* These DGA ads are really stirring stuff up. Here’s a new :30 radio spot from Jeanne Ives…
* Script…
It turns out Bruce Rauner is the Democrat Governors Association’s favorite fake Republican.
Rauner and his Democrat friends are attacking Jeanne Ives for being conservative.
They don’t like that Ives voted against the sanctuary state law Rauner signed.
They don’t like that Ives voted against taxpayer funding of abortion that Rauner signed.
They don’t like that Ives voted against the Chicago Public school bailout that Rauner signed.
They don’t like that Ives has been endorsed by National Review, the leading conservative journal in America.
Fake Republican Rauner and his Democrat friends don’t like Jeanne Ives. Which is why you should.
* In other related news, Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady recorded a robocall for the Rauner campaign about the DGA ads…
* Script…
Hi. I’m Bill Brady, Senate Republican Leader. As a conservative, I’m calling to remind you to vote for Bruce Rauner on Tuesday, March 20th in the Republican primary.
The national Democrats have throw their weight behind Jeanne Ives in an attempt to sway the election. That shows how important this election is. We have to elect Bruce Rauner to have a hope of winning against the Democrats in November. It is critical for the future of our state and our party that you vote for Bruce Rauner on Tuesday, March 20th. Thank you.
…Adding… Everybody is getting in on the act. Sen. Tim Bivins just cut a robocall for Ives…
The guy has a great radio voice.
* Script…
This is state Senator Tim Bivins. I’m calling to tell you that I have endorsed and am voting for Jeanne Ives for Governor.
I know Jeanne Ives. Jeanne is the leading conservative reform legislator in Springfield.
Oh, and those political adds tying her to Mike Madigan? Well they’re just that, political ads distorting the truth. Jeanne Ives is a rock-solid conservative who has taken on Mike Madigan time and again.
Please join me in voting for conservative Jeanne Ives.
Rauner Campaign Calls on DGA to File In-Kind Donations for Ads Supporting Rep. Ives
In response to the Democratic Governors Association’s attempts to influence the Republican primary, the Rauner campaign is demanding the DGA file their advertising purchase as an in-kind donation to Rep. Jeanne Ives’ campaign.
The Rauner campaign released the following statement:
“Washington Democrats know that Governor Rauner will be tough to beat in November. That’s why they’ve decided to overtly attempt to influence the outcome of the Republican primary in favor of a candidate who is simply unelectable in Illinois. Their support of Representative Ives should be seen for what it is: an in-kind donation from a group that accepted $2 million from Mike Madigan’s handpicked candidate, JB Pritzker.”
- Communications Director Will Allison
The DGA had no comment.
* But I reached out to the State Board of Elections and got this…
They have a point that it should be reported. Whether it’s reported as an independent expenditure or an in-kind contribution is the issue.
This seems like a pretty standard independent expenditure by the DGA. It would have to be reported on a B-1, and I find no record of any such independent expenditure in our system at the moment for the DGA’s Illinois committee.
But an in-kind contribution would mean the DGA coordinated with the Ives campaign on this ad. If that were the case, it would need to be reported on an A-1.
Either way, this would need to be reported within two business days of the expenditure.
I kinda doubt the DGA coordinated with Ives, so a B-1 it is. And it’ll probably have to be filed on both their ads. Better get on it, guys.
*** UPDATE *** DGA…
“These are issue advocacy communications urging the people of Illinois to contact these two officeholders regarding their disastrous policy ideas for the state. These issue ads are not reportable expenditures or electioneering communications under Illinois law.”
The logic is that the ad doesn’t advocate for or against any candidate, and doesn’t even mention voting or elections, and therefore doesn’t qualify as an “Independent expenditure,” “electioneering communication” or other form of campaign “expenditure” subject to Illinois campaign finance law.
[Some content from this post has been moved to a different post. Click here.]
* Back to the DGA…
It’s becoming clear that Governor Bruce Rauner is getting worried about his primary challenge from state Representative Jeanne Ives. Natasha Korecki of Politico writes that while Rauner has been pretending like he’s not worried about his primary challenger, “his actions…seem to suggest otherwise.” Rauner’s bumped up his TV buy, focused it solely on Ives, and moved uncharacteristically decisively to veto gun safety legislation.
Republican state Representative David McSweeney said his actions show that Rauner’s “running scared:”
“These turnout numbers are really worrying the Rauner people…He’s running scared in Southern Illinois.”
Ives recently released a poll showing Rauner had a slim 42% to 35% lead. Rauner has not released any polls himself.
“Bruce Rauner is running scared,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “And for good reason. Rauner simply cannot answer for his failed leadership that drove up debt and drove jobs out of the state. Three years into his term, Illinois is worse and Bruce Rauner’s to blame.”
That poll was a robopoll taken last Friday by Ogden & Fry . I told subscribers about it. MoE +/- 3.5%, 787 likely GOP primary voters.
A measure that banned the controversial bump stocks when it passed the Illinois House could be “poisoned” in the Illinois Senate with an amendment proposed by Democrat Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago. The Illinois State Rifle Association calls Raoul’s change a “poison pill.”
Raoul’s Senate Amendment 1 would roll back municipal preemption that passed the Illinois legislature in 2013 as a vital part of the concealed carry agreement. “Specifically it repeals the preemption on long guns and allows municipalities to ban any long guns they see fit,” the ISRA website says.
“Instead of having a uniform state law, where everyone knows the rules, Illinois will have a patchwork of inconsistent local gun laws - with good people unknowingly becoming criminals as they travel the state,” ISRA says.
Raoul’s change is deliberately divisive when there is broad, bi-partisan agreement on bump stocks - especially notable since Raoul is running in the March 20th primary to be the Democrat Party’s nominee for attorney general.
* Rep. Scott Drury…
Earlier today, State Representative Scott Drury (D-Highwood) blasted State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) for gutting Illinois’ proposed bump stock ban: “As students around the country were walking out of schools to honor the slain students in Parkland, Florida and advocate for more responsible gun laws, Raoul was slaughtering Illinois’ proposed bump stock ban in order to appease the Illinois State Rifle Association,” said Drury. “This continues Raoul’s horrendous record on assault weapons.”
At issue is the bump stock ban that has been working its way through the Illinois General Assembly. The Illinois House recently passed a bill that would have banned bump stocks and trigger cranks – devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at a much greater pace.
Raoul sponsored the bill in the Senate. However, before presenting the bill, Raoul admittedly cut a deal with the Illinois State Rifle Association, the effect of which was to gut the ban. The amended bill only prohibits devices that are intended to increase the rate of a gun’s fire to that of a “fully automatic firearm.” “The glaring problem with the Raoul-gun lobby amendment is that bump stocks can be manufactured to allow guns to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, yet still not be considered fully automatic,” Drury said. “This bait and switch is why people hate politicians”.
Drury also took issue with Raoul’s insertion of a poison pill into his amended bill. In 2013, Raoul began his partnership with the NRA, teaming with it to prohibit towns from passing assault weapons bans. Before that misguided legislation went into effect, Drury successfully raced to get numerous towns in his district to pass assault weapons bans.
“While Raoul’s amended bill removes the prohibition on assault weapons bans, it makes the bill virtually impossible to pass in the House”, said Drury. According to Drury, the requisite number of votes do not exist in the House, and Raoul knows that. “Raoul should be ashamed of himself,” Drury stated. “He talks a good game about responsible gun laws and then makes sure those laws can’t pass. When it comes to protecting our children from deadly assault weapons, Raoul has no credibility.”
Drury said that as one of the primary leaders in the General Assembly for responsible gun laws, he has been contacted by numerous advocates upset with what the advocates call Raoul’s betrayal. According to Drury, Raoul is essentially acting like former President George W. Bush – declaring “Mission Accomplished” when, in fact, virtually nothing has been accomplished.
* From Sen. Raoul’s campaign in reaction to Drury’s claims…
This week Sen. Raoul passed a bipartisan comprehensive proposal to help make our communities safer which was supported by law enforcement and gun violence prevention advocates. Rep. Drury’s desperate mischaracterization gets to the heart of why he’s been ineffective during his time in Springfield.
The language regarding bump stocks came from Senator Morrison’s legislation. The Rifle Association language he’s referring to came from the Illinois State Police.
Wednesday can’t come soon enough.
…Adding… From Rep. Drury…
Rich:
As a follow-up to our press release, during debate, Senator Raoul specifically stated:
“Mr. President, I should note that the definition of bump stock and trigger crank in this bill has been amended to take in recommendations from the Illinois State Rifle Association.”
Sen. Raoul made no mention of the Illinois State Police.
* Lots of campaigns are loading up on digital ads these days because network TV is so darned crowded. The governor has been online forever, but here’s a new anti-Ives online spot from Gov. Rauner’s campaign…
“When I served on Wheaton city council, the only thing that union membership understood were layoffs. It’s the only thing they understood. So if you can’t impose your final, best offer because the courts have blocked it, then you just start laying people off.”
The tagline at the beginning and end is: “Jeanne Ives isn’t for real reform. She’s for laying off real people.”
“The hard thing is getting customers; the hard thing is cutting expenses; the hard thing is laying people off. But that’s what good companies do when times are tough, and she just would not do it,” said Rauner, who sat on LeapSource’s board.
* Meanwhile, this came in over the transom…
On Steve Cochran’s show this morning on WGN Radio, Jeanne Ives called transgender people predators and insisted that there should be no abortions in cases of rape and incest. This kind of rhetoric and these views – which are far out of the mainstream in Illinois – are exactly why the Democratic Governors Association is trying to boost her in the primary. She’d be crushed in the general election.
On transgender people:
6:38-7:00: “What we know is that they are truly predators”
5:41-6:37: She also talks about grandmothers being assaulted because of transgender birth certificate bill
On abortion:
9:37-9:59: no abortions in cases of rape or incest
On being a bigot:
7:24-8:01: Cochran says “large percentage of the state’s population” sees her as a bigot
The truth is he took a bill that literally means there’s no medical intervention, there’s no medical sign-off on a doctor for somebody to change their sex and this has far-reaching implications. All you need is an out-of-state licensed mental health professional to say that you can change your sex. And that has real policy problems. That means your grandmother who may have to have a shared room in a nursing home or a hospital bed in a shared room, can literally be having her privacy invaded by somebody who says they’re the opposite sex. That’s true.
* She was then asked if transgender people and gays are “truly predators”…
Well what we know is that they are truly predators in some cases. Not all cases, in some cases. And this happened in the Department of Corrections where there was a transgendered male who pretended to be a girl, and went to the female - got transitioned, in Illinois, this is not an out-of-state case, in Illinois - went to the female prison then sexually assaulted another prisoner and had to be taken back to the male prison. So this is real lifetime stuff. This happens in real life.
I hunted around for a while and couldn’t find that on the Google. Not sure what she’s talking about. I e-mailed her campaign and IDOC for an explanation. I’ll let you know what I hear back.
*** UPDATE *** From the Ives campaign…
In 2017, Tom Morrison and several other state legislators were tipped off about an inmate who was transferred from Lawrence Correctional Center (a men’s prison) to Logan Correctional Center (a women’s prison) to Pinckneyville Correctional Center (a men’s prison), as well as an incident at Logan that precipitated the transfer to Pinckneyville. https://bailbondcity.com/illinois/ildoc-inmate-MAHALBASIC/M54605
Tom Morrison FOIA’ed the case at the end of May 2017. His request was denied. Morrison reached out to the IDOC liaison directly. The liaison told Morrison the request was denied because the incident was still under investigation. Morrison told the liaison that he would keep pressing the issue until he got verification. On June 6, 2017, he received a call back from the Department of Corrections legislative liaison who did not want to put anything in writing. But would confirm dates and locations for the inmate in question. The following timeline was confirmed:
10/5/2015 - The Prisoner was first sent to Stateville, on the charge of pimping minors.
10/25/2015 - The Prisoner was transferred to Lawrence Correctional Center (a men’s prison)
5/17/16 - The Prisoner was transferred to Logan Correctional Center (a women’s prison)
11/27/16 - The Prisoner was transferred to Pinckneyville Correctional Center (a men’s prison)
5 /9/17 - Prisoner received two years of parole
In discussing the Transgender Birth Certificate Bill with Governor Rauner, Morrison presented this specific case to Rauner, told him DOC was stonewalling his request for information about the specifics of the case, and suggested that, as Governor, Rauner could learn all the details.
Morrison asked “if you are in a men’s prison and could change your gender so easily to be transferred to a women’s facility, why would you stay in a men’s prison?” Morrison also presented other situations where objective biological sex and anatomical differences would be problematic, such as women’s sports, hospitals, nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, college dormitories. The Governor acknowledged to Morrison that those scenarios could be problems, but did not seem overly concerned. And, subsequently signed the bill.
There are reportedly another half-dozen such cases pending at DOC.
* Ives says she can win, Rauner’s support is thin: “Bruce has no base,” she says, “He’s counting on uninformed voters to go to the polls and believe he’s still fighting Mike Madigan and to believe I’m Mike Madigan’s lacky, which everybody knows is completely false. He’s counting on you not knowing the truth about him.”
* Ives Blasts Rauner Over Ads: Rauner and Ives have only appeared once together in the same room – for a Chicago Tribune Editorial Board forum last month. Ives said that’s because he can’t defend his record. “He embarrassed himself in that debate,” Ives said, “and he’s worried because he can’t talk to anybody about real policy choices and he can’t defend his record. He wants to blame everything on Mike Madigan and not take ownership of his three years of failed governorship. And that’s the truth. And that’s why he doesn’t want to debate me.”
* Trump factor looms large in Illinois governor primary campaigns: At the same time, however, the Wheaton legislator has embraced Trump and urges what she calls the “silent majority” that elected him to rise up against Rauner… How does Ives reconcile campaigning on an honor code that prohibits lying and cheating as a rationale to take on Rauner, while not only tolerating but actively promoting Trump? Asked that question recently, Ives paused for several seconds. “For me, it’s a personal affront to what Gov. Rauner has done because I’m part of that Republican caucus he lied to, OK?” she said. “So, it’s a very personal thing. That’s the thing. I can affect him (Rauner) and the outcome of this election. I can’t necessarily affect Donald Trump.”
* Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Endorses Jeanne Ives for Governor in Illinois: “For three years, Illinois has been led by a liberal governor – a man who presided over a massive personal income tax increase, failed to negotiate a state budget for two years, broke a campaign promise when he decided that abortions should be paid for with taxpayer dollars, and signed a bill making the Land of Lincoln effectively a ‘Sanctuary State.’ Sadly, that liberal governor is a Republican – a Republican who campaigned four years ago as a conservative, making promise after promise to assuage the concerns of conservative Illinois voters, then betrayed them once he took office.”
* Usually, statewide Democratic primary candidates spend time Downstate early in the campaign so that they can spend as much time as possible in the Chicagoland area (where most of the votes are) during the homestretch. Rod Blagojevich’s 2002 strategy was a bit different. His plan was to fight Chicago to a draw and then run up the score in the Metro East and other Downstate areas. JB Pritzker, who has given $200,000 to the St. Clair County Democratic Party, was in the vote-rich Metro East area yesterday and today…
* Democratic governor candidates: Chris Kennedy will meet with voters at three events, including a Chicago train stop in the morning. J.B. Pritzker will go to events in Granite City and Belleville.
Pritzker was in Madison County yesterday. The other candidates haven’t spent much money in that region, so it makes some sense to go there.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) just called to say he’d help set up this trip “weeks ago.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Hoffman forwarded me an e-mail from several days ago which shows he was, indeed, telling the truth. End of story.
In this last week of the Illinois Governor’s Primary campaign, Democrat J.B. Pritzker is keeping his distance from Chicago reporters.
On Monday morning, he attended an 8 a.m. union hall meeting in south suburban Alsip. Since then, the Chicago Tribune published a report on Pritzker’s off-shore companies, formed since 2008, in direct conflict with information that Pritzker had said in the past that all off-shore interests were created by family members years ago.
After the WTTW final debate Wednesday evening, Pritzker fielded questions for less than four minutes before his press team pulled him away as reporters shouted more inquiries about whether any of the off-shore distributions were directed to family members.
Since then there has been no opportunity for Chicago reporters to speak directly to Pritzker.
* A few pics from the trail…
It was a great night to get out the vote in Madison County! It’s time to get Springfield back on the side of hardworking families, and as governor, that’s what I’ll do. Make a plan to vote on Tuesday: https://t.co/Nz5y5t7IxIpic.twitter.com/xnEEKQwkEa
From Granite City, we headed to Swansea where I was delighted to join labor leaders from Madison and St. Clair counties for breakfast! pic.twitter.com/fI0dvLpFrq
* Sam says a lot of things and the governor’s office denies this, but Rauner has made some pretty nasty threats over the years, so here you go…
[State Sen. Sam McCann] said that he will run as an independent for either state Senate or governor this fall, and would announce his plans by mid-April. […]
McCann said he was barred from a Senate Republican caucus at the Statehouse Wednesday, but did not specify why. He said he and Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, “agreed to address the issue” after the break. The Senate is scheduled to meet next on April 10. […]
McCann said he was called to Rauner’s office “a couple of times” to talk about the bill, with the final meeting being the day the Senate was to vote to override the veto. He said Rauner suggested he skip the vote if he wouldn’t vote no, but made it clear that there was “one way to make him angry,” which would be a “yes” vote.
“And he looked at me, and said, ‘I’ll destroy you and your family if you go through with this,’” McCann said.
…Adding… I’m told that several Senate Republicans had seen the report from the night before the caucus meeting that McCann would run for Senate or governor as an independent. “There was the assumption he left the party,” explained one SGOP official, who said McCann arrived at the caucus right before it ended.
* Most media coverage of Gov. Rauner’s hastily arranged Quincy press conference yesterday was pretty favorable. Quincy Herald-Whig…
Two months after pledging to help find money for upgrades at the Illinois Veterans Home, Gov. Bruce Rauner was back Thursday, calling for construction of a new state-of-the-art facility on the Quincy campus.
“We want to make this the best veterans home in America,” Rauner said. “All I care about is that our veterans are well cared for.”
The state posted a request for proposals for a master planning contract Thursday. This fall, officials hope to choose a design and know how much it will cost to build “a world-class facility.”
Several Veterans Home residents of the home applauded Rauner’s announcement and were pleased to hear that the home, which was founded in 1886, will continue to serve the needs of veterans.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is looking into buying a new home for veterans in Quincy, as well as adding a new building to the existing veterans’ home campus. […]
“We’ve gotta move. We can’t let any more risk occur here,” he said. “These Legionella bacteria, they’re tough to eradicate but we will never give up.”
Rauner said the state is looking at buying a nursing home a few blocks from the current one in Quincy that has been vacant for a year.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration says it will hire architectural and design teams by summer to redevelop the Quincy veterans’ home campus hit by a Legionnaires’ disease crisis.
Michael Hoffman is Rauner’s senior adviser with oversight of the Quincy situation. He told a news conference in Quincy Thursday that the long-term goal is to build state-of-the-art living quarters for Quincy residents to reduce the chance of Legionella bacteria.
As for the Sycamore facility proposal, Senator Jil Tracy expressed concerns about using the facility after a hearing in Chicago last week. However, on Thursday, she said trusts experts who would make upgrades and make sure veterans are protected. The old Sycamore facility is listed at just under $800,000, according to Hoffman, who said the state has the money now to buy the facility, but would need additional appropriations for modular housing that could also been needed for veterans to live in during future construction.
Pressed on when exactly the administration would attach a price tag to what Rauner envisions, Hoffman said, “We’re not going to give a number at this time. But as soon as we have a plan, as soon as we have a reliable number, we will share that with the public, the General Assembly, and certainly pursue the federal option, as well.”
QUINCY — Adams County Republicans convened a political pep rally Thursday night in Quincy and brought in some heavy hitters to lead the cheering.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft were among the featured speakers at the annual Lincoln-Reagan Day dinner at the Town and Country Inn and Suites. […]
Rauner, who spoke during the social hour before hurrying to another speaking engagement at a similar Lincoln-Reagan Day event in Pike County, acknowledged he will be facing a big battle himself to get re-elected.
The press conference was thrown together, but the political event had been on the governor’s schedule for quite some time. Click here.
…Adding… What may have happened here is that Rauner realized he had to schedule something at the veterans’ home if he was going to be in town for a campaign event or he’d look horrible.
* Pritzker campaign…
Yesterday, Bruce Rauner said “nothing has taken long” about his fatal mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans’ Home that took 13 lives, but a public health expert disagrees.
One of the nation’s top infectious disease experts said it’s “mind boggling” that the state would wait six days to notify the public about the initial outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home.
“I think it’s really inexcusable,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Center for Health Security in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. “It takes you six days from seeing an epidemic to tell people that you’re seeing an epidemic? That’s six days that you’ve allowed that disease to spread in a manner that probably wouldn’t have happened if you would have known earlier because people would have been taking action. People would have been asking questions.
“If you know there is an epidemic, you need to tell people immediately,” Adalja said.
“Bruce Rauner and his administration intentionally withheld information that could have saved lives in Quincy and let this crisis spiral out of control for years,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This failed governor forced staff and residents to rely on media reports for information, and his continued refusal to take responsibility for his fatal mismanagement is an unconscionable moral failing.”
