential to produce this crucial transformation. For those important reasons, Mr. Blagojevich is Crain’s choice for Illinois governor.
During the campaign, Mr. Blagojevich has repeatedly vowed to clean up the excesses of state government. He promises to halt initiatives that provide individual state lawmakers with funds to back pork barrel projects, and will do a top-to-bottom overhaul of state finances, cutting costs and eliminating waste.
First, the cross-town rivals White Sox win the World Series, then the cross-state rivals Cardinals take it all. Oof. That’s gonna leave a mark for sure. lol
Congratulations to all Cardinal fans, particularly this drunken crew. Gloat away.
The Tribune obviously did not buy into the governor’s spin.
Political insider Stuart Levine pleaded guilty Friday to scheming to squeeze millions of dollars from firms seeking state business, and authorities alleged in the clearest detail yet that he had the help of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s top campaign supporters.
The new allegations in the plea agreement of Levine, a longtime Republican fundraiser reappointed to state boards by the Democratic governor, only increased the questions about corruption swirling around the race for governor with little more than a week until the Nov. 7 election.
In the 58-page plea agreement, federal authorities spell out allegations that Blagojevich’s two top fundraisers schemed almost from the beginning of the governor’s administration to use their newfound influence for corrupt purposes.
A businessman who funneled thousands of dollars into Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign pleaded guilty Friday to using his seats on two state boards in a bid to collect millions of dollars in kickbacks.
But Stuart Levine’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors contained no direct charge of wrongdoing on the part of the governor who is waging a re-election campaign while coping with a federal corruption investigation.
All the same, the 58-page plea agreement was crammed with details of corruption in state government and guaranteed to fuel campaign fireworks.
Four days after Gov. Rod Blagojevich predicted federal prosecutors would never indict his kitchen cabinet adviser Christopher Kelly, a guilty plea put Kelly in the midst of a scheme that’s already led to the indictment of the governor’s top fundraiser.
The Kelly revelations unfolded Friday as Stuart Levine, a Republican campaign donor who also contributed to Blagojevich, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering, and admitted a whole host of other criminal conduct.
* ABC7 reported “the plea agreement contained no new blockbuster allegations and none involving the governor directly.” Quotes from both sides.
A former appointee of Gov. Rod Blagojevich pleaded guilty Friday to mail fraud and money laundering in a kickbacks-for-clout case that also accuses one of the governor’s top fundraisers of corruption.
But the highly anticipated guilty plea of Highland Park businessman Stuart Levine came as something of an anti-climax in Illinois’ political world.
Levine’s plea in federal guilty added little to allegations contained in the indictment of Blagojevich adviser Antoin “Tony” Rezko earlier this month. And nothing in Levine’s 58-page plea document accuses the governor himself of wrongdoing, prompting Blagojevich spokeswoman Sheila Nix to call the document “extremely good news.”
* And the Sun-Times went a different direction altogether.
Robert K. Kjellander, a nationally powerful Republican with strong ties to the White House, emerged Friday as a key figure in an ongoing probe of corruption in Illinois.
Kjellander is identified as “Individual K” in a guilty plea by Stuart Levine, a political insider who describes an underworld of behind-the-scenes deal makers who wielded clout to bilk millions of dollars through two state boards.
Levine said he used his connections to steer a $150 million state pension deal to a firm represented by Kjellander, earning Kjellander a lucrative finder’s fee. In return, Kjellander allegedly agreed not to bill Levine for lobbying work.
The plea deal does not accuse Kjellander of any wrongdoing, but the mention of him indicates the feds are interested in his actions.
Have at it.
[Comments are now closed on this thread. Go here for more.]
Blagojevich’s 57 percent negative rating is high enough that it would likely be politically fatal for him — except that Topinka’s favorability rating is even worse, in part because of Illinois’ growing anger with her party on the state and national levels.
“Any other election year, Blagojevich loses this in a blowout,” said Research 2000 pollster Del Ali. “I think the only thing saving his butt is the disgust for the Republicans.”
I’ll keep comments open this weekend, but you really should head over to Illinoize. Bridget Dooley, one of my favorites, just signed on as our newest blogger.
Only in Illinois could a governor and his confederates claim that a guilty plea somehow exonerates him, even though the plea completely reinforces the notion that his administration was rife with corruption.
Discuss.
[Comments are now closed. Go here for an even fresher thread.]
*** Very Important Update: The US Attorney’s office has issued a “correction” to the Levine guilty plea. In “Update 11″ below, Individual B should read “Individual E.” So, it’s not Kelly. ***
*** Take a look at Update 11 for some of the only new information to come out of this plea. It could bring this thing closer to the governor’s inner circle. ***
No bombshells against the governor are expected in today’s plea. However, Blagojevich might show up as an unnamed official who wasn’t necessarily tied to a criminal act, sources said. […]
Sources say much of the plea will revolve around the allegations previously revealed in Rezko’s indictment. It could also discuss a controversial deal tied to the sale of a Gold Coast property and former Chicago Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak. The Sun-Times previously reported the feds are investigating Vrdolyak’s ties to that deal, and that Levine had provided to the feds potentially incriminating information on Vrdolyak.
Essentially a rehash of the Cari plea?
* Check here for the press release. It’s not there yet, but will likely be posted on that page as soon as it’s distributed, or shortly thereafter.
* Yes, I’m still alive. It shouldn’t be much longer now.
*** UPDATE *** AP: Millionaire campaign contributor Stuart Levine pleads guilty to two counts of mail fraud and money laundering.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Doesn’t appear to be much new in here yet, according to people who have read it. No names. $1.5 million to campaign fund mentioned (as with the Rezko indictment).
*** UPDATE 3 *** The Tribune’s story is now up, but it appears to have been written before the hearing.
*** UPDATE 4 *** From a reporter friend who has read the plea: “I can’t see anything new here…” But, Levine was originally “facing life and now he’s looking at 67 months.” In other words, he appears to be cooperating in a major way.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Download the plea right here. [pdf file]
*** UPDATE 6 *** “With respect to Count One, beginning no later than in and about the spring of 2003 and continuing through at least in or about July 2004, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere, Defendant, Antoin “Tony†Rezko (“Rezkoâ€), Joseph Cari, Steven Loren, Jacob Kiferbaum, Individual A, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, devised and intended to devise, and participated in, a scheme and artifice to defraud the beneficiaries of the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois”
*** UPDATE 7 *** If Individual A is Bill Cellini and Individual B is Chris Kelly (as they allegedly were in the Rezko indictment), then this next part shows Cellini either had some significant pull within the Blagojevich administration or some good sources:
In about August 2003, Defendant was re-appointed to the Planning Board. Prior to that point, Defendant discussed his possible re-appointment with Individual A and, separately, with Individual B. Individual A said he’d get back to Defendant about
his request and later called Defendant and said that it would happen. A short time later, Defendant was at a meeting in Rezko’s office with Individual B and Individual B said that the board seat Defendant wanted had been taken care of. Defendant understood from these conversations that he would be re-appointed to the Planning Board.
About the time Defendant was re-appointed, Rezko and Defendant discussed Defendant’s appointment and Rezko said that he had suggested that Defendant be made the vice-chairman of the Planning Board and that Rezko expected to influence a certain number of votes on the Planning Board. In February 2004, the Planning Board elected Defendant as vice-chairman.
*** UPDATE 8 *** Reading these things can be maddening sometimes, but this is interesting. A “local public official.”
In or about the spring of 2003, Individual A indicated to Defendant that Rezko had complained to Individual A that a certain local public official, who Defendant knew had a relationship with and raised money for a certain public official, had been pushing Rezko and Individual B for money, which Defendant understood to mean that the local public official wanted to make money from the State of Illinois because of his assistance to the certain public official. Defendant offered to have Individual C share his finder’s fee with the local public official so that Defendant could gain favor with Rezko, and Individual A later indicated that Rezko wanted Individual C to split his finder’s fee with the local public official. Defendant then told Individual C that Individual C would have to split his finder’s fee from Investment Firm 1 with a local public official.
*** UPDATE 9 *** As before:
In or about April 2004, Rezko and Defendant agreed to use their influence and Defendant’s position at TRS to prevent Investment Firm 7 from getting its $220 million allocation unless Individual J agreed either to pay an approximately $2 million fee to a consultant chosen by Rezko and Defendant, or to arrange for approximately $1.5 million in political contributions to be made to a certain public official.
*** UPDATE 10 ***
Shortly before the Planning Board meeting on April 21, 2004, Defendant had several telephone conversations with another Planning Board member about Mercy and its application for a CON. That Planning Board member said he had his “marching orders†from Rezko and that Rezko wanted to help on Mercy’s application.
*** UPDATE 11 *** Was this in the Rezko indictment? It seems new to me and could be quite significant. As reported before, Individual B is alleged to be Chris Kelly ….[After checking the Rezko indictment, it does appear to be new info]:
In or about the Spring of 2004, Rezko, Individual B, and Defendant agreed to establish or obtain a company that they or their nominees would own and control. Rezko, Individual B, and Defendant further agreed that they would use their influence and Defendant’s position at TRS to ensure that TRS would make hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate investments with their company. Defendant, Rezko and Individual B expected to share the profits from the company. Defendant intentionally concealed from and failed to disclose to the TRS Board material facts relating to his plan to establish a real estate asset management company, including his arrangements with Rezko and Individual B.
*** UPDATE 12 *** From the Daily Herald this week:
Asked if he’ll stand by Kelly in the event of an indictment, Blagojevich said he wouldn’t answer, because “I don’t believe that will ever happen.”
*** UPDATE 13*** WARNING: I don’t want to see any idle speculation in comments about who the “local official” might be. Go somewhere else if you can’t contain yourself. Let the reporters do their jobs. Be patient. And, please, don’t call me with this stuff either. I’m kinda busy at the moment. One last thing: A legislator is almost definitely not a “local official.”
*** UPDATE 14 *** Statement from the governor’s campaign office:
Statement is attributable to Sheila Nix, Blagojevich campaign spokesperson:
After nearly one year of the Topinka campaign attacking the Governor and distorting the facts, today’s plea agreement makes clear that Governor Blagojevich had absolutely no knowledge of any of the wrongdoing perpetrated by Stuart Levine, a long-time supporter and contributor to both Judy Baar Topinka and Joe Birkett.
*** UPDATE 15 *** From Tony Peraica’s campaign:
“Two weeks and two days ago, Stroger Organization major donor Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko was indicted by the U.S. Attorney on 24 counts stemming from a corrupt scheme with Stuart Levine to extort kickbacks from firms that wanted state business. Today, Stuart Levine gave up his fight, and pled guilty to the charges lodged against him. Now that Tony Rezko’s partner in this corrupt scheme has acknowledged his own guilt, it’s going to be hard for Mr. Rezko to defend himself. […]
“For too long, the residents of Chicago and Cook County have had to rely on U.S. Attorneys to fight corruption. That’s embarrassing. The good news is that every couple of years, voters have a chance at the polls to select for themselves elected leaders who can wage the war on corruption on their behalf. Tuesday November 7 offers the voters one such choice - they can choose me, someone committed to reform, or they can choose Todd Stroger, a man who willfully overlooks the corruption in his own inner circle.”
Judy Baar Topinka’s campaign estimates that the average voter has seen Gov. Blagojevich’s TV ads at least 200 times. So, I don’t have to tell you that the vast majority of those ads have been negative.
I don’t even watch much network TV and yet I still find myself asking, “What’s she thinking?” about 10 times a day. It doesn’t even have to be about politics. A dog will walk across the street in front of my car. “What’s she thinking?” I’ll mutter as I slam on my brakes.
A waiter forgets to bring the check. “What’s she thinking?”
The Sun-Times endorses Rod Blagojevich. OK, I’ll just let that one drop.
I was mildly surprised that they let that last line through. It shows they’re willing to take a joke.
By the way, I apologize for what comes next in the column, but it was the best way to illustrate my point. You’ve been warned.
Meanwhile, Sun-Times editorial page editor Steve Huntley’s column runs next to mine today and is entitled, “. . . and here’s what we can do to get back to the issues.” Huntley had to write the Blagojevich endorsement for the Sun-Times. But he appears to try to make up for it today.
Let’s face it, voters: We must come across to the politicians as being more inclined to flip-flopping than John Kerry. We say we hate negative campaigning, loathe it, can’t stomach it. But every election we let those nasty TV ads influence us, too often decisively, in crucial elections. In other words, we were against attack ads before we listened to them and succumbed to their message.
A case in point is the gubernatorial race. As soon as he had the March primary behind him, Gov. Blagojevich, looking vulnerable to a strong challenger, had his campaign go on the airways with ads attacking his opponent, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. […]
Far from the political hack and handmaiden to the Ryan corruption the ads depict, the lively and personable Topinka is a mainstream politician who has proved herself an exemplary public servant in the Legislature, where she served 14 years, and as Illinois treasurer for the last 12 years. She has been a wise steward of state finances and expanded the responsibilities of the treasurer’s office with programs to help families save for college, educate women and children on financial matters and aid qualified home buyers to get access to low-interest mortgages.
Blagojevich calls her “George Ryan’s treasurer” because Topinka served four years when the disgraced Ryan was governor. She was an independently elected constitutional officer and bears no responsibility for the corruption that will land Ryan in prison next year. Scandal hasn’t tainted her office.
* Our buddy Tim Nieukirk is profiled by the Daily Herald’s Animal Farm today.
It’s not often a Washington politician sets his sights on Springfield. Usually it’s the other way around.
But when it’s the downstate Washington just outside Peoria and you’re 25, working second shift and living with your parents, a campaign for change carries a more literal and personal interpretation.
Meet Tim Nieukirk, official write-in candidate for governor backed by a series of ads on Youtube.com that are laugh-out-loud funny.
* Sun-Times: Adding fuel to an already heated immigration debate, congressional nominee Peter Roskam appeared Thursday with one of the most polarizing figures on the issue.
* Tribune: In a surprise move, city Treasurer Judy Rice announced her resignation on Thursday, and Mayor Richard Daley tapped the private sector, naming Stephanie Neely to replace her.
* Sun-Times quoting Congressman Jackson on Neely’s choice: “Where has democracy gone? The mayor has now appointed the city clerk, the city treasurer and 29 of the 50 aldermen. Depending on the outcome of the county election in two weeks, he might soon also appoint new aldermen in the 7th, 8th and 18th wards. … Why not wait until the election and let the people decide through an open democratic process?”
I’ve noted before that the governor seems to have a lot of fundraising ties to the Indian-American community. What I didn’t know was that his family was also profiting from it. The Tribune has the story.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s wife earned more than $113,000 in real estate commissions this year through a woman who holds a longstanding, no-bid state contract and whose banker husband has business pending before state regulators.
The four real estate deals involving the Chicago couple Anita and Amrish Mahajan, the last of which closed Sept. 28, account for the only commissions Patricia Blagojevich has earned this year.
The governor’s office scoffed at questions about whether it is a conflict of interest for the governor’s spouse to make money from a couple whose businesses depend on decisions made by the Blagojevich administration.
“It’s unfair and completely ridiculous to suggest she should be expected to keep track of every client she does business with to see if they have contracts with the state,” said Abby Ottenhoff, the governor’s chief spokeswoman. She said the questions were rooted in outdated attitudes toward working women.
“Every client?” If those are the only commissions she’s earned this year she doesn’t have many clients.
Amrish Mahajan–who has donated $10,000 to Blagojevich’s political campaigns–is president of a Harvey bank with requests pending before state banking regulators to acquire two out-of-state banks. His bank has lent millions of dollars to indicted Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
Mrs. Blagojevich has also done a lot of deals with Rezko in the past.
Go read the whole thing, but I love this part of the story.
“I didn’t hire her,” Mahajan said in a brief interview from the balcony of her Chicago townhouse. “I didn’t even know who she was until closing. That’s when I heard she was the governor’s wife. I try not to get involved in politics.”
Mahajan then referred the Tribune to her attorney, James Regas.
“Why shouldn’t she hire Patricia Blagojevich?” Regas said. “They’ve been friends for a long time. He [the governor] is very close to the Indian community here.”
I imagine Mrs. Mahajan’s denial is what spurred the story on. So far, this isn’t much to go on. But that denial hints that more may be there.
I’m told that WGN TV reported last night that more indictments will be handed down today. For now, here’s a look ahead at the Levine stuff. This was posted last night at the Tribune’s site:
Political insider Stuart Levine is expected to plead guilty in federal court Friday to kickback schemes stemming from his activities on two state regulatory boards.
The guilty plea by Levine, reappointed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the two state posts, could reverberate on the campaign trail a little more than a week before the election.
Levine is accused of scheming to extort kickbacks from investment firms seeking to do business with the state while he was on the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System board. He also plotted to share in a $1 million kickback in his duties with the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, prosecutors charge. Levine is expected to plead guilty to both schemes, his lawyer has said.
Sources said Levine’s plea agreement would closely track the 65-page indictment against himself and Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a Blagojevich confidant and fundraiser.
I assume the Sun-Times will have more today. I’ll update as appropriate.
*** UPDATE *** People, try not to get your expectations up too high, OK? I’m tired of deleting speculation about who could be indicted.
It is Stu Levine’s guilty plea, after all. There could be some Republicans in big trouble, too. Just sit back and wait. We’ll know this afternoon.
We’re starting to approach Nixonian territory here. The attorney general demands that the governor stop breaking the law and grant requests for copies of federal subpoenas, the governor flatly refuses.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration is violating state public-information law by refusing to release subpoenas it received in a federal corruption probe, the state attorney general said Thursday.
Blagojevich’s office said it would continue to withhold the subpoenas.
“Without legal support, the office of the governor and the agencies under his control cannot withhold federal grand jury subpoenas in their possession and must release these documents pursuant to a FOIA request,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Terry Mutchler wrote in a letter to Blagojevich’s legal counsel, William Quinlan.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said the governor’s office does not intend to change its policy. “We appreciate the attorney general office’s advisory input,” she said. […]
The attorney general’s office disagreed with the administration’s rationale for keeping subpoenas secret.
“There’s no magical meaning to a subpoena under the Freedom of Information Act,” said Mutchler, who is public access counselor for the attorney general. “The FOIA applies the same to a subpoena as it does to a request for any other public record in the state of Illinois.”
Actually, if you read the letter from Madigan, she doesn’t just disagree with the governor’s “rationale,” she claims much of his rationale has no basis in reality and the rest of it is not backed up with any facts.
You can read the letter by clicking here. [pdf file]
That sums up the Illinois Department of Correction’s arrogant attitude toward the hardworking people who are forced to pay taxes to keep our state’s prison system running.
That unfortunate conclusion has become obvious the past few months as our reporters have tried to pry enough information out of the Illinois DOC to piece together the terrible happenings at the Dixon Correctional Center May 12. That’s the day an inmate with multiple rape convictions - who had free run of at least part of the prison - allegedly raped a female prison worker at knifepoint.
We steadfastly believe it is a reasonable expectation that the DOC be willing to explain why the inmate, John Spires, was allowed to roam freely with limited supervision. The citizens of Illinois, and especially those who work at the Dixon prison, deserve to understand the DOC’s decision-making process when granting a prisoner such privileges. The DOC, however, disagrees.
We also believe it is reasonable that the DOC release information detailing the staffing levels at the prison when the incident occurred. Again, the DOC doesn’t think so.
In late August we made a formal request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act to DOC Director Roger Walker Jr. asking for records that would shed light on these important questions. Walker and the DOC thumbed their nose at the public’s legal and moral right to this information by flatly denying the request a few weeks later.
