* A couple of takeaways from Mark Maxwell’s recent interview of Republican attorney general candidate Erika Harold. First, here’s Harold talking about Sen. Kwame Raoul’s online ad which dings her for allegedly saying years ago she’d rather place a foster child with an abusive heterosexual couple than a loving gay couple…

Harold sought to neutralize the attack ad by highlighting a speech Raoul gave in February of 2013.

“I thought it was hypocritical because Senator Raoul, during the course of debating various issues on the floor of the Senate, talked about how his own views had evolved,” she said. “He specifically said that he himself used to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation, but that he had evolved and he was glad to see that. I am glad to see that people evolve. I think it’s disappointing that he would use a different standard to judge me than he would want others to judge himself.

The Raoul campaign responded through a spokesperson, writing in an email, “It’s unconscionable that someone would ever choose to put a child in an abusive home.” […]

“I can confess that, as a boy, I didn’t even believe this was a question of sexual orientation,” [Raoul] said at the time. “I believed it was a question of choice and I was — I discriminated against people based on their sexual orientation.”

The difference here is that Raoul confessed to having these beliefs when he was a boy. Harold was an adult (a young adult, but an adult) when she allegedly made those comments.

* And from the Raoul campaign…

In an interview with WCIA’s Mark Maxwell yesterday, Republican candidate for attorney general Erika Harold reconfirmed her position that abortion should be illegal, even in cases of rape and incest.

Partial transcript:

Mark Maxwell, WCIA: “Justice Anthony Kennedy is stepping down, the only conservative justice who has voted to uphold Roe v. Wade. We saw Governor Rauner sign HB40 last year which removed the trigger provision, protecting access to abortion should Roe v. Wade be overturned. Is this another area of disagreement with the Governor, this area of abortion?”

Erika Harold: “My focus is enforcing the law, whatever it is, as I’m attorney general. And I think it’s important in a position like this that you’re not bringing your own personal views into it.”

MM: “A lot of Republicans in this state have been disheartened by Governor Rauner’s position on this issue of abortion. What are you giving them to vote for, if anything? Is there a pro-life pledge? What do voters need to know about you on the issue of abortion when you’re running for this position?”

EH: “… I’m not going to be running on a host of issues that have nothing to do with the job that I’m seeking … People know that I’m pro-life. That’s not something that’s a secret to anyone.”

MM: “In a previous run for Congress, you mention that even in cases of rape and incest - which most Republicans carve those out - you are still opposed to abortion. Have your views at all evolved or changed on that particular issue?”

EH: “My views are clear. I will uphold Illinois law, and that’s what’s important for voters to know about this.”

“With Roe v. Wade in serious jeopardy, now more than ever we need an attorney general who will be a strong advocate for women and victims of sexual assault, not just a bystander to the attacks,” said Raoul campaign spokeswoman Aviva Bowen. “Erika Harold’s views are shocking and extreme.”

While a candidate for Congress in 2014, Harold detailed her position to the State Journal-Register, saying, “I would not discriminate (against the fetus) based on the circumstance of conception.”

Last year, the General Assembly passed House Bill 40, a measure that allows the state to provide employees and Medicaid recipients insurance coverage for abortions, as well as protect access to abortion in Illinois should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade.

“HB40 was passed to avoid the very nightmarish scenario we are experiencing with the Trump agenda and the changing composition of the Supreme Court,” said State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, chief sponsor of the bill. “Illinois voters won’t be fooled by Erika Harold’s obtuse answers. Her anti-choice positions are clear and extreme. Prohibiting a woman from making a personal decision about her health after she’s been violently assaulted is heartless and cruel.”