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Wednesday, Feb 27, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

If their success on Tuesday carries over to the April runoff elections, there could be as many as five card-carrying democratic socialists on the City Council this Spring — which would be the most on the Chicago governing body in more than a century.

Members’ victories in two aldermanic races and ballot success putting them in three runoff contests have already led to talk of an incoming socialist caucus. […]

[Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa] is one of the members of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who won outright on Tuesday: New member Daniel La Spata upset Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno in the Near Northwest Side’s 1st Ward. […]

Socialist Rosanna Rodríguez-Sánchez will head to April’s runoff against incumbent Ald. Deb Mell in the 33rd Ward. Rodríguez-Sánchez broke into tears of joy several times at her watch party at Chief O’Neils in Avondale after hearing she’d earned the most votes in the three-way race. […]

Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who heads the Pilsen Alliance, credited the party for helping him in the race for the seat vacated by retiring Ald. Danny Solis (25th). Sigcho-Lopez will face Alex Acevado in April.

* Sigcho-Lopez faced allegations of shenanigans in the closing days. From Friday…

Byron Sigcho Lopez, a candidate for 25th Ward alderman, denounced allegations that his supporters engaged in ballot theft at a Chinatown senior center.

Earlier this week, candidate Hilario Dominguez, a former teacher and activist, along with State Rep. Theresa Mah, whose 2nd District seat includes Chinatown and Pilsen, leveled the allegations at Sigcho Lopez’s supporters.

They alleged his supporters took incomplete vote-by-mail ballots from seniors at the Chinatown Elderly Apartments, 300 W. 23rd St. They were then told their ballots would be filled out for Sigcho Lopez because they had previously received a free meal at Phoenix Restaurant from Sigcho Lopez’s campaign, the state representative and the aldermanic challenger alleged.

* Yesterday…

The Illinois Attorney General’s office and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office are investigating a complaint that alleges supporters of candidate Byron Sigcho Lopez were buying votes in the 25th Ward Tuesday.

A complaint was filed with the agencies after voters were seen requesting gift cards after casting ballots at Barbara Jean Wright Court Apartments, 1354 S. Morgan St., in the 25th Ward’s 4th precinct.

Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, which staffs a hotline where voters can report electoral abuse, initially sent poll watchers to the site after receiving complaints that the precinct was refusing to let people register to vote, said Ami Gandhi, an attorney with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

During the visit, poll watchers observed what they described as “strange” behavior — voters entering one room, casting their ballot and then entering a separate room across the hall where they allegedly received $20 gift cards in exchange for a vote for Sigcho Lopez, said Matt Owens, an attorney and field captain for election protection with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

Results for that race are here.

…Adding… Related…

* Hours after historic election, Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle each argue they’re more progressive than the other: Preckwinkle attempted to take what has been a political weakness — her ties to party establishment amid strong calls for change at City Hall — and turn it on its head by noting that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Mayor Richard M. Daley had appointed Lightfoot to positions. “While my opponent was taking multiple appointments in the Daley and Emanuel administrations, I fought the power elite who have been trying to hold this city back,” Preckwinkle said during her election night speech.

54 Comments

Never tweet

Wednesday, Feb 27, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* How’s that Latino outreach going, ILGOP?…

.@susanamendoza10 we bought some chips and guacamole for your concession party. Where do we send it? #chimayor19 #TeamSusana #twill

— IL Republican Party (@ILGOP) February 27, 2019

Oof. The ratio.

* They eventually offered up an explanation…

Background: "Dear Leslie, Enjoy the guacamole and tostada chips. Make sure not to double dip! Love, Susana A. Mendoza, Comptroller Elect."

The chip-and-dip was a dig at Munger for campaign commercials she ran that claimed Mendoza had double-dipped… https://t.co/K7YyKn1Zhe

— IL Republican Party (@ILGOP) February 27, 2019

It didn’t work.

…Adding… From comments…

“We doubled down on the thing we said was a jerk move”

Yep.

66 Comments

Tuesday’s biggest loser: Arizona-style pension reform

Wednesday, Feb 27, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a recent Chicago Tribune editorial entitled “4 closing arguments: The case for Bill Daley”…

Daley is the only leading mayoral candidate who talks candidly about the city’s and state’s pension systems. The only way to keep high local and state taxes from skyrocketing and to save pensions for retirees is to amend the Illinois Constitution’s rigid pension clause. That requires action in Springfield. It’s a big lift, but Daley is the only candidate willing to try. “Our pension system is broke,” Daley says. “We cannot tax our way out without making Chicago unaffordable. We can’t cut our way out without compromising our quality of life.”

Daley supports a mix of new taxes to prop up pensions — but he also understands that loosening the language of the Illinois Constitution is the only route to long-term stability. No gimmicks. Real change. We’re hopeful Daley would persuade other leading Democrats, Gov. J.B. Pritzker included, to put pension reform on the ballot.

Daley was by far the best hope for Illinois proponents of an Arizona-style pension reform plan. He supported a similar constitutional amendment to Arizona’s that would ostensibly allow this state to reduce all benefits moving forward. But the plan was never remotely feasible here, and Arizona’s amendments have not yet been tested by the courts. Even so, Daley would’ve been the highest profile mouthpiece for the Tribune, the Illinois Policy Institute, the Civic Committee and others who have been banging the drum on this topic for years.

Now, with Daley’s loss, they’re gonna have to find somebody else.

And, by the way, the pundits can blame Jerry Joyce all they want for Daley’s loss. But Daley got smoked in the wards best known for being populated with city workers and retirees. That was no coincidence.

…Adding… Greg Hinz…

Daley got clobbered in sections of Northwest and Southwest Side that are home to many police, firefighters and other city workers by attorney Jerry Joyce. Daley should have done well in such areas in the same way that his brother and father did when they ran for mayor, but the pension issue hurt. Ironically, all of those cops will have to live with a new mayor in Lightfoot or Preckwinkle, both of whom strongly back tough police reforms and increased accountability. But in Springfield, where pension reform already is a very tough sell, Tuesday’s totals will make it even tougher. The message will be: don’t fight the unions. You can’t win.