The same day Elon Musk fires half of Twitter. It’s an official verified account for the spokesperson of the Governor of 5th largest state in the nation. Here’s hoping this was a rare occurrence. https://t.co/ZSwKQ7UvaW
The family of a murdered Chicago Police officer is calling out Governor JB Pritzker as the parole board comes under renewed criticism over prisoner releases.
“I think Governor Pritzker has blood on his hands for releasing these inmates,” said Jean Cable, the niece of a murdered police officer. […]
Cabel still incensed more than a year after the Illinois Prisoner Review Board released convicted cop killer Johnny Veal. He was sent to prison for 100-300 years for the 1970 Cabrini-Green sniper killing of her uncle, Police Sgt. James Severin, and his partner Anthony Rizzato. […]
“What’s going on with the Illinois parole board? I don’t like it. I don’t know what they’re doing,” Cabel added.
* Dan Proft’s PAC released a TV ad about the case the other day…
“My message to the governor,” Cabel says in the ad, “would be ’shame on you.’”
The Proft spot is called an “outrageous TV ad that should insult us all.” The ad points out that the governor cannot parole anyone and the announcer states “the [Proft] ad is 100 percent false.”
* Proft’s PAC today…
There will be a virtual PRESS CONFERENCE at 11AM CT Today hosted by People Who Play By The Rules PAC with JEAN CABEL, the niece of slain Chicago Police Officer Sgt. James Severin, to respond to a malicious commercial recently put out by sitting Illinois Governor JB Pritzker that attacked Cabel’s character. […]
Pritzker’s ad in essence calls the niece of Sgt. James Severin a liar, claiming that everything in her ad with PBR PAC is “100% false.”
In reality, everything in our ad is 100% true.
After a brief statement she will take questions from the media.
At press time, the Pritzker campaign has not made their ad available on their public YouTube channel, not surprisingly, but we have it and will play it at the press conference.
I got the Pritzker ad from Proft’s PAC. Isabel will be covering the press conference, so stay tuned for any updates.
The truth is that Governor Pritzker is directly responsible for the composition and integrity of his Prisoner Review Board. As a family member of a Chicago police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1970, I have spent my entire adult life maintaining his honor and working tirelessly alongside with both families to keep two convicted cop killers in prison. My family and the family of Anthony Rizzato have been fighting this horrific battle for 40 years. My recent involvement in a political ad only stated that truth. The family of Jim Severin and Tony Rizzato have been associated with eight cooperative Governors of the state of Illinois all the way back to Governor Ogilvie. These governors understood what the judge was trying to say to future generations with a sentence of 100 to 300 years. This all stopped when JB Pritzker was put in office in 2019.
The governor’s office says that the case had “only one other parole hearing in 2014. We checked the file and there are not letters from previous governors in it.”
For months, the People Who Play By The Rules PAC, run by one-time failed candidate and Florida resident Dan Proft, has been running ads funded by Dick Uihlein to support Darren Bailey’s run for governor. By law, PACs cannot coordinate with individual campaigns, but new reporting sheds light on Proft and Bailey’s relationship that begs the question: What is Dan Proft doing for the Bailey campaign and why?
• The political committee is an independent expenditure PAC and, by law, is not supposed to coordinate its spending activities with Bailey’s campaign. But the apparent efforts by Proft — who also co-hosts a conservative radio show for which Bailey has been a frequent guest — to try to intercede in a potential legal matter involving Bailey indicate he may be playing a larger role than previously acknowledged.
• Proft also is involved in political mailers disguised as newspapers that have been sent to thousands of homes across the state, disseminating disinformation to disparage Pritzker. In 2016, a similar mailing effort funded by a former Proft independent expenditure PAC was cited by the Illinois State Board of Elections for illegal coordination with candidates.
• An internal dispute between Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey’s campaign and a recently departed Bailey political worker has raised questions about the level of involvement the conservative leader of a Bailey-aligned political action committee has had with the Bailey campaign.
• During those negotiations, Proft weighed in, apparently in an effort to quash the filing of a possible lawsuit in the matter that could become public and hurt Bailey’s chances.
• Asked to clarify, the campaign did not respond.
With hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans already casting their ballots and thousands more headed to the polls this weekend, Darren Bailey’s campaign must answer about his relationship with Dan Proft. With just four days to go, voters deserve to know: Why did Bailey fire Brett Corrigan and why was Dan Proft involved in an internal HR dispute?
Corrigan declined to comment and referred all questions to his attorney, Scott Kaspar of Orland Park. Kaspar said Corrigan attended Bailey’s private Full Armor Christian Academy in downstate Louisville, Illinois, and lived with Bailey’s family on their farm in nearby Xenia. Corrigan on the campaign trail served largely as a “body man” for the Republican governor candidate, who is also a state senator, closely following Bailey at events and assisting Bailey as he needed. Since June 2021, state campaign finance records show, he was paid $18,861 by Bailey’s campaign.
But around mid-September, Corrigan left Bailey’s campaign — whether he was fired or left on his own is a matter of dispute, his attorney said. Corrigan now serves a similar role for GOP attorney general candidate Tom DeVore, whose campaign Corrigan joined almost immediately after leaving Bailey’s.
In an interview, DeVore said he was aware of a dispute between Corrigan and Bailey’s campaign and that the two sides were trying to reconcile their differences. DeVore had no comment when asked about any involvement by Proft.
The penalty appears to be a fine.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Pritzker campaign…
The best read of the law suggests the State Board of Elections could impose a fine of as much as $28,083,000 on the [Proft] PAC should they find a violation. We haven’t found examples of fines that large, but that amount should be possible under the IE statute, as described in more detail below.
If an independent expenditure committee (in this case, People Who Play By The Rules PAC) makes a contribution to candidate committee, the State Board of Elections assesses a fine on the committee equal to the amount of any contribution received in the preceding 2 years by the independent expenditure committee that exceeded the limits a [normal, non-independent] PAC may accept in an election cycle. 10 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-8.6(d). For background, a normal PAC in IL may accept $12,000 per year from individuals, $24,000 per year from corporations, unions, or associations, $59,900 per year from candidate committees, $24,000 per year from party committees, and $59,900 per year from other PACS. Id. 5/9-8.5; see also IL State Board of Elections, Contribution Limits Per Election Cycle (Jan. 1, 2021), https://www.elections.il.gov/downloads/campaigndisclosure/pdf/contributionsummary.pdf. So, any contribution the PAC received in excess of those limits could be imposed against them as a fine in the event of a violation.
Because PACs may accept $12,000 per year from individuals, the excess of any individual contribution over $12k will count towards the fine. 10 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-8.5; see also IL State Board of Elections, Contribution Limits Per Election Cycle (Jan. 1, 2021), https://www.elections.il.gov/downloads/campaigndisclosure/pdf/contributionsummary.pdf.
Since the People Who Play By The Rules PAC was formed in March 2022, it has reported $28,095,000 in contributions from Richard Uihlein—which is $28,083,000 above the limit Uihlein could give to a normal PAC as an individual. See generally People Who Play By The Rules PAC, Committee Details, https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?ID=meYU8YumQ1UjlydtIJRv9w%3d%3d (last visited Nov. 4, 2022). Should the State Board of Elections find that the PAC illegality coordinated with the Bailey Campaign, its fine could therefore exceed $28 million.
A $28 million fine? Whew.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The Democratic Party of Illinois has filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections, according to the Tribune, and the Dems have revised the possible penalty upwards to $42 million…
We’ve updated the figures to include all of Uihlein’s contributions to the PAC, including the one on the October A-1. Based on all contributions, the fine could exceed $42 million. Revised version below.
he best read of the law suggests the State Board of Elections could impose a fine of as much as $42,018,000 on the PAC should they find a violation. We haven’t found examples of fines that large, but that amount should be possible under the IE statute, as described in more detail below.
If an independent expenditure committee (in this case, People Who Play By The Rules PAC) makes a contribution to candidate committee, the State Board of Elections assesses a fine on the committee equal to the amount of any contribution received in the preceding 2 years by the independent expenditure committee that exceeded the limits a [normal, non-independent] PAC may accept in an election cycle. 10 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-8.6(d). For background, a normal PAC in IL may accept $12,000 per year from individuals, $24,000 per year from corporations, unions, or associations, $59,900 per year from candidate committees, $24,000 per year from party committees, and $59,900 per year from other PACS. Id. 5/9-8.5; see also IL State Board of Elections, Contribution Limits Per Election Cycle (Jan. 1, 2021), https://www.elections.il.gov/downloads/campaigndisclosure/pdf/contributionsummary.pdf. So, any contribution the PAC received in excess of those limits could be imposed against them as a fine in the event of a violation.
Because PACs may accept $12,000 per year from individuals, the excess of any individual contribution over $12k will count towards the fine. 10 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-8.5; see also IL State Board of Elections, Contribution Limits Per Election Cycle (Jan. 1, 2021), https://www.elections.il.gov/downloads/campaigndisclosure/pdf/contributionsummary.pdf.
Since the People Who Play By The Rules PAC was formed in March 2022, it has reported $42,018,000 in contributions from Richard Uihlein—which is $42,006,000 above the limit Uihlein could give to a normal PAC as an individual. See generally People Who Play By The Rules PAC, Committee Details, https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?ID=meYU8YumQ1UjlydtIJRv9w%3d%3d (last visited Nov. 4, 2022). Should the State Board of Elections find that the PAC illegality coordinated with the Bailey Campaign, its fine could therefore exceed $42 million.
Mr. Proft has consistently acted in “cooperation, consultation, or concert” with the Bailey Campaign. The examples are endless. For example, Mr. Proft co-hosts a conservative radio show in which Mr. Bailey has been a frequent guest. In one instance, Mr. Proft talks about the millions he has spent supporting the Bailey Campaign, with Mr. Bailey on the line, saying that he “supported Darren Bailey through the super PAC that I run in the primary. And I’m supporting him through the super PAC that I run into the general too.”
Jimmy Kimmel spotted a pretty unusual political ad that was made for a candidate in Illinois but that’s getting attention far beyond the state’s borders for an unexpected endorsement.
It’s “not a major name,” Kimmel noted. “But a really good one.”
That name? Dick Bigger Jr., a farmer featured in a spot for Susana Mendoza, a Democrat seeking reelection as state comptroller.
* Longtime readers will remember Tim Nieukirk, who ran for governor in 2006 as a write-in. We profiled the “Get Nieuked” campaign’s YouTube “ads” on the blog and Fox News eventually did a piece on him. He even showed up for my bipartisan preelection party. I’ve invited Dick Bigger Jr. to this year’s event.
The @illinoissbe has updated early vote totals (11/03/22): Total VBM requested: 866,786 Total VBM returned: 489,730 Total VBM outstanding: 377,056 Return Rate: 57% Total Early Vote: 471,451 Total Grace Period: 7,705 Total Already Voted: 968,886https://t.co/44ga6AxRbY
* Back to the SAFE-T Act. The Tribune gets it right…
[Republican Rich Janor] has repeatedly accused [Rep. Janet Yang Rohr’s, D-Naperville] of being soft on crime. He inaccurately claimed in a League of Women Voters forum in October that under the SAFE-T Act a police officer couldn’t remove a trespasser sitting in someone’s living room watching TV.
While the law mandates tickets instead of arrests for misdemeanors such as trespassing, an Illinois Supreme Court task force has said police retain the ability to remove a person before issuing a citation.
…Adding… Since we’re talking about the SAFE-T Act, this is from a text message today…
* DPI media advisory…
Vice President Kamala Harris will rally with Illinois Democrats at 2:00pm on Sunday, November 6th.
WHEN: 12:00pm doors, 2:00pm event start, Sunday, November 6, 2022
WHERE: XS Tennis and Education Foundation, 5336 S State St, Chicago
The race for Congress in the west suburban 6th District, where incumbent Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, faces GOP nominee and Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, has taken a turn toward the competitive after appearing to be solidly favorable for Casten. […]
The first sign that the contest had tightened occurred in late October when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid a visit for an event with Casten. And one of Pelosi’s big funding vehicles, the House Majority PAC, poured $630,000 into pro-Casten ads.
Since then, three different major national handicappers—Real Clear Politics, Politico and the Cook Political Report—have moved their forecasts in the GOP direction, though two of the three say Casten still has a real, if reduced, edge. […]
Casten’s folks say they always expected the race to narrow at the end, given that most of the newly remapped district was previously represented by someone else. Casten will continue to attack Pekau on issues like abortion while Pekau says he supports abortion in cases of rape, incest and risks to the mother’s life. But Pekau also praised the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed states to ban all abortions.
* ILGOP Statement on President Biden’s visit to Illinois…
Today, President Joe Biden visits Illinois for a series of rallies to bail out sputtering Congressional Democrats in the Chicago suburbs. ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy issued the following statement:
“As the Biden economy sputters, races for suburban Congressional Democrats once thought safe are trending in the wrong direction. Now President Biden is making a last-ditch effort to dig them out of the hole they dug together. Senator Duckworth, Congressmen Sean Casten, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Bill Foster, and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood have all spent two years supporting the inflation-fueling Biden-Pelosi spending binge every step of the way. Now with historic inflation fueling skyrocketing gas and grocery prices, they can follow their spending binge to its final destination - out of office on the morning of November 9th.”
A recent New York Times poll indicated that 44% of likely voters cite the economy and inflation as their most important issues. The U.S. economy is facing its highest inflation rate in 40 years as a direct result of runaway spending by President Biden and Congressional Democrats that even respected Democrat economists warned could fuel the historic inflation we are now experiencing. Reps. Casten, Krishnamoorthi, Foster, and Underwood supported this spending agenda at every turn.
RealClearPolitics recently moved Casten (IL-6) and Underwood’s (IL-14) races from Lean D to toss-up as the Congressional Leadership Fund announced a massive seven-figure investment in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District race.
America is facing challenging times. Inflation is skyrocketing, as the cost of everything from gas to groceries continues to rise. Everyday Americans are struggling to keep their heads above water with a shaky stock market and economic uncertainty. On the world stage, America’s stature continues to shrink, after a hasty and bloody exit from Afghanistan and a seemingly never-ending stalemate in Ukraine. As the nation finally exits the COVID pandemic and looks ahead to the 2022 mid-term elections and beyond, issues like abortion, gun control, and education remain top of mind for voters. In Illinois, voters face the opportunity to replace Gov. JB Pritzker after nearly four years of disastrous COVID policies that have left the state struggling to recover.
Amid these many challenges, conservatives from across the Midwest will come together for Freedom Summit 2022 on Saturday, November 5, 2022 — just a few short days before the critical mid-term elections. Attendees will have the chance to consider these important issues, as they are discussed and debated by some of the country’s most prominent conservative voices. This one-day event will feature speakers, break-out sessions, and book signings. As we prepare to head to the polls for thes critical mid-term elections, this event should not be missed.
Hear from keynote speakers Alex Berenson, Brandon Tatum, and Larry Elder, as well as break-out panels on the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic, election integrity, and much more.
Dan Proft is also a featured speaker. Dennis Reboletti, who is running for the Senate this year, will be on a panel with DeVore, Stephanie Trussell and Tyrone Muhammad (whose group got into that tussle with police the other day). It’ll be moderated by John Anthony, who was fired from IDOC for sexual harassment.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Chicago Tribune | President Joe Biden implores voters to save democracy from lies ahead of midterms: The president’s speech — focused squarely on the rite of voting and the counting of that vote — amounted to a plea for Americans to step back from the inflamed rhetoric that has heightened fears of political violence and challenges to the integrity of the elections. Biden was straddling two roles, speaking as both a president defending the pillars of democracy and a Democrat trying to boost his party’s prospects against Republicans. He called out the hundreds of candidates who have denied the 2020 election result and now refuse to commit to accepting the results of the upcoming midterms. “This driving force is trying to succeed where they failed in 2020 to suppress the rights of voters and subvert the electoral system itself,” Biden said. “That is the path to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful. And it is un-American.”
* Chicago Tribune | Getting out the vote in 2022: Text messages, social media posts, rallies, door knocking and a drag show : As voting continues through Tuesday along with the TV ads, the campaigns for governor, their local party organizations and their allies are relying on traditional strategies such as sending teams to canvass door-to-door and phone banking. They are also using more recent techniques such as digital ads, social media and text messaging. “There are several thousand people knocking on doors across Illinois and making phone calls,” Bailey said in one of his near daily Facebook Live posts on Tuesday.
* Quad-City Times | IL Comptroller, local officials call on state to timely pay families of fallen first responders : Surrounded by local police, firefighters, EMS personnel and elected state and local officials in Moline Wednesday, Mendoza detailed House Bill 5785, which aims to ensure timely compensation is given to the next of kin of those who perish in the line of duty. The bill would ensure a continuing line of funding is available without disruption, so there is no delay to the families.
* Register-Mail | Halpin spends more than twice as much as Thoms in District 36 Senate race: A look at third quarter (July 1 to Sept. 30) contributions and spending of the two candidates shows Halpin with a clear financial advantage. Halpin spent nearly $1.9 million for his campaign during the third quarter, more than doubling the campaign spending for Thoms, $767,979.
* Belleville News-Democrat | Here’s what happened when Madison County sent incorrect ballots to voters in this precinct: Madison County mistakenly sent ballots that included six judicial candidates for the Nov. 8 election to residents in one Edwardsville precinct, but County Clerk Debbie Ming Mendoza said efforts are underway to correct the mistake. Some residents of Precinct 3 received ballots that incorrectly listed judicial candidates in the newly created Subcircuit 1 of the 3rd Judicial Circuit. However, this precinct is not located in Subcircuit 1.
* WAND | African-American voters in Champaign receiving false texts about voting locations: “These messages are not affiliated with the Champaign County Clerk’s office. They were sent by a third-party vendor of an organization called Black Voters Matter. Black Voters Matter contracted with a third-party vendor to send push notifications to voters,” said Ammons. The messages stated that the residents would now have to drive to Gifford, Illinois to cast their vote. “I have not had an opportunity to speak to anyone from Black Voters Matter or Movement Labs. We wanted to immediately jump on this to make sure that our voters here in Champaign County got the accurate information that they need to make sure they know that it did not come from the election authority here locally and what they can do to resolve the issue,” stated Ammons.
People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new :30 TV spot, “Last Dance.” It will run on Illinois TV stations this week and can be seen on YouTube and on the PBR PAC Facebook page.
*Unmodified footage of Pritzker ineptly dancing on stage
Hearing what Pritzker says about Black elected officials when he thinks no one is listening.
ABC7 broadcaster, 2018: “Newly released FBI recording of Democratic gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker is causing a deep split in the African-American community.”
“Of all the African Americans I can think that are sort of like qualified as least offensive, it’s Jesse White. Emil [Jones] is a little more crass.” -Pritzker from Blagojevich FBI tapes
Alderman Anthony Beale, 9th Ward, 2018: “This is a slap in our face, taking our community for granted. This is not the kind of leadership that we need at this time.”
PUNISH PRITZKER FOR HIS RACISM.
Paid for by People Who Play By The Rules PAC
* React from Secretary of State Jesse White…
I have known JB Pritzker for more than 30 years and I consider him a very good friend. I also consider him the best governor that Illinois has had in my lifetime.
As governor and as a private citizen, JB has supported not only the African-American community, but all communities throughout the state. I know where his heart is and he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body.
To manipulate a taped phone conversation and to use it in a political commercial, as it reflects the Governor’s views, is highly offensive.
I strongly encourage the people of Illinois to ignore this desperate political ad.
* Ald. Anthony Beale…
Last night I discovered that Dan Profit, on behalf of the Republican Party, has created a commercial that uses my image and words to disparage Governor JB Pritzker.
Profit did not gain my permission or consent to ues my image or words. Rather, he took a sentence said years ago out of context in a crass attempt to diminish the vote for Governor Pritzker by implying that I am critical of the governor.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Over the last four years, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Governor Pritzker on a variety of issues––and I’ve seen firsthand the impact his administration’s investments have made in our communities. Darren Bailey, Dan Proft, and their racist, fear-mongering propaganda machine have never once stood up for Black and brown families, and their attempts to use us as political pawns in the final days of this election is sickening.
Dan Profit did not ask my permission to appear in this ad––and had he asked I would have unequivocally refused. I demand that he take this ad off the air immediately, and will be pursuing all legal remedies available.
Not sure if he has a legal leg to stand on, but what do you think of the ad?
…Adding… Natalie Edelstein at the Pritzker campaign…
“If your strategy five days from Election Day is attempting to suppress the Black vote, you’re losing.”
* Related…
* How anti-Pritzker PAC is trying to suppress the Black vote in Chicago: One interpretation could be that it’s just an attempt to persuade Black voters to support Bailey. However, since the fear-mongering flyers and signs do not push Bailey’s candidacy, the strategy appears to be to depress Black voter turnout for Pritzker, political operatives said. Democratic political consultant Ron Holmes, a veteran of many campaigns in Illinois where turning out the Black vote has been critical, said these Proft PAC appeals are “directly aimed at ensuring Black voters stay at home rather than vote for candidates who have been working in their best interests.”
