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.
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.”
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…
The governor said he “balanced four budgets in a row” and saw the state’s credit rating upgraded six times.
“We’re going to go block-by-block, house-by-house to elect the greatest governor in the history of Illinois, since (Abraham) Lincoln,” an enthusiastic State Rep. Marty Moylan (D-55th) told his hometown crowd.
…Adding… I forgot that somebody sent me the video last night…
People throughout Chicago are receiving anonymous text messages that encourage them to vote Tuesday — but also include their name and, in some cases, photos or maps of their home.
The text messages come from various phone numbers that, when called, lead to nowhere — and recipients have not subscribed for them. The messages tell the recipient they haven’t voted yet and list their name, home address and a nearby polling location. They sometimes include a Google Maps picture of the person’s home or a screenshot of their address on a map.
The messages aren’t coming from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said spokesperson Max Bever. The agency — which governs elections in the city — doesn’t send text to voters, Bever said.
Chicagoans said the texts have left them annoyed, confused and, in some cases, concerned about their safety or worried about their ballot. […]
A resident who received one of the texts sent a message back to ask for information about the messages. The respondent said they are a volunteer with Voting Futures, a nonprofit “dedicated to ensuring every eligible voter is registered and participating in democracy.”
An official-looking text message created confusion among some Oregon voters because the information in the text — including the voter’s name or address — was incorrect. It didn’t match official voting records.
“They have my first name correct. The address is one in Eugene that I have never lived at,” explained Lauren Dunn in an email to KGW. “Seems like a scam.”
The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office and Multnomah County Elections have received complaints about the text messages. Tim Scott, director of Multnomah County Elections said he personally received one of the text messages.
The texts claim to be from someone named Myra, a volunteer with Voting Futures. The message explained that if you live at a particular address, you will receive your 2022 ballot in the mail soon. […]
A company hired by political organizations that rally people to cast their ballot sent the text message.
The company, Movement Labs, admits some of the text messages were addressed to the wrong person or had incorrect voting information because of old or outdated cell phone records.
Movement Labs, a company that facilitates political text message campaigns, took responsibility for accidentally sending voters in five states messages with erroneous instructions for voting. […]
The statement explains that the company sent the messages to voters in Kansas, New Jersey, Illinois, North Carolina, and Virginia on behalf of text campaign clients Voto Latino, Black Voters Matter, and Voting Futures.
Movement Labs founder Yoni Landau assured it was not their intention to confuse voters. “In some of our texts, we sent addresses and images of drop-box locations when we intended only to include in-person early vote locations,” he said. “We didn’t specify in our text that we were trying to encourage voters to vote early. Some voters familiar with their election day location thought we were telling them to vote on election day at an early vote location.”
This program relies on difficult-to-compile polling location data from multiple sources matched to individuals on the voter file, and we fell short of our rigorous standards with some of these errors, which we believe impacted around 10% of the voters we contacted.
Moving forward, we are conducting an investigation and commit to releasing a report widely summarizing our findings.
*** UPDATE *** From the State Board of Elections…
For the past several days, voters in Illinois have complained of receiving unsolicited text messages with incorrect information on Election Day polling places.
The text messages, from a group called Voting Futures, list the recipient’s voting address, state that public records indicate the recipient has not yet voted and then inform the recipient of a voting location that often is incorrect.
Voters are reminded that correct polling place information can be found by using the Polling Place Locator tool on the State Board of Elections website. The State Board of Elections does not communicate with voters using text messages, nor does it hire third parties to communicate with voters.
“We want Illinois voters to know that their election information should come only from trusted sources like the State Board of Elections or their local election authority,” said Board of Elections Executive Director Bernadette Matthews. Voters can also receive election information by following the State Board of Elections on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Voters who receive suspicious election-related text messages or emails or view social media posts that contain suspected election misinformation should forward screenshots and/or links to scamalert@elections.il.gov.
* Pritzker dipping into the trust fund to get around the spending caps…
You gotta figure Elizabeth Rochford will get that as well.
* Speaking of contribution caps, DeVore busted his with a loan to himself, then has bitterly and repeatedly complained about a large contribution to his opponent…
This is about my favorite Devoreism. Raises spending cap, complains about Raoul campaign spending for the rest of the election cycle. pic.twitter.com/OM2PzgAkXC
@TPUSA Students and I had the opportunity to join Republican Women of Park Ridge for brunch today, as well as hear from speakers Attorney Tom Devore, Attorney Kathy Salvi, and Stephanie Trussel! pic.twitter.com/M2wVFeasvq
Prosecutors charged the suspected gunman in the shooting rampage at a Fourth of July parade in this Chicago suburb with seven counts of first-degree murder Tuesday, hoping to put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said that, if convicted, Robert E. “Bobby'’ Crimo III faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. […]
Crimo can be seen in a widely circulated Chicago Tribune photo of a Trump rally. The man standing to Crimo’s right in the photo is Peter Christos, 18, according to Deerfield resident Natalie Reed, 18, who attended school with Christos at Glenbrook North.
“He’s very anti-mask, anti-vaccine,” Reed said of Christos. “He would kind of harass other students for wearing masks. He rallied up a bunch of people and did a lot of Trump rallies. He’s the one who got people together for most of them in Northbrook.”
Democratic oppo file on Christos is here. He was close to the Bailey campaign for a while and Bailey’s running mate was reportedly at that Republican Women of Park Ridge event.
Rep. Mary Miller (IL-15) is the only member of the state’s Republican congressional delegation not to condemn last week’s violent attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The silence from Miller shows how divided politics has become, especially since Jan. 6 when protesters stormed the Capitol calling out for Pelosi.
Others in the GOP spoke up: Congressmen Mike Bost (IL-12), Rodney Davis (IL-13), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) and Darin LaHood (IL-18) all expressed outrage at the assault. They followed the lead of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Vice President Mike Pence, who also condemned the attack.
* Illinois early vote totals…
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (10/31/22): Total VBM requested: 841,270 Total VBM returned: 400,385 Total VBM outstanding: 440,885 Return Rate: 48% Total Early Vote: 290,868 Total Grace Period: 3,770 Total Already Voted: 695,023https://t.co/44ga6Axjmq
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Sunday, October 30, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 52,599 ballots cast.
Additionally, 61,643 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 203,119.
The grand total is 114,242 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
Chicago has about 21 percent of the state’s population, but turnout so far is only about 16 percent of the statewide total. That’s up from before, but not there yet.
…Adding… Ahead of 2018, but people are getting accustomed to the process…
* Judge allows GOP AG candidate Thomas DeVore’s defamation lawsuit against girlfriend’s mom to proceed: In his decision, Christian County Associate Judge Kevin Parker wrote that he couldn’t properly evaluate whether DeVore’s lawsuit fell under the state law without first determining whether Craig wrote or helped publish the article in question. “At this pleading stage of the case, that material fact is in no way settled,” Parker wrote.
* Vote no on the Workers’ Rights Amendment: As Crain’s business columnist Joe Cahill pointed out on Oct. 3, if the WRA passes, Illinois will stand out for giving broader constitutional protections to organized labor than any other state. The amendment bars any legislation that interferes with unions’ bargaining rights, and—going further than any of the handful of states that constitutionally protect collective bargaining—explicitly prohibits “right-to-work laws” like those recently adopted by neighboring states.
* Tulsi Gabbard endorses Bailey for governor: “It’s time for new leadership, and I urge you to elect Darren Bailey as your next governor,” Gabbard said. “He is a farmer who knows what it means to put in an honest day’s work, puts people first and is not beholden to the political insiders who have corrupted the Illinois government.” Gabbard will speak at a Bailey campaign rally with Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy Monday night in Glen Ellyn. The downstate lawmaker said Gabbard understands that Illinois voters need to stand up to extremists, put people ahead of politics and do what’s right. Bailey said he can unite Illinoisans by focusing on tax relief, safer streets and improving schools.
* RTMD offering free rides to the polls in southern Illinois: Rides Mass Transit District (RMTD) is offering free rides to the polls for the General Election on Tuesday, November 8. The transportation company says it is offering the free rides on their regular routes in southern Illinois.
* Kifowit, West square off in Illinois House 84th District race: If re-elected, Kifowit said she hopes to continue serving as the chair of Veterans Affairs and serve as a voice for veterans as the only female veteran in the House. She also looks to focus on ensuring mental health is on par with physical health for residents, working toward more ethics reforms and balancing the state’s budget, she said.
…Adding… From Dan Proft’s PAC…
Former Democrat, congresswoman, and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard appeared on Chicago’s Morning Answer with Dan Proft & Amy Jacobson Monday morning before scheduled appearances with Illinois GOP candidate Darren Bailey later in the day in both Palatine and Glen Ellyn.
The whole interview can be listened to here:
http://morninganswerchicago.com/2022/10/31/fmr-us-rep-tulsi-gabbard-on-her-exit-from-the-democratic-party/
Gabbard: “I just came from being with [GOP gubernatorial candidate] Tudor Dixon over the weekend in Michigan, and I know a lot of the same challenges that people are frustrated with and feeling in Michigan are the same things that Darren is telling me folks are frustrated with here in Illinois. Things obviously, like incredibly-rising crime rates…heavily restricted controls by the government throughout the COVID pandemic…parents being told ‘Hey you don’t have a right to have a say in what your child is being taught in school.’ These are all things that aren’t Democrat or Republican, they are issues that are affecting every person and every family in this state, and that this governor, Governor Pritzker, has failed on.”
She went on to say: “My message to voters here in the state of Illinois:…Do you feel like our economy is working for you? Do you feel like you are being honored and empowered as parents with policies that actually strengthen families, rather than trying to tear us apart? And if the answer to any of those is NO then I urge you to really take a hard look and consider casting your vote for [DARREN BAILEY] because he is a man of the people.”
Dan Proft is president of People Who Play By The Rules PAC.
Darren Bailey’s not telling you the truth. He’s just trying to scare you. You deserve to know the facts about the Illinois SAFE-T Act. There is no such thing as a purge law in Illinois. We will be able to keep violent offenders behind bars, where they belong. And convicted criminals will not be released. I’m tired of politicians trying to fool you. Darren Bailey is all lies and no solutions. It’s JB Pritzker I trust to keep Illinois safe. Go to JB’s website to see the facts for yourself.
The Pritzker campaign points to a Bailey Facebook ad that claims Pritzker “passed laws to let criminals out of prison. Darren Bailey will repeal Pritzker’s pro-crime laws.”
…Adding… John Oliver had a long segment on cash bail reform last night. Click here.
