* Russell Lissau at the Daily Herald…
Suburban congressional candidate Keith Pekau is taking heat for accepting an award from a group that called sex education standards “perverse” and has made transphobic social media posts.
Pekau, the mayor of Orland Park and the Republican nominee in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, received an Advancing Freedom Award from Awake Illinois in March for what the Naperville-based group called “his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Pekau and the village board refused to enforce any mask or vaccination mandates from Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Awake Illinois also added Pekau to its list of “Warriors” — people it says are “effecting positive change in their communities and throughout the state” — and it promoted his congressional candidacy.
Pekau went on to win the GOP nomination in June. He’ll face incumbent Democrat Sean Casten of Downers Grove in the Nov. 8 general election.
Casten press release…
Earlier this year, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau accepted an award from the far-right group Awake Illinois for his disregard of public health measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
“Not only did Keith Pekau jeopardize the lives of his constituents throughout the pandemic, but he accepted an award from far-right extremists thanking him for ignoring public health officials,” said Casten for Congress Spokesman Jacob Vurpillat. “That tells you everything you need to know about his style of leadership.”
Awake Illinois has recently been in the news for its connection to the targeting of UpRising Bakery in Lake in the Hills. Members of Awake IL promoted a protest of the drag brunch with a local Proud Boys’ chapter, another far-right extremist group with ties to the January 6th insurrection and anti-LGBTQ+ protests across the country.
“Hate has no home in Illinois,” Vurpillat continued. “If Keith Pekau agrees with that sentiment, he’ll disavow Awake Illinois and their history of homophobia and racism.”
* From a Brenden Moore piece on social media posts by Darren Bailey and JB Pritzker…
Given the candid nature of Bailey’s messages, it would not be surprising if more are flagged for controversial statements.
Yep…
In context and everything. Click here for a link to that Bailey Facebook post.
* Speaking of Bailey…
Bailey released a video to The Center Square in response to Pritzker’s claim [about the $2 million in federal government aid he’s accepted]. In his video, Bailey took a shot at the Pritzker family fortune.
“J.B. Pritzker, you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth,” Bailey said. “You inherited billions of dollars from your family. You have millions stashed away on islands that most people have never heard of. Yet, you have never woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worrying about keeping a job.”
The Republican candidate also said the incumbent Democrat has never experienced a hard day’s work.
“You have never worked a day in your life, and you will criticize me about how I run my farm. How dare you?” Bailey said. “You are the trust fund kid on the school playground pushing all the regular kids around and making fun of their bagged lunches.”
$2 million would fill up a pretty big lunch bag. /s
* MyPillow’s Mike Lindell referenced an Illinois US Senate loser on Steve Bannon’s podcast earlier this week…
Because of these machines, it almost just reminds me of the 2020 election. All of a sudden they’re not done counting now? What? I mean I thought they were machines, boom, here’s your winner, you know. And it’s disgusting. This is called, when you override the algorithms, when you override this, you override the machine sheet, now they’ve got to figure out a way. Is there a way we can backfill this? Is there a way we can backfill? Steve, this just happened to Peggy Hubbard in Illinois. They, they stopped the count in Illinois three weeks ago and they dumped 30,000 votes on her opponent and she and she lost. She was winning.
Oh, for crying out loud. At no time in the evening was Hubbard ahead. This was all debunked here.
…Adding… Oops. I totally forgot to include this Tribune story…
A former Illinois attorney who retired to Texas and two conservative political action committees filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging recently approved restrictions on campaign contributions to judicial candidates in Illinois on First Amendment grounds.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago by the conservative Liberty Justice Center on behalf of John Matthew Chancey, Fair Courts America and Restoration PAC, comes three months before Illinois voters will cast ballots in two state Supreme Court races that will determine whether Democrats maintain their 4-3 majority on the state’s highest court.
Seeking to preserve Democratic control of all three branches of state government, Democrats in the legislature approved a measure last year that bars judicial candidates from receiving campaign cash from out-of-state contributors and groups that don’t disclose their donors.
This year, lawmakers approved another measure that bans contributions in excess of $500,000 per election cycle from a single source to independent expenditure committees set up to support or oppose judicial candidates.
In their lawsuit, Chancey and the PACs argue that both laws violate free-speech rights established in cases including the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision, which opened the door to unlimited political contributions.
Restoration of America…
At Restoration of America, we know the timeless foundation of America’s peace and prosperity is turning to God and the enforcement of just laws. We know that in our current era our nation’s most significant threats are twofold: internally – the elite, Marxist neo-liberals and, externally – Communist China. We defend our nation by electing like-minded leaders and by creating organizations and campaigns that promote fully transparent elections, economic freedom, limited government, military superiority, secure borders, rule of law, and the sanctity of life.
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We fearlessly pursue the Restoration of America.
Fair Courts America…
Fair Courts America is the nation’s premier organization dedicated to preserving the Founders’ intent that the judicial branch of government renders equal justice under the law.
Through public education and advocacy, Fair Courts America connects voters with vital information about candidates for public offices that affect the courts, both judicial and prosecutorial. Progressive activists seek to take control of the courts away from the people, to enact a liberal agenda resulting in violence and crime in our communities and creating victims of our neighbors. Fair Courts America is committed to standing against this tide, uniting voters across the political spectrum, and restoring America’s courts to their original purpose.
Doug Truax…
Our founder Doug Truax is unorthodox in the conservative political world. He comes at his mission with military and entrepreneurial sensibilities. A graduate of West Point and an Army veteran, Doug transitioned to a successful entrepreneur, building multiple successful businesses. He nearly pulled off a massive upset in the 2014 U.S. Senate primary in Illinois as a political newcomer and learned important lessons along the way. He formed Restoration Action/PAC with those lessons in mind. His organizations exist solely to get things done in the fight to preserve our way of life. Mindful of the importance of providing the highest possible return-on-investment for contributors, Doug does not receive any compensation for running these organizations.
Came up 12 points short to a guy who’s lost a ton of statewide races