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Today’s quotable

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From Gov. Pritzker’s presser today

Reporter: What did Senator Bailey say during your call last night?

Pritzker: He said very few words. I got on the phone. I said ‘Senator Bailey.’ He said, ‘Governor, I want to congratulate you.’ And I said, ‘Well, thank you very much. That’s very kind of you’. And he said, ‘Okay then.’ That’s the entire call.

  38 Comments      


Chicago reporters press Pritzker on presidential run, mayoral endorsement

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The governor’s speech last night got a lot of tongues wagging…


* And he was asked repeatedly about it today at a press conference

Reporter: Was it cost-efficient to spend 150? million? And how much do you plan to spend on a presidential run?

Pritzker: Let’s put that last part aside for a moment and just say Illinois is worth it. As you know that we had two MAGA billionaires who were coming against us, attacking everything that we stand for. They spent over $100 million. And we’re not just going to sit and get pummeled by them, we’re going to defend ourselves and tell people what we stand for and fight back. And so that’s what we did. And we did so in a way that let everybody know what we stand for, and why Illinois needs to move in the direction that it will. And overwhelmingly Illinois agreed with us.

Reporter: You haven’t answered that presidential run. How much time do you have to think about it before you make that decision?

Pritzker: I am not focused on that at all. I am focused on serving as governor for the next four years, it’s really the most important thing to me is we have a lot of challenges that Illinois needs to overcome, we’ve got to work hard on it. And I’ll be doing that. […]

Reporter: …That was a national level speech. You were addressing national issues. You didn’t mention your opponent once, you referred to Trump twice, referred to MAGA a couple of times. I mean, this seemed to go down the contours of the Great River on one side and the Great Lake on the other side.

Pritzker: I was expressing my values, these are my values. You know that I helped to build a Holocaust museum here, you know that I have fought against hate really for my entire life. I really believe that the Republican Party and that especially includes the Illinois Republican Party, who nominated Darren Bailey, that they stand for the MAGA Republican ideas, Donald Trump. That party has been taken over entirely. Clearly. And so I wanted to make clear what I stand for. That’s all. Look, I’m an Illinoisan through and through. I want to be the governor of Illinois for the next four years. And I’m excited to make sure that we’re accomplishing things for the people of Illinois and expressing our values. I really think the majority of people in Illinois agree that we should be standing up against hate. […]

[Asked if he would commit to serving out his entire four-year term]: I commit to you that I’m planning to be the governor for the next four years. We have too many things that we need to accomplish for the state. I think we all know what that list is, or at least you all have a pretty good idea what that list is. And we’re going to continue to do it. And again, principal among them is we’ve got to stop being irresponsible about our fiscal situation in the state like my predecessor was, and like was proposed by my opponent during this latest campaign, and actually focus on solving the real fiscal challenges of Illinois. I know that sometimes sounds boring to people when you talk about budgets, paying debt, you know, dealing with those fiscal challenges. It’s not as exciting as you know, some other things, but I think it’s vitally important that all of us focus on that both parties, and I think that’s something in a bipartisan way we should continue to work on.

Reporter: So there’s no group behind the scenes. Because commit to you planning to be governor will be dissected.

Pritzker: [Laughs] I don’t know what…

Reporter: So there’s nobody behind the scenes of your campaign team that…

Pritzker: No. There was some story that I think appeared, I think you tweeted it, about, I guess Reuters put it out, saying there were some number of people on the national level who were talking to staff. That’s absolutely untrue. I was not talking, I have not talked to any staff outside of my own staff. And so no, there’s no, like I said, there’s no plan to do anything other than be governor for the next four years.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

* Meanwhile…


From the presser

Reporter: What should we think about that photo of you yesterday, shaking hands alongside Chuy Garcia? Are you going to endorse anyone?

Pritzker: Well, you apparently didn’t see the pictures of me with Kam Buckner or with Alderman Eugene Sawyer

Reporter: They were big groups.

Pritzker: Well, I had a group of people together, and you’re making more of it than it is. Look, he’s the congressman from the area where I was shaking hands at the Orange Line stop. [Cross talk] And he’s a good man. I am not taking sides in the mayoral race. I am focused on the job that I have ahead of me, in my second term.

A couple of policy questions were asked. Pritzker repeated what he’s said before about tweaks to the SAFE-T Act (the legislature is working on it) and making tax cuts permanent (he said he’d like to if the budget can be balanced).

  27 Comments      


Question of the day

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* WSIU

Inflation and the war in Ukraine are packing a one-two wallop when it comes to prices paid for agricultural commodities and consumer goods — including alcohol. Together, Ukraine and Russia produce around 30% of the barley in the world, and Ukraine alone produces 16% of the world’s corn supply. With craft brewers reporting up to 100% price increases on barley, local artisans are struggling to keep prices low while retaining their niche in the local dining and entertainment market. […]

The reasons Illinois specialty farmers are slow to embrace hops production include a high risk for crop failure — no federal crop insurance is offered to cover hops production in Illinois — and an underdeveloped statewide market for their harvested crop. This is according to University of Illinois Extension’s David McCarty, a local food and small farm educator who acted as a point of contact for Midwest hops growers from 2015 until 2019.

“One of the challenges with hops is finding your buyers and markets while recognizing that all of the breweries near you may not want to buy your cones,” McCarty said. “It’s also a crop that can be affected strongly by insect pests-diseases (and get hit hard) and also needs water (a drought year is tough) in which cone quality suffers. For inexperienced growers/individuals without growing experience, this can be hard to translate from learning about in a classroom to actually seeing in your field.” […]

Startup costs can also be a major hurdle for young or beginning farmers who want to invest in hops to overcome. A single acre of hops can require an investment of $10,000 to $12,000 per acre, according to some hops farmers.

* Virginia also lacks infrastructure for prospective barley farmers. WVTF

The craft brewing industry is driving up demand for barley, which can be used to make malt, one of the main ingredients to make beer. A new effort is underway to help more farmers grow malt barley in southwest Virginia.

According to the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild Association, there are currently over 300 breweries in the state, but very few use grains that were grown locally. Most malt barley is grown in the Midwest. […]

In order to help more farmers scale up, they need more infrastructure to help them clean, market and ship their barley to local buyers, said Amy Byington, a Virginia Tech extension agent in Lee County. She’s working on a project to build a new storage facility in Wise County, funded by a grant from the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program.

“It will have grain cleaners, it will have storage. It will have the capability to handle grain, which is our problem right now, we don’t have any infrastructure. All of it was basically destroyed whenever flour mills left our area.”

* The Times-Call

That’s emblematic of one of the many issues facing the craft-brewing industry today: a worldwide shortage and price inflation of CO2 that is limiting the ability of brewers to get an adequate supply of one of the most essential ingredients in the brewing process. Combine that with general supply-chain problems and commodity price inflation, and the craft beer industry is facing disruption on multiple fronts.

“Our business is, to some degree, under siege,” Left Hand co-founder and president Eric Wallace said.

CO2 is one of the most vital parts of the brewing process. It is used not only to add carbonation to the beer, but also to clean fermentation tanks and keep them free of oxygen before they’re refilled.

According to data from Bart Watson, chief economist for the Boulder-based Brewers Association, CO2 has seen steeper producer price index inflation than any other brewing input cost, including malt, paperboard, aluminum and shipping. This time of year usually has some kind of CO2 shortage, Watson said, but this year is far worse.

Support your local craft brewery! The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild has a handy list to track down a location from the over 200 breweries in Illinois.

* More…

* The Question: Do you have a favorite brewery? Explain.

My personal favorite is Scratch Brewing in Ava.

  44 Comments      


Campaign updates: MKO declares victory; Proft’s down-ballot scorecard; Pritzker’s gamble; Too close to call on Amendment 1; King concedes, but Peterson won’t; Curran on abortion; Asian Americans win more races

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I told subscribers about this earlier today. Tribune

A spokesperson for Justice Michael Burke, a Republican who has served on the court since 2020, said Wednesday that the justice has conceded his race to his Democratic challenger, Appellate Court Justice Mary Kay O’Brien

Justice O’Brien declared victory today. That means the Democrats (and pro-choicers) will have a 5-2 majority on the top court. A majority of justices will also be women for the first time.

* Dan Proft’s People Who Play by the Rules PAC didn’t just lose the governor’s race by a huge margin (after circulating at least one highly questionable poll). He also spent money on several down-ballot contests. I asked Isabel to do the math. Most of these were House candidates, but one (Nagel) was a Senate candidate and another (Moody) was a candidate for sheriff. Independent expenditures since the beginning of October...

* Speaking of the Proft/Bailey race, here’s the Huffington Post

Throughout the late spring and into the summer, Democratic operatives made a series of risky choices to elevate Republican candidates who wholeheartedly embraced former President Donald Trump’s cornucopia of lies about the 2020 presidential election.

In Republican primary after Republican primary, Democrats aired ads serving two purposes: promoting seemingly unelectable candidates to the GOP base while attacking them for a general election audience. The ads noted how close the Republican candidates were to Trump, played up their support for strict restrictions or bans on abortion and other things the GOP base loved but general election voters hated.

On election night, those risky bets paid off. All six of the election-denying candidates on the ballot whom Democrats boosted ― three gubernatorial candidates, two House candidates and a Senate candidate ― lost, most of them resoundingly.

One of those was, of course, Darren Bailey.

* WQAD last night

Illinois voters decided Tuesday to amend their state constitution to guarantee the right to bargain collectively.

Labor unions declared victory last night, but they haven’t yet provided the numbers to buttress their case. It’s short of the 60 percent required for outright passage and, by my quick count, also appears to be just shy of the majority of all persons voting. More votes will be counted, however, so stay tuned.

This thing is gonna get really complicated and involved. I’ve already been in one long back and forth today about how over/under votes will factor into the equation.

* Many naysayers believed the Democrats had gone too far when they drew their new congressional maps. No way could they win 14 districts out of 17. Well, Democrat Nikki Budzinski won yesterday and Republican Esther Joy King conceded today

Democrat Eric Sorensen will be headed to Congress after Republican Esther Joy King called to concede the race Wednesday morning.

Sorensen is a longtime meteorologist while King is trained as a lawyer and JAG Officer in the Army Reserve.

The 17th Congressional District seat opened up ater U.S Rep. Cheri Bustos (D) retired. King previously ran against Bustos in 2020 but was narrowly defeated.

* Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie’s Democratic opponent refuses to concede…

As votes continue to come in, the Maria Peterson and Dan McConchie race is still not decided. The election results that have been reported so far are showing that Maria Peterson has 41,415 votes and Dan McConchie has 43,353 votes. However, this does not include votes that have been mailed in on or before Election Day and provisional ballots. Peterson said, “We are looking forward to the next few weeks and the arrival of the rest of the ballots to the clerks’ offices so that each and every vote can be counted and the voice of each voter heard. According to voter file information, there are possibly as many as 6,500 ballots that were requested and are outstanding.

* Greg Hinz

Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans kept his job despite a quiet effort by some in his party to deny him retention to the bench.

* Illinois Supreme Court candidate Mark Curran last month

I’m Catholic, and I’m, I’m sort of pro-life.

WTTW last night

[Republican Illinois Supreme Court candidate Mark Curran] gave a concession speech in front of his supporters late Tuesday night, in which he repeatedly pointed to his faith and said his opponent ran against him solely on the abortion issue.

“The bulk of Illinois voted on killing babies,” he said. “Now, if you asked me would I like to switch my position on that so that I could win (an) election and spend the rest of eternity in hell, I’d say no way.”

…Adding… Oops. Forgot to put this one in, but it’s noteworthy…


She also worked constantly.

Sharon Chung (D-Bloomington) also won a House seat last night, expanding the Asian American legislative caucus to 9. And according to Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago), two Asian Americans won seats on the DuPage County Board and one won a seat on the Will County Board representing Bolingbrook.

It’s more than just a trend.

…Adding… Another big D win…


  42 Comments      


Senate GOP Leader McConchie decries “rigged system”

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Senate Republicans picked up one (Erica Conway Harris defeated appointed Sen. Kris Tharp), maybe two (Sen. Michael Hastings trails by a sliver) seats. So, the SDems’ super majority goes from 41 down to 40 40 or possibly 39. With that in mind…

Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie released the below statement following a productive night for the Senate Republican Caucus:

“Thousands of voters across the state have said ‘enough’ to the Democrats’ call for more power. Thanks to their resiliency, the Illinois Senate will be adding to the strength of the Caucus and will continue to serve as strong voices for the people of Illinois, who are dissatisfied with the failed policies that have come out of Springfield and want to see change.

“Unfortunately, the Democrats’ rigged system, which created some of the most gerrymandered districts we’ve ever seen, disproportionately benefits them and leaves thousands across the state without a real voice in their elections. To those people who were silenced, we will fight for you. We will be your voice when you weren’t given one. We haven’t given up, neither should you.

“The Senate Republican Caucus is ready to work on behalf of the people of this great state and will continue to advocate for policies that root out corruption, help families and businesses thrive, and keep our communities safe.”

  87 Comments      


Somebody has some explaining to do

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Yesterday, we discussed the claim by Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons that “repeated D-DOS attacks” were to blame for slow voting issues in the county. Clerk Ammons said the attacks had been happening for a month and were part of a “strategic and coordinated effort to undermine and destabilize our democratic process.”

But was there an attack? Some commenters were initially skeptical. As it turns out, an official with CISA, the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the clerk’s own vendor say nothing had been reported. Sam Sabin is an Axios cybersecurity reporter…


That tweet was published more than 2 hours after the county clerk posted a statement on Facebook about the claimed attack.

Also, you endure a month-long, sustained DDoS attack and don’t report it and the vendor doesn’t know anything?

I say this every couple of years, but I truly believe we need to get all county clerks out of the business of running elections.

  22 Comments      


Legislative leaders declare victory

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The House Democrats appear to be netting an increase to their super majority, possibly to 77-41. Here’s Speaker Welch…

Tonight, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Democrats for the Illinois House maintained the Democratic supermajority in the Illinois State House and continued turning previously red districts blue.

This election cycle, Democrats for the Illinois House ran 67 contested House races, the most in its history. Yet, tonight’s results show that the battle has only strengthened House Democrats.

“We know that when we fight, we win — and tonight, that couldn’t be more true,” said Speaker of the Illinois House Emanuel “Chris” Welch. “House Democrats have fought tirelessly for working families and have secured important legislative wins to protect reproductive rights, rebuild our infrastructure, fund critical public safety initiatives, and so much more. With our supermajority stronger than ever, we’ll build on our incredible progress to keep our state moving forward and continue delivering for working families in communities across Illinois.”

“Our Democratic supermajority in the House has delivered real results for Illinoisans in communities across our state — from codifying reproductive rights to balancing the budget to investing in community safety. I’m thrilled that by maintaining this critical supermajority, we’ll continue to move Illinois forward,” said Lisa Hernandez, chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. “This is a win for working families and communities in every corner of our state — and Democrats in the State House are just getting started.”

* Senate President Don Harmon…

Elections results appear to show the Illinois Senate Democrats will hold a super majority in the next General Assembly. Senate President Don Harmon issued the following statement.

“The people have spoken. Now it’s time to get to work governing.

Illinois Senate Democrats are committed to responsible state budgets that prioritize funding for schools, health care and public safety; meaningful ethics reforms; and equality of opportunity for all Illinoisans through job creation and community investment.

These principles guide our caucus through thick and thin. With the help of our allies throughout this great state we have produced balanced budgets, dynamic investment in public education, a record-setting string of credit rating improvements and newfound commitment to social justice.

I look forward to new opportunities to work together to find consensus on solving problems, righting wrongs and moving Illinois forward.”

Your thoughts on what they should do?

  36 Comments      


Rep. Conroy declares victory in DuPage County

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Daily Herald

State Rep. Deb Conroy is poised to become the first woman to lead the DuPage County Board, an office held only by Republican men for generations.

On a strong night for DuPage Democrats, Conroy jumped out ahead early and maintained a comfortable lead over Hinsdale Republican Greg Hart in a hard-fought and expensive race for county board chair.

Just before 11 p.m., Conroy had collected 165,668 votes, or 50.8% of the total, unofficial results show. Hart had 160,227, or 49%.

If the results hold, Conroy, 60, will replace outgoing county board Chairman Dan Cronin, an Elmhurst Republican, who did not seek a fourth term.

“We’re celebrating. We made history,” Conroy said late Tuesday.

Rep. Conroy said this morning that Hart “graciously conceded last night.” The mail-in ballots were 3-1 Democratic, she said.

Democratic DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek also won yesterday, defeating former GOP Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti.

Any other local races you’d like to talk about?

  41 Comments      


Morning briefing

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Proft makes his move “Twitter official”…


* A roundup to start your day…

The freshly re-elected governor will be at the Marriott Marquis at 11 a.m. to give post-election remarks.

* More to come!

  28 Comments      


*** UPDATED x1 *** Durkin will not seek another term as House GOP Leader

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin press release…

“The House Republicans ran on the message of fighting for lower taxes and safer communities for families and businesses across the state, and I am proud of all our campaigns who fought hard over the last year. I congratulate all of the Republicans who will now represent these important voices in the General Assembly and fight against the Democratic Party of Illinois. While I am not pleased with the results, I will accept them.

It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Leader of the House Republican caucus, but it’s time for the Illinois Republican Party to rebuild with new leaders who can bring independents back to the party that are needed to bring change to the state. With that, I will not be seeking re-election as minority leader. I am proud of the work the House Republican caucus has accomplished under my tenure, and thank everyone who played a part along the way. I began this journey as a voice of moderation and conclude this journey the same way I started, a voice of moderation.

To the people of Illinois disappointed with these results, don’t give up hope. Tomorrow is a new day.”

*** UPDATE *** Gov. Pritzker was asked about Durkin’s decision today

Q: Governor, Jim Durkin announced this morning that he will not seek another term as the House GOP Leader. What’s your reaction to that? And obviously, that’s someone that you’re used to working with. Are you concerned that someone who’s much more conservative, someone from the MAGA wing of the GOP might get that job?

A: I’m only concerned if someone takes the job who’s unwilling to sit down and actually talk about what we might do together. If they’re unwilling to talk, if they reject the idea of bipartisanship, that would not be good for the state of Illinois.

Q: Is Durkin a loss?

A: I obviously got to know the Minority Leader in my first year in office, when we worked together on so many issues, and again, passed a bipartisan budget together. I think someone who has served as many years as he has, admirably, honorably, is someone that is probably a loss for the Republicans because he’s decided not to run for leader again. And so, I look forward to whoever the new Minority Leader is sitting at the table and getting things done with them. I just remind you that everybody at that table has now changed since I’ve been in office. And so, you know, we’ve worked as best we could, together with the folks on the other side of the aisle. But we’ve gotten a whole lot done.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

  57 Comments      


Open thread

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Talk amongst yourselves.

  60 Comments      


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Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

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« NEWER POSTS PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* Map shows historical decline of county populations, with about a third peaking between 1870 and 1900
* Question of the day
* 23 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Illinois remembers the lives lost
* IDOC responds to more Menard claims from Sen. Bryant
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* Energy Storage Now!
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