Former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti announced Monday his intention to run against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Fioretti announced his candidacy at the Lansing Municipal Airport in the far south suburb Monday morning, choosing that location to highlight the difference in taxes Cook County has faced versus those across the state border in Indiana, he said.
“A penny earned is not a penny saved, it’s a new tax,” said Fioretti, who began circulating petitions to put his name on the ballot once the contentious Cook County sweetened beverage tax fizzled in October. Signatures are due Dec. 4 for the primary election to be held on March 20, 2018.
During the pop tax debate, Fioretti weighed in by setting up a website calling for repeal of the penny-an-ounce tax on sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages. His was just one of many voices pushing for repeal amid a multimillion-dollar Can the Tax campaign funded by the beverage industry. […]
After being zoned out of his ward during the once-a-decade council redistricting, Fioretti was among four challengers to Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011. He placed fourth with 7.4 percent of the vote, then endorsed Emanuel in the runoff contest over county Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Late last month, Fioretti filed the paperwork to establish the “Bob for Cook County” campaign fund. To date, he’s reported no major contributions, and his most recent quarterly report for his mayoral campaign fund shows debts exceeding cash in the bank by $86,000.
Preckwinkle, by contrast, had nearly $361,000 in her campaign fund at the end of September and has received more than $27,000 in large contributions since then.
He was also badly clobbered when he tried to run for the state Senate last year, losing a primary to Sen. Patricia Van Pelt 68-32.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Preckwinkle for President’s Political Director Scott Kastrup Statement on Bob Fioretti’s Announcement to Run For Cook County President
“President Preckwinkle is focused on navigating the county through tough economic circumstances and leading on behalf of the people of Cook County. Her strong record of reforming county government and improving access to healthcare speaks for itself. She has been a national leader in the efforts to reform our criminal justice system; as a result, we have reduced the county jail population by 30 percent. In addition, the President has championed bail reform efforts that have significantly reduced the number of non-violent offenders and poor individuals in the jail.”
“President Preckwinkle has broad support across the county and is in a strong position to win re-election in March,” said Preckwinkle for President’s Political Director Scott Kastrup.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Gov. Rauner Our Home Our Fight Tour - Monday, November 13th
Governor Rauner will be on a tour across Illinois this week discussing his agenda. He will be visiting businesses across the state focusing on the next steps our state needs to overcome the corrupt system in Springfield and enact real reform that gives power back to the people.
See below for Monday’s events […]
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM: Decatur Business Visit and Media Availability
T/CCI Manufacturing
2120 N. 22nd St., Decatur, IL 62526
The governor will tour the facility and take questions from the media
12:30 PM - 1:15 PM: Champaign Business Visit and Media Availability
Pavlov Media
206 N. Randolph St #200, Champaign, IL 61820
The governor will tour the facility and take questions from the media
* Monday Pritzker press release…
Today, Bruce Rauner is kicking off a campaign tour with what should be called his “Home I Fought to Destroy Tour.” Rauner begins his tour with stops in Champaign and Decatur, two cities particularly devastated by his 736-day manufactured budget crisis:
From the Decatur Herald & Review: In Macon County, the budget deadlock threatened a spectrum of social service agencies, causing Baby TALK to lay off much of its staff and jeopardizing the future of the city’s only domestic violence shelter. It halted road projects and construction of Richland Community College’s Student Success Center and left schools holding the bag on tens of thousands of dollars trapped in a payment backlog.
From “Don’t minimize damage done to state already,” a Herald & Review editorial: Yet, after two years without a budget, those who depend on state money have cut programs, cut staff, cut recipients. […] “It will take years of hard work to reverse the damage that has been done,” Illinois State University President Larry Dietz said in a letter to faculty and staff. […] The lack of a budget, and subsequent [social service] agency and school cuts, had immediate repercussions, but more importantly, will have long-term ramifications for individuals, counties and the state.
From the Champaign News-Gazette: The two-year state budget impasse that ended in July took a toll on faculty salaries and undergraduate recruitment… The [University of Illinois] Urbana campus has slipped to 19th in its peer group of 22 universities nationally in faculty salaries, she said. It also saw an increase in faculty departures during the budget impasse. “We’ve lost ground,” [EVP of Academic Affairs Barb] Wilson said. “We’re not competitive.”
From Chicago Tribune: At public universities, officials and workers say some doctors and dentists, particularly those outside an insurance plan’s provider network, increasingly asked patients to pick up the state’s tab during the impasse. […] In downstate Urbana-Champaign and Springfield, where dentists are typically out-of-network providers, most University of Illinois employees are paying their full tabs upfront and waiting for the state to reimburse them, according to Thomas Hardy, a university spokesman.
“Bruce Rauner is kicking off his ‘Home I Fought to Destroy Tour’ with photo ops in cities he decimated across the state,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “For Champaign and Decatur, Rauner’s budget crisis did irreparable harm and the fight now is to defeat this failed governor and clean up the damage he’s done to our state.”
…Adding… DGA…
One month after announcing his reelection, and two months after signing HB40, Bruce Rauner finally comes out of hiding to actually campaign for reelection. Today, Rauner launches his “Our Home, Our Fight” tour with visits to Decatur and Champaign, two cities hit hard by the state’s budget impasse. So far Rauner’s “fighting” has been relegated to campaign ads and desperately staving off disaster during the veto session, but today he’s set to get out there and press some flesh.
Rauner’s been hiding for good reason. With Rauner’s approval rating at 34%, voters clearly have lots of questions they want to ask the failed Governor, like:
Why did Rauner fight against finding compromise, instead of forcing Illinois through a two-year budget impasse?
Why job growth has slowed at home under his watch? “Our home” was the third worst at creating jobs over the past year.
Does Rauner regret that his fights pushed the state further into debt and forced its credit rating fall to the lowest rating ever for a U.S. state?
When he’s not trashing the state at home, why does Rauner thinks he can brag about the state’s higher education system while the budget impasse decimated Illinois colleges and universities?
Why has Rauner been fighting for himself, and not Illinois?
As the nation’s most vulnerable incumbent, Rauner’s got a lot of fighting to do to win back voters’ trust.
“Governor Rauner should call this the Our Home, No Fight tour – because he refuses to fight for Illinois’ economy and families,” DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “The only thing Governor Rauner will fight for is his own political career, and it shows. Under Rauner’s failed record, jobs and people are still moving out, debt is up, and services are decimated. No wonder he’s been avoiding voters.”
Chris Kennedy’s campaign for governor will begin airing its first television ad of the campaign starting tomorrow. The ad features Kennedy discussing the violence that plagues our state. In addition to the TV ad, the campaign will also release a digital ad tomorrow.
The Kennedy campaign isn’t saying how much the ads, which will air in the Chicago media market, will cost. “It’s just the beginning,” says a spokeswoman. But trade sources suggest it’s around $125,000—a modest figure as these things go, particularly compared to the tens of millions of dollars that Democratic rival J.B. Pritzker has spent, but still telling.
* Trade sources…
$$ ALERT @KennedyforIL booked TV from 11/14-11/19. We've seen a total of $125k in Chicago.
