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Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I was on my way to a speaking event yesterday when I received this e-mail from Chicago Ald. Jason Ervin…

In 2012 prior to my wedding, there was an event held by family and members of my wedding party. This event was my private bachelor party.

Let me be clear, I never used City or campaign funds for this event. This event was not held in my Aldermanic or political office, but on another floor of the building, where neither City nor political funds are spent.

I am deeply disappointed that an individual, whom I regarded as a friend, would attempt to extort me, my family, and the residents of the Ward for personal gain. I apologize to the residents of the 28th Ward for the attention that this has brought and I do not want this private event to overshadow the good work we have accomplished in the 28th Ward.

My wife and I are committed to continued service of our community and we shall move forward.

It was so bizarre that I read the first two paragraphs to the audience as an example of some of the weird stuff I deal with. They got a good chuckle out of it.

* I looked it up on Bing’s news search when I got back home. NBC 5…

Chicago Alderman Jason Ervin (28th) is denying he did anything wrong after a YouTube video surfaced of a bachelor party involving female strippers.

The 2012 video was shot in what appears to be a film screening room. […]

Ervin is sitting on a chair on a stage during the video, which ends when a female voice can be heard telling the camera operator to shut it down. […]

Cratic would not confirm any details of the alderman’s extortion allegation or if a police investigation has been launched.

The not safe for work YouTube video is here.

* Ald. Ervin has repeatedly claimed with extremely flimsy evidence that 10th House District candidate Eddie Winters (D-Chicago) is a wife beater. Winters has flatly denied the allegations, but Ervin, who is backing Pamela Reaves-Harris in the crowded primary against indicted Rep. Derrick Smith, has not let up.

So, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was some sort of payback. And I’m not saying he deserves this karmic backlash, but stuff happens when you say things like he has.

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Rate the Callis and Gollin TV ads

Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The National Journal reports on Democratic congressional candidate Ann Callis’ new TV ad…

Callis’s TV ad will build her name recognition for the March 18 primary, in which Democratic professor George Gollin has already started TV advertising. But the spot is also an opening play for the general election eight months later.

Callis’s non-partisan judicial experience was one of the things that first got Democrats excited about her candidacy, but Republicans have since used elements of Callis’s tenure — including a low rating for local courts from a tort reform group and a low rating for Callis personally from lawyers at the beginning of her tenure — to attack the Democrat.

Her campaign’s ad pushes back with a career highlight: Callis’s formation of a “veterans’ court” to help process and treat honorably-discharged, non-violent offenders. The program won praise from, among others, Republican Rep. John Shimkus, who nominated it for an award a few years back and has since complimented Callis’s judicial tenure.

The new TV ad featuring the program has broader appeal than a typical spot targeted at a Democratic primary. It’s the sort of thing you would expect to see at the start of a general-election race — and it’s a reminder that the campaign is well under way, only a few months into the year.

* The Callis ad…

* The Gollin ad…

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