* Democratic US Senate candidate David Hoffman has a new video blasting away at Alexi Giannoulias’ resumé. From a press release…
The video cites numerous public reports about Giannoulias, including his irresponsible loans to convicted felons as Vice President and Chief Loan Officer at Broadway Bank; his role in putting Broadway Bank on its current path to failure; his stewardship over the $85 million dollar losses suffered by investors in Bright Start; his purchase of an SUV for his use with Bright Start funds, and skirting his own ethics policy to not take contributions from banks while treasurer by taking more than $90,000 in campaign contributions from bankers and bank PAC’s.
* Republican 10th Congressional District hopeful Robert Dold is running his first TV ad. From a press release…
The campaign of Republican Robert Dold, Congressional candidate for Illinois’ 10th District, launched their first television ad Thursday. The 30-second spot, called “Economy,” makes the case for why Dold is the clear choice to represent the 10th District of Illinois in Congress. The television ad will air during primetime on the top-rated cable stations.
Look for these themes to continue to play out in more ads: small businessman, no bailouts, cut taxes, Pelosi bad, Reid bad. Dold hits all these points in an ad that has the feel of a newscast.
By the way, fellow 10th CD GOP candidate Bill Cadigan has dropped out of the race, citing his inability to raise money…
“Political support gets you part of the way but money is required to do the rest,” he said. “We had financial goals and weren’t meeting them, and didn’t see how we would between now and the end of the campaign.”
* The Tribune editorial board has posted its video of the Cook County Board presidential candidate debate…
* WTTW’s Elizabeth Brackett interviewed Comptroller Dan Hynes yesterday. Unfortunately, some of the interview is based on old info about the governor’s secret early release program that we’ve since discovered is incorrect. Have a look…
* Thom Serafin handicaps the governor’s race on Fox Chicago…
* Congressman Don Manzullo was all over cable TV yesterday talking about the proposed move of Gitmo prisoners to Thomson. He’s posted several interviews on his YouTube site. Here’s the CNN interview…
* Related…
* Governor candidates all over map on how to fix Illinois’ economy
* SIU gets additional $16 million to cover payroll; $900,000 for additional bills: The university received $17.1 million from Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes’ office Wednesday, $16.2 million of which will go to help SIU meet its Jan. 1 payroll, including the more than 7,000 people who work on the Carbondale campus. The remaining $900,000 will be used to pay various vendor bills, SIU spokesman David Gross said. Combined with the $15.5 million received in November, SIU has received about $32.6 million from state appropriations for the 2010 fiscal year that started in July. The state, however, still owes the university more than $100 million.
* GOP leader: Sell prison for $250 million: Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno said that amount could cover the costs of construction and the mortgage payments that have been made since the prison was completed in 2001, as well as account for increases in labor and materials. “I believe we ought to get a premium,” the Lemont Republican said.
* Gitmo in Illinois The Quinn bin . . . If Sneed were a betting person, she’d lay down odds President Obama forced the Thomson terrorist prison deal down Gov. Quinn’s throat.
* White House background briefing on buying Illinois prison for Guantanamo detainees. Transcript
*** UPDATE - 1:30 pm *** From a Danny Davis press release…
After having been focused on the race for President of the Cook County Board for the past several months, I have come to the conclusion that Dorothy Brown is my candidate for President of the Cook County Board.
During my exploration, I commissioned two (2) full-fledged professional polls conducted throughout Cook County and in every instance Dorothy Brown was heads and shoulders ahead of her three opponents – name recognition, favorable and the person people said that they were most likely to vote for.
A recent media poll reaffirmed what we already knew, that Dorothy Brown was and is the peoples’ choice.
She is well-trained, MBA, Attorney, Certified Public Accountant, a proven manager, an independent and progressive thinker, not captive of any political organization, or moneyed influence groups, she supports organized labor and has a vision for Cook County.
In all of my public endeavors I try and be where I think a majority of the people are. My political group voted for Dorothy Brown, the People of Cook County have said four times that they want Dorothy Brown, they want Dorothy Brown, they want Dorothy Brown - -then I want Dorothy Brown. So I give you Dorothy Brown, the next President of the Cook County Board.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Dorothy Brown is already ahead in the polls, so this long-rumored endorsement by Danny Davis will only help build her momentum…
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) threw his support behind Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown today in the race for Cook County Board president, a post he once considered for himself.
“She is the people’s choice,” Davis said. “She has vision for the county.” […]
“She’s obviously intelligent,” he said. “When it comes to managing a budget, she has proven that she can do that. She has vision for the county.”
* County Board challengers put Stroger on defensive: On the issue of governing the county’s sprawling system of clinics and hospitals, Preckwinkle alone said she would make the board permanent. “I’ve said from the very beginning that we need to make this independent governing board permanent,” Preckwinkle said. “If you look at their three-year life span they spent the first year and a half trying to persuade somebody good to come and take over the system because of the terrible reputation.”
* DuPage chairman candidates weigh in on water commission: Heads already would have rolled at the DuPage Water Commission if most of the four candidates for county board chairman in the GOP primary were in charge. The four all said they are troubled by the commission’s admission to accidentally spending $19 million of its reserves on operational costs over the past two years, which recently forced the agency to take out a $30 million loan.
* Lake Co. sheriff candidate accuses incumbent of profiling: John Krempotic, a Democrat from North Chicago, said during a Daily Herald endorsement interview that Curran may not have specifically ordered sheriff’s deputies to stop Hispanic drivers, but that “it’s encouraged … that (deputies) target the Latino population.” Curran said the statement is a “boldfaced lie” and anti-bias data collected in 2009 backs him up.
