* The Cook Political Report has compiled a list of where Republican congresscritters stand on Donald Trump. I’ve added Illinois names in brackets after each category…
1 True Believers (14) - endorsed Trump by name before the Indiana primary [N/A]
2 Eager Unifiers (66) - endorsed Trump by name after the Indiana primary [Shimkus]
3 Reluctant Endorsers (59) - has endorsed Trump by name, with reservations [Bost, LaHood]
4 Non-Namers (48) - has stated support for the “nominee,” but not by name [R. Davis]
5 Quiet Observers (27) - hasn’t made a definitive public statement regarding Trump [Roskam]
6 Hesitant Holdouts (20) - publicly undecided on whether to support Trump [Hultgren, Kinzinger]
7 True Skeptics (13) - has stated he/she will not vote for or endorse Trump [Dold]
…Adding… Related…
Bernard Schoenburg: Rep. Davis says Trump meeting went well: “I don’t agree with everything Donald Trump says and the stances he puts out, and I don’t agree with everything Mark Kirk says and the stances that he puts out. But they’re both the Republican candidates on the ballot, and … I’m going to support them both,” Davis said. In early June, Davis called “racist and unacceptable” Trump’s initial criticism of a federal judge, born in Indiana but of Mexican descent, presiding over a case involving Trump University. But Davis didn’t withdraw support for Trump at the time. And in the interview Friday, when asked about a tweet Trump’s campaign disseminated in early July featuring a picture of HILLARY CLINTON, $100 bills and a six-pointed star many took to be the Jewish Star of David, Davis said, “I don’t think I can comment on his intent” or reaction. “I don’t agree with everything that any candidate at any level of office says 100 percent of the time,” Davis said.
…Adding More… Cheri Bustos’ GOP opponent backs Trump. It’s not yet clear where Bill Foster’s opponent stands.
* This rumor was raging all day yesterday. No official confirmation yet, but here’s Michael Sneed…
Top tip!
Sneed is told Hillary Clinton just penned in a morning rally in Springfield on Wednesday, before she heads to Chicago for a fundraiser at the North Shore home of Laura Ricketts.
Police sources say they’ve been told to expect the visit. And word was that it’ll be at the Old State Capitol. But, again, nobody has yet confirmed that it’s actually happening.
…Adding… I just got a message from the Clinton campaign confirming the visit. However, “Details are still coming together,” I was told.
…Adding More… From the campaign…
Hillary Clinton will travel to Springfield, Illinois on Wednesday, July 13 for an event to discuss building an America that is stronger together and an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.
Additional details on the event will be released soon.
Sen. Mark Kirk’s campaign released an ad attacking challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth’s lawsuit settlement. The ad charges that Duckworth ‘humiliated and bullied’ employees and spent $26,000 of taxpayers’ money to fight the suit.
A preliminary review of federal television station records show what appears to be a limited buy for the ad, with only $35,000 being spent alone on Chicago stations ABC-7 and NBC-5.
Unless they up the buy, this is essentially a press release ad.
Those numbers are just through this Tuesday and the ad was just trafficked so it isn’t showing up on all the stations. It will have sufficient points behind it to drive the message.
Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, widely considered to be the most vulnerable Republican senator up for re-election this year, raised only $1 million in the second quarter of 2016, his campaign announced, a modest sum for a highly competitive race.
Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Mr. Kirk’s Democratic opponent, raised $2.7 million. She ended the second quarter with $5.5 million cash on hand, compared with Mr. Kirk’s $3.1 million.
Though the race is considered a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, Mr. Kirk has all but lost the financial backing of national Republicans, with groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee and One Nation sitting the race out entirely.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
In response to Mark Kirk’s desperate new attack ad — which is in reality a $35,000 press release that won’t be widely seen by Illinois voters — Duckworth deputy campaign manager Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“Tammy Duckworth served 23 years in the National Guard and nearly lost her life in service of her country, and she has made fighting for Veterans her life’s work, with tangible results. Mark Kirk, on the other hand, lies with such ease and frequency, both about his own military record and his political opponents, it’s hard to keep up. Here he is once again overhyping a civil case that a federal judge called a ‘garden variety workplace case’ before dismissing it, and which was eventually settled at ‘nuisance value,’ saving taxpayer dollars.
“This dishonest attack is also plainly an attempt to distract from his abysmal fundraising, which he released Friday night, and which indicates that even though Kirk always does the bidding of Wall Street and the corporate special interests that have funded his campaigns for 16 years, the gravy train is running dry.” — Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
