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Illinois Policy Institute’s Lucci, Scott Walker’s Patrick hired by Rauner

Tuesday, Jul 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I told subscribers about these developments earlier today. This evening, Mary Ann Ahern published the full memo sent out today by Gov. Rauner’s new chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen…

Good morning, everyone!

Thank you for welcoming me to the team yesterday. I’m honored to join you as we position Illinois to become the most prosperous, compassionate, and free state in the nation.

As we discussed, there are four critical areas I’d like you to focus on in the coming month.

1. Please share with me your best ideas for transforming Illinois through better public policy and improved operations by Friday at 3:00 p.m. I follow the approach of Completed Staff Work; this will give you guidance on how to present your ideas.
2. We’re going to share incredible stories of the men, women, and children who deserve a revitalized Illinois. More information will follow, but here’s a good overview of where we are headed.
3. I’m looking for your excellence. How can you approach an aspect of your work in a new and better way today?
4. Mutual respect paired with radical candor will make this an even greater place to work.

I would like to announce two staff members joining us today:

Michael Lucci as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy (Chicago)
Laurel Patrick, Director of Communications (Chicago)

Tomorrow we’ll welcome Jean Hutton as my Special Assistant.

My commitment to you is to share an updated organizational chart soon so you have clarity on where changes are happening.

Again, thank you for the warm welcome

~KR

* Lucci, of course, is the Vice President of Policy for the Illinois Policy Institute, and will now be Gov. Rauner’s policy director. Read more about Lucci by clicking here. He’s also an occasional commenter on this blog.

Laurel Patrick was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s spokesperson before eventually moving to the economic-right Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Patrick replaced Brad Hahn, who was let go today. This is how Patrick describes herself on Linkedin…

Dynamic strategic communications and public relations professional with expertise in crafting messaging for high-profile elected officials and state agencies for political, legislative, and policy purposes.

Serve as an articulate spokesperson with extensive experience in media relations, message development, crisis communications, and team management. Skilled at creating communication teams, strategic plans, and building successful coalitions and partnerships with stakeholders, donors, and media partners to an organization’s mission and goals.

And Jean Hutton, Rasmussen’s new “special assistant,” is the Illinois Policy Institute’s Director of Operations. Click here for her background.

* Staff also received these three links this morning via that e-mail…

* Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss

* SCARF: a brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others

* The Doctrine of Completed Staff Work

* The JB Pritzker campaign’s response…

“The extreme right is taking over the governor’s office and Bruce Rauner is building a team to pursue a scorched earth policy in Illinois,” said Jordan Abudayyeh. “Rauner’s new radical right wing hires will destroy social services, attack working families, and tank the Illinois economy until they either get their way or drive this state into the ground.”

…Adding… “Could.” Right…

* Tribune: Rauner staff changes could signal a sharper tone

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*** UPDATED x1 - CK out *** Hahn out, more to come

Tuesday, Jul 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Subscribers know more, but, yeah, from what I’m gathering morale ain’t all that high…

The shakeup in Governor Bruce Rauner’s office continues as NBC 5 has learned Brad Hahn was fired Tuesday morning.

Hahn had served as deputy chief of staff for public engagement and communications director. He has been a longtime GOP staffer, working for both Comptroller Judy Barr Topinka and Leslie Munger.

When Hahn was hired last year, he was part of the 23 people who worked for Munger and were then hired by the Rauner administration when Munger lost her bid for re-election.

Insiders said the morale inside the Rauner office and campaign is very low among those who do not agree with the governor’s decision to shift his strategy to a more conservative tone.

Brad was top notch, but he never really fit in with the governor’s style. And now that Rauner’s office is becoming an adjunct of the Illinois Policy Institute, he’s probably much better off.

*** UPDATE *** Rauner spokesperson Catherine Kelly was just fired. What’s so unreal about this is that CK was a loyal Raunerite. She busted her tail for the governor.

CK was expected to be leaving perhaps as early as next month anyway because her husband has a job in another state. But this action today was unexpected.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** More on that Kennedy poll

Tuesday, Jul 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Chris Kennedy campaign just finished a call-in for political reporters about its latest poll. As we’ve already discussed, Kennedy’s poll has the candidate ahead of JB Pritzker 44-38. Here are a few notes…

* 45-5 positive/negative for Kennedy.

46-12 positive/negative for Pritzker.

Pawar and Biss are in “low single digits.”

In a December poll, Kennedy was leading Pritzker 34-18.

* 3 of 5 voters know both of the candidates. 80 percent know Pritzker. 70 percent know Kennedy. Among the “know both” it’s 49-37 for Kennedy.

After 4 pro-Kennedy statements were read, Kennedy’s lead went to 66-20.

* They mentioned two big problems for Pritzker in the polling. The FBI tapes of Pritzker talking to Blagojevich, for example, led to 55 percent of respondents saying they have “major doubts about supporting JB Pritzker.” That number was 60 percent on Pritzker’s property tax issues.

By contrast, the top testing negative on Kennedy was 21 percent: “He talks tough on property taxes but benefited” from property tax breaks.

A property tax issue polls worse than an FBI tapes issue. Think about that for a second. People are up in arms about property taxes, man.

* Consultant Eric Adelstein repeatedly said during the briefing that the campaign is confident that it will have the resources to get its message out and compete.

*** UPDATE *** Yesterday was the A-1 filing deadline day, and Kennedy reported a mere $438,834.92 in large contributions. That’s not good at all. [For some reason, my previous search included stuff that shouldn’t have been in there. This is a revised post.] He had $907K on hand at the beginning of the last quarter. We’ll see what their burn rate is by July 17th, when D-2s are due.

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Protected: *** UPDATED x1 *** SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Staff shakeup continues

Tuesday, Jul 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

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*** UPDATED x2 *** Kennedy’s latest poll has him holding at 44 percent

Tuesday, Jul 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

In a Garin-Hart-Yang survey conducted June 26- 29, Chris Kennedy maintained a strong lead over billionaire J.B. Pritzker, despite Pritzker spending over $8 million on a television and direct mail blitz, nearly 10 months out from the Democratic primary. Kennedy led Pritzker 44% to 38% in the trial heat. Among voters that knew both candidates, Kennedy held a larger lead 49% to 37% in the trial heat, suggesting that Kennedy has room to grow as more voters hear his message.

“Democratic primary voters want radical change in Springfield, and they aren’t falling in love with Pritzker’s big wallet,” Brendan O’Sullivan campaign manager said. “Big money talks, it doesn’t listen, and voters are tired of billionaires in both parties trying to buy their votes. It’s why Chris has maintained a strong lead even in the face of record spending against him. Voters are respond to Chris’ message of being independent of the party machine, fighting for real reforms to make Springfield work for Illinois families, and restoring the promise of the American Dream for everyone in the state.”

OK, but Kurt Summers’ poll taken in early March had Kennedy at the very same 44 percent. Pritzker was polling at just 11 percent, so he’s more than tripled his support since then. It’s cost him a pretty penny to do that, but money is apparently no object. And keep in mind that Pritzker has not run any ads against Kennedy, which could be coming.

* And we’ll see what Kennedy’s quarterly fundraising reports show. Sen. Daniel Biss may be hard to top…

We have a first look at gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss’ second quarter numbers; the Democrat says he’s preparing to report more than $1 million raised between April and June. The Biss campaign believes that will place him right up with Chris Kennedy (perhaps even surpassing Kennedy?) for second-quarter fundraising.

Breaking it down: Biss’ camp is basing this on the large-dollar contributions they’ve received. Biss’ campaign says so far he’s in the lead with an expected $560,000 raised. The largest donation, according to Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, is $100,000 from the Senate Democratic Victory Fund. A statement from the group said Biss had donated that amount to the fund last November and that it is not endorsing.

Kennedy, as of Sunday, had roughly $400,000 in large-dollar contributions and Pawar had $79,000. Of course, billionaire J.B. Pritzker far outpaces the Democratic field because he is self-funding. He has given $14 million to his own campaign thus far.

Totals: “Biss now sits with over $2.3 million cash on hand,” a release from his campaign states. “The second quarter haul came from more than 2,700 donors representing over 230 cities and towns across Illinois. Two-thirds of Biss’s Q2 donations were for under $100, and 95% of them came from in-state.” Full second-quarter filings are due July 17.

*** UPDATE 1 *** On background, I’m told by the Kennedy folks that the poll “is not good for JB.” Pritzker, they say, has a “low ceiling” and “explosive negatives. The electorate, they claim, “wants to go with Kennedy by every measure.”

They’re having a press briefing at 1:30, so we’ll know more then.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Pritzker campaign…

“It’s exciting to see Chris Kennedy’s own internal polling numbers confirming the surging support and enthusiasm that JB has been feeling around the state,” said Pritzker campaign manager Anne Caprara. “A 27-point polling jump in three months would be exciting for any campaign, but it’s particularly encouraging given the strong recognition of the Kennedy name. JB is proud to be growing his support with Illinois’ working families and grateful to Chris Kennedy for letting people know.”

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