* Co-sign except for spending hours in the car together…
This is some BS. I invite any reporter who would casually smear the people of Central & Southern Illinois like this to drive around the rural country roads with me. I’ve lived here five years and have never once seen a Confederate flag in a front yard. Far from “common.” pic.twitter.com/ygm45ikjvL
“I do think that he would make a viable candidate — if he can get past the primary — in the fall,” Edgar said. “The fact that he seems somewhat moderate; he’s well funded; he’s African American, so perhaps he can pull over some African American votes, which are really the key to the Democrats in Illinois.”
“But the Republicans, I think, have to realize that they’ve got to win a lot of independents and moderate Republicans back — and maybe what I call ‘thoughtful Democrats.’ And you can’t go too far to the right to do that,” Edgar continued. “That’s why Irvin would have a good shot because I think he will undoubtedly be perceived more in the middle than he will be to the far right.”
But even if Irvin emerges from the GOP primary, it will be an uphill climb in the general election, Edgar said.
“Well, I think an incumbent governor has the advantage going into an election — should have the advantage — unless they’ve been a terrible governor,” Edgar said. “And I don’t think Pritzker has been a terrible governor. I mean, he’s had some tough things to deal with, particularly the virus.”
That’s the thing about Irvin. He’s not afraid to try, likely well aware that even if he goes down in flames, this high-dollar, high-profile campaign can do nothing but add to his brand, whether that contributes to another run for higher office or, worst case scenario, more name recognition for his law firm.
Think about it. It took Irvin three attempts before finally becoming Aurora’s mayor and even then he beat his opponent by only 170 votes. Five years later, he’s aiming to be the state’s top general.
So even if you’re not a fan, credit Irvin with a healthy ego and/or boatload of confidence. Both are critical when taking on the Democratic governor of Illinois.
Along with a boatload of money, of course.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Today, the Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council, the McHenry County Building & Construction Trades Council, and their affiliates announced their endorsements of Judge Elizabeth Rochford in her campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court’s new Second District. The Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council is made up of 18 local affiliate trade unions, and the McHenry County Building & Construction Trades Council is made up of 26 local affiliate trade unions.
“Growing up in a union household, the values of organized labor have forever been a part of my foundation,” said Judge Elizabeth Rochford. “That’s why I am so honored to receive the endorsements of the Lake County Building & Construction Trades Council, the McHenry Council Building & Construction Trades Council, and their affiliates. My first job as an attorney was helping injured people who needed someone to fight for them, and I’ve carried that experience with me throughout my career. As a Supreme Court Justice, I will always work to make our judicial system one where everyone is treated with fairness.”
* I told subscribers about Chaplin’s impending withdrawal several days ago. Here’s the Daily Herald…
Almost a decade ago, Democrats first made significant gains in Republican-dominated DuPage County with the election of two women.
State Rep. Deb Conroy and county board member Liz Chaplin won their seats in 2012.
Conroy is now running for the highest office in DuPage, and Chaplin has dropped out of the race. The state lawmaker from Villa Park has picked up Chaplin’s endorsement in her bid to become the first county board chairwoman in DuPage history. […]
Chaplin’s departure leaves Conroy in a Democratic primary contest against county board member Lynn LaPlante of Glen Ellyn. […]
LaPlante is serving her first term on the board. During a blue wave in the 2018 election, LaPlante came within 7,314 votes of unseating longtime Republican incumbent Dan Cronin from the chairmanship. The violist with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic had no primary opponent that year.
LaPlante most likely has some significant residual name ID from that super-close race. We’ve seen it before. But she only reported having $5,311.50 in her campaign committee’s bank on December 31, most of it from herself.
* We all know that Dick Uihlein has a long history of throwing millions of dollars at losers here in Illinois and elsewhere. His rigid ideology dictates his checkbook…
For instance, between January and May 2020, Uihlein contributed $1.25 million to the Conservative Partnership Institute, a right-wing think tank founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) where Trump campaign attorney Cleta Mitchell was serving as senior legal fellow.
Mitchell, a veteran GOP operative, helped construct the campaign’s post-election legal strategy mostly behind the scenes. But she drew national attention in early January 2021 after she featured heavily in a taped phone call between then-President Donald Trump, his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Georgia’s top election officials. Trump pressured the election officials in that now infamous call to “find” enough votes for him to win Georgia. (Meadows joined Mitchell at CPI after he left the White House in January.) […]
Another right-wing outlet, Sons of Liberty—the media outfit, not to be confused with a militia group of the same name—pocketed $300,000 from the supply chain magnate. The radio broadcast, which promoted claims of fraud after the election, is run by anti-LGBTQ activist-pastor Bradlee Dean, who has suggested that “homosexuals” are to blame for most child molestations in the country. Most recently, Sons of Liberty has been on an anti-vax kick, pushing outrageous claims, like that the COVID-19 vaccine is causing AIDS.
Uihlein also threw a $25,000 bone to conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, run by conspiracy theorist Tom Fitton. That organization also challenged the election results.
* I told subscribers about this curious Jesse Sullivan D-2 entry the other day…
His campaign filing also appeared to incorrectly list that he had another $10 million in an investment account for his campaign, but that figure was not backed by reports of the funds that he raised since launching his campaign last September.
Campaign reports show Giannoulias raised more than $658,000 while spending only $82,244 during the last quarter. Giannoulias, attempting a political comeback after losing a 2010 bid for U.S. Senate, has seen his campaign fund boosted by nearly $2.3 million in family loans.
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, also seeking the Democratic secretary of state nomination, reported nearly $900,000 in cash available for her campaign on Jan. 1, raising more than $331,000 while spending more than $156,000.
A third announced candidate in the race, Chicago Ald. David Moore, 17th, listed $81,539 in cash on hand after raising more than $44,500 and spending more than $61,400, reports showed.
* Press release…
Jesse Reising, a sixth-generation son of Decatur, Illinois, former federal prosecutor, and founder of a successful veterans service organization announced his campaign for Congress in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District today.
“I’m running to represent the people of Central and Southern Illinois because political insiders in Illinois and Washington are failing us, and we need new leadership,” said Jesse Reising, Republican candidate for Congress. “The America we know and love as the Land of Opportunity won’t exist just a few years from now if we don’t change course. Americans are seven percent poorer today due to inflation, seeds of division are being sown in our children, and we’re facing skyrocketing crime rates – all while China and other foreign adversaries exploit our current administration’s weakness to gain economic and military advantage over us.”
Reising is a lifelong public servant who knows how to get results against the odds. After a serious neck injury in college football prevented Reising from realizing his dream of serving his country as a Marine, he found new ways to serve and get results, at home and abroad. Reising went to Afghanistan as a contractor and launched a veterans’ service organization called the Warrior-Scholar Project that has empowered thousands of veterans to succeed in college. He went on to prosecute criminals as a federal prosecutor.
He’s already scrubbed his Twitter account to remove the word “Chicago.” Before and after…
Heh.
* Press release…
The Illinois State Board of Elections this week named longtime staff member Bernadette Matthews the agency’s executive director.
Matthews had served as assistant executive director since 2017 and had been acting executive director since April 2021. Matthews’ appointment was approved by a unanimous, 8-0 vote from the board at its Jan. 19 meeting.
A graduate of The Catholic University of America and Seton Hall University School of Law, Matthews joined the Board of Elections as legal counsel in 2009.
* More…
* Column: Gorman takes on Morrison in GOP primary; third Democrat seeks Sims’ county board seat
* The Chicago Tribune editorial board has gone from being deviously smart to… well…
An editorial on the state’s new criminal justice legislation that ran on Page 7 on Jan. 18 misspelled the name of former House Speaker Mike Madigan. The Tribune regrets the error.
New House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, now finishing his first year in the chair occupied by former Speaker Mike Madison
Hilarious.
* Also, this Tribune editorial was changed online without any sort of acknowledgement like the Madigan error was, so now their central claim about Bryan Traubert and his spouse doesn’t have near as much snap, although going after somebody’s spouse seems questionable to begin with here. The Tribunists claimed Traubert was the board chair, but that is no longer true. He sits on the 22-member board. But you do what you do, Tribbies…
But the bigger challenge, we think, will be reporting honestly on the powerful foundations with budgets in the billions that are part of this merger and that deserve the same scrutiny as government entities or corporations.
That’s compounded here both by the presence on the new Sun-Times board of directors of Kristen Mack, the managing director for communications for the MacArthur Foundation, and the identity of the recent chair of the WBEZ board, Bryan Traubert, husband of former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, the sister of Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The Pritzker Traubert Foundation is a supporter of this deal.
We’ve no reason to believe any of these high-achieving Chicagoans will impede editorial independence, but wise heads will look for certitude. Penny Pritzker, who has many talents, could run again for office or occupy a key government position in a future J.B. Pritzker administration. What happens then?
A Special Board Meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. This meeting may or may not be held, pending the outcome of a court ruling we are anticipating will be made the afternoon of Jan. 20. […]
The court case in question was filed by attorney Tom DeVore against 145 school districts across the state, including District 181. The suit is seeking to prevent those school districts from requiring students to wear masks and from excluding students from school for COVID-related reasons unless school districts follow certain procedures under the Illinois Department of Public Health Act.
From the onset of the case, it was the opinion of our attorneys that the ruling would not be in favor of DeVore, and masks and COVID-related exclusions would continue to be required in schools under the Governor’s executive order.
Late last week, our attorneys advised us that due to the recent nature of the judge’s comments, she may rule in favor of DeVore and that her ruling would be effective immediately (Friday, Jan. 21).
The purpose of the special meeting is for the Board to consider the following resolution authorizing the administration to take necessary actions in the event that the outcome of the DeVore ligation results in an invalidation of the Governor’s disaster declarations and emergency orders which authorize masking, exclusion and other safety measures. The resolution would allow the administration to continue current COVID-19 risk mitigation measures notwithstanding the Court’s ruling.
Representing the governor in Sangamon County Court Wednesday, Attorney Thomas Verticchio said the issue is really about the testing requirements, not whether there’s a COVID-19 vaccine mandate or law.
“None of that is relevant,” Verticchio said. “There is no vaccine requirement.”
Plaintiff’s attorney Thomas DeVore said even forcing testing requires due process by law, allowing individuals to challenge such requirements in court. […]
The judge took the school staff’s request for a temporary restraining order against the mandate under advisement with a ruling expected soon. The judge will also consider a motion for class certification, allowing others to join the lawsuit .
If the judge rules that covid tests require some sort of due process, the legislature is going to have to step in fast.
* Other districts are voting to join the DeVore lawsuit if a class is certified. For instance…
The Clinton Board of Education Tuesday night approved joining a lawsuit against the Illinois State Board of Education to sue over its mandates on schools.
*** UPDATE *** Not today…
Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow took under advisement the case more than 700 parents have against 145 schools over masks and exclusion policies. She said not to expect a ruling before next Friday. pic.twitter.com/udgYuQrWrn
* IDPH reports 6,258 hospitalizations as of midnight last night, down from 6,507 reported yesterday. That now gives us a 7-day rolling average decrease of 2.07 percent. Yesterday’s 7-day rolling average decrease was 1.04 percent.
Illinois appears to be past the peak of its largest COVID-19 surge so far as cases and hospitalizations driven by the omicron variant are starting to decline, but officials urged continued caution as the state’s health care system remains under unprecedented strain.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday called the latest trend “a welcome change after precipitous increases over the prior seven weeks.” […]
“I want to be clear: I am cautiously optimistic about this decline,” Pritzker said during a news conference at the Thompson Center in the Loop. “But there are an awful lot of people still battling for their lives in hospitals across Illinois.”
* We don’t talk much about case numbers here for good reason. Dr. Ezike addressed this topic yesterday during the press conference when responding to questions about falling case numbers and hospitalizations…
So obviously, we are already seeing some of the things that we’d like to see in terms of downward trends in hospitalizations. Again, I am absolutely moving away from the cases because we know that that’s not even the full story, given all the home test and all the positives that are happening at home that are not recorded in any of our Department of Public Health databases. But the hospitalizations, you can’t hide a hospitalization. And so as we look at those hospitalizations and understand where those numbers are going, that is definitely a clear signal of the direction we’re moving in. And we can be moving downward now, but as you know, people have appropriately asked, ‘But what about the next one?’
With that being said, my brother Devin sent me this fascinating graph created by Eastern Illinois University’s Ryan Burge. It covers case trends in Illinois counties from December 15 to yesterday. While far from a perfect tracker, some counties still look like they are in big trouble. Click the pic for a larger image…
Burge said counties in blue are those where the total number of cases yesterday was at least 20 percent lower than that county’s worst day of the omicron surge. “That’s my attempt at trying to delineate which counties are over the peak now.”
* Advocate Aurora Health employees have posted pleas to get vaccinated on YouTube. Here’s one…
“The number one rule of virus economics,” economist Austan Goolsbee says: “If you want to help the economics, you’ve got to get control of the virus.”
The first half of 2021, when COVID seemed to abate, economic signs were good. But “delta and omicron stalled that progress, and indicators are pointing downwards as the impact of omicron continues. When the data come out for January, it’s going to show a slowdown,” Goolsbee, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a former economic advisor to President Barack Obama, says on the latest episode of the A.D. Q&A podcast.
“Consumer spending, which had been pretty strong, dropped almost 2% for the month. That’s a pretty dramatic shift on a one-month basis. That’s before omicron kind of reached its peak. I’d think we’re going to get a slowdown from the next data.”
Jacking up interest rates right now would be like using a hammer to paint a house.
State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) says he and his wife, along with their daughter, tested positive for the virus last week. […]
“Started with a soar throat, led to a cough that developed into a deep, rough cough. I had fever spikes throughout the day for several days and an achy body and headache,” said Barickman.”
Barickman says he and his wife are vaccinated but have not received the booster shot.
* How do you make art during a pandemic? Carefully: Chicago’s theaters, concert halls, and other venues navigate mask-wearing for performers and patrons, testing for COVID and sometimes canceling shows amid the omicron surge.
I just want to add one comment, though, you asked about candidates. One thing I will say to you is, if you want to have the job of being governor, you should have to take questions from members of the media just like I do. And so I would hope that any candidate that is running and announced that they’re going to run is going to take questions, and not wait weeks after announcing to do so.
It’s true that the Republican candidates for all of the statewide offices have not yet or (for those who jumped into the race last year) rarely if ever publicly submit themselves to questions from reporters.
* DPI today…
Statewide GOP Candidates’ Silence on Trump, Biden Speaks Volumes
Today, on the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s inauguration, every Illinois Republican statewide candidate is choosing to remain silent about where they stand on the Big Lie that continues to undermine our democracy. Illinois voters deserve to know if these candidates want to take the Big Lie to Springfield or if they accept the results of free and fair elections.
All of the statewide Republican candidates, including Richard Irvin, Darren Bailey, Jesse Sullivan, Paul Schimpf, Gary Rabine, Avery Bourne, Stephanie Trussell, Carolyn Schofield, Aaron Del Mar, John Milhiser, Dan Brady, Tom Demmer, Shannon Teresi, and Steve Kim, must go on the record and answer basic questions about the 2020 presidential election. It should not be difficult for these candidates to tell voters who they voted for in the 2020 presidential election, if they accept Joe Biden as the legitimate winner, and if they will accept the electoral results in 2022.
Their continued silence speaks volumes about their priorities and willingness to undermine the democratic process. It is clear that with the modern Republican Party, our democracy takes a backseat to their political agenda.
Thoughts?
…Adding… He’s taken questions on most of these topics over the years, and he just held a long press conference yesterday and nobody asked the other questions on this list…
The Illinois Republican Party released the following statement in response to Governor JB Pritzker’s call for Republicans to answer questions:
“Republicans will not be lectured on answering questions by a Madigan-allied governor who refuses to answer basic questions about his own corruption and scandals. When JB Pritzker starts answering about indictments, patronage, tax fraud, dead veterans and state-sponsored child abuse, he’ll have just a tad more credibility.”
Every time JB Pritzker uses the phrase “answer questions,” we’ll send around another set of questions that JB Pritzker refuses to answer. Here are two questions for today:
When did JB Pritzker first learn that his DCFS was abusing children, and why hasn’t he fired the DCFS director?
January 19, 2021
State Representative Camille Lilly
cc: Governor J.B. Pritzker, Speaker Chris Welch
Chairperson Lilly,
Since the original letter I sent you more than a week ago requesting an immediate hearing into the ongoing failures at the Department of Children and Family Services, further damning incidents have come to light.
We have learned that DCFS Director Marc Smith has been held in contempt of a court yet again – his third time in less than a week. This time it was because the agency held a 17-year-old boy in a psychiatric facility for four months after he was ready to be placed in a more appropriate setting.
We found out that DCFS may have failed Damari Perry, the 6-year-old North Chicago boy who was murdered, allegedly by his mother. Before his death, DCFS opened two investigations into the family, including looking into threatening messages his mother wrote about harming the boy. Somehow, those investigations were closed and marked as “unfounded.”
It has also become clear that House Democratic Caucus refuses to act on this matter despite the fact that every day these issues at DCFS go unchecked is another day that the Pritzker Administration is failing kids in the care of the state of Illinois. Additionally, there has still been no Appropriations Human Services Committee scheduled to publicly investigate the shortcomings at DCFS.
The children of Illinois need a functioning DCFS to ensure their safety. As committee chair, it is your duty and obligation to schedule a hearing so the General Assembly can get to the bottom of the critical question of what is happening at DCFS. The Republican members are prepared to meet immediately. Please do not follow the path of silence the Governor is taking on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Jim Durkin
House Republican Leader
*** UPDATE *** The House just posted an Appropriations-Human Services Committee hearing for January 28th…
Amid the recently reported shortcomings of the Department of Children and Family Services, Chairwoman Lilly will be calling a public hearing on Friday, Jan. 28, to inquire about the department’s ongoing financial and operational issues.
“The current concerns with the DCFS have made it necessary to call a hearing so we can better understand the needs of the children and form holistic, long-term solutions. These problems have been going on for years and our focus is on the children and workers, so I request everyone in the hearing to conduct themselves in a serious, bipartisan fashion without losing focus,” said Lilly.
* Media advisory…
WHO: House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), Assistant House Republican Leader Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), Assistant House Republican Leader Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont), and State Representative Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis)
WHAT: House Republicans will discuss legislation filed to repeal the SAFE-T Act.
WHEN: 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, January 20th, 2022
WHERE: Zoom and Live on BlueRoomStream
* ILGOP…
Pritzker’s state-sponsored child abuse
Behind the violent crimes ravaging our state are the faces and names of victims. Instead of standing up for those victims – and working to prevent more people from becoming victims – Pritzker has signed legislation putting criminals first and victims last.
It’s no surprise Pritzker doesn’t care about the victims of crime. This is the same governor that let 36 veterans die of COVID at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in 2020.
Now we learn that Pritzker’s administration has engaged in state-sponsored child abuse at the Department of Children and Family Services. JB Pritzker should be held accountable for what his administration has done.
When did Pritzker find out his agency director was abusing kids and why has he not fired his director?
