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Monday, May 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dan Proft’s new PAC has a new TV ad…

What kind of Republican says he supports Black Lives Matter strongly and passionately?

The kind of Republican who voted Democrat in seven of the last eight primaries.

The kind of Republican who says this about JB Pritzker: ‘It is my honor to bring to the podium a great friend and a great leader who has guided our state with professionalism and compassion.’

You know who you call Richard Irvin? You call him ‘a Democrat.’ In the Republican primary, vote for, you know, a Republican. Vote ‘No’ on Democrat Richard Irvin

But the Irvin campaign is claiming that their media tracking shows Proft’s new PAC, perhaps ironically called People Who Play by the Rules, has spent $2,473,131 so far on broadcast TV, cable and radio ads while only claiming to have raised $1 million.

Hmm.

I sent Proft an email asking for comment.

*** UPDATE *** From Proft…

Clerical error. Received $2.55M from Dick Uihlein on April 20. Should’ve been reported accordingly. Thought it was. The person who keeps my books made a reporting mistake online. He is on the phone with the State Board of Elections now to notify them of our mistake and correct it. Our bad.

* Sun-Times…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Democratic Party will host a high dollar fundraising reception with President Joe Biden in Chicago on Wednesday evening, with the top ticket price $365,000, the Sun-Times has learned. […]

The White House also said Biden will attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser while in Chicago. The Sun-Times obtained a copy of the invitation and the price levels:

*$365,000 to be a “sponsor.”

*$250,000 to be a “leader.”

*$100,000 to be a “supporter.”

These top three levels get a donor into a small meeting — called a “clutch” in fundraising — with Biden plus a photo.

A pic for a ticket is standard in politics. For instance, the going rate for a photo with former President Trump at US Rep. Mary Miller’s recent fundraiser was $25,000…

Hmm…

It was great to meet with President Trump again. I supported and voted for President Trump in 2016 and 2020 because he…

Posted by Darren Bailey for Governor on Friday, May 6, 2022

* In other news…

The Winnebago County GOP is calling for their chairman Eli Nicolosi to resign from his position.

Precinct Captain for the Winnebago County Republican Central Committee (WCRCC) Austin Davies told 13 Investigates that Nicolosi was not conducting meetings properly with the organization’s bylaws.

Davies has also expressed concern over an order of protection that was filed against Nicolosi in April, which was later withdrawn on May 4.

“We think it’s important at this time to let the public know that Eli does not represent us based on these new allegations by his wife, by his conduct over the last couple years of his chairmanship and his unwillingness to meet with those that are concerned,” Davies said. […]

Nicolosi is currently running for state senate in the 35th district against incumbent Dave Syverson.

* Stolen hunter valor? /s…

According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Jesse Reising does not have a hunting license. That didn't stop him from wearing camo and hunter orange in campaign videos.

The GOP Congressional candidate explains the photo shoot here:https://t.co/YbxGdUDxaK

— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) May 9, 2022

From the story…

However, according to FOIA documents from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources obtained by 5 On Your Side, Reising does not have a hunting license in Illinois. He acknowledged as much during a recent interview.

“Right. No, I don’t,” he said. “I haven’t hunted since I was a young kid.”

Illinois state law allows 15- to 18-year-old teenagers to hunt with a provisional license if they have a licensed adult hunter accompanying them.

A spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee gave a statement on the campaign tactic.

“Already Chicago lawyer Jesse Reising is running a dishonest campaign,” Elena Kuhn with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement. “Reising has made clear he’s not up for the job.”

Reising says portraying himself as a hunter is fair game because he used to go hunting years ago.

* Politico…

Firefighter Eric Mattson, who’s running to represent the 43rd state Senate seat that’s been held by former Sen. John O’Connor, was appointed to the seat over the weekend.

How convenient: The move was designed to give Matson an edge in the June primary over Democrat Rachel Ventura, a Will County board member who’s also running for the seat. O’Connor stepped down a month ago to care for a family member. […]

Insiders have worried that Mattson, a moderate Dem with establishment support, will have a tough time against Ventura, a progressive who ran for Congress in 2020 and has higher name recognition.

Local unions are also almost entirely opposed to Ventura.

* Another appointment is coming for the Supreme Court that so far has not been covered like the appointment above…

For nearly five decades, Justice Rita Garman has been a judge in central Illinois. Effective July 7, the sitting justice of the Illinois Supreme Court will retire.

“This is the right time for me to step back from my public role and allow someone else to assume this all-important position,” Garman wrote in an open letter on Monday. [scroll all the way to the end…]

In the short term, Garman will be replaced by a judge appointed by the state Supreme Court. Her seat will then be filled in the 2024 election cycle, according to Matt Dietrich, a spokesperson for the state board of elections.

There are two seats up for election on the state’s highest court in the 2022 cycle. The partisan elections are for the Second District, which covers the northern suburbs of Chicago outside of Cook County, and Third District, which covers the southern and western suburbs outside of Cook County.

* More…

* With abortion rights moving to the fore, suburban women voters in Illinois are key in race for governor

* Chicago mayor’s race 2023 lineup: Who is in, who is out, who is undecided

23 Comments

Irvin, campaign irritated that reporters dared interrupt multiple candidate filibusters

Monday, May 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* By my count, Richard Irvin said “Let me finish!” to reporters 18 times in about 10 minutes. Let’s take a look at one representative example. After refusing to answer pretty much every question, and dodging some direct questions about whether he’d voted for Trump and whether he would vote for Trump if he was the GOP’s nominee in 2024 with his usual deflection that it’s what JB Pritzker wants him to talk about, Rick Pearson tried to pin him down…

Pearson: Isn’t it just a bit disingenuous to your rivals for the nomination alleging how they voted when you yourself who pulled Democratic primary ballots will not say who [you] voted for? How can you attack Darren Bailey and call him a soft on Trump, or a never Trumper? How can you attack Jesse Sullivan as a never Trumper when you yourself will not say who you voted for, if you voted voted for Donald Trump and would you vote for him again if he’s the nominee in 2024?

Irvin: Let’s just talk about records for a second. As a matter of fact, campaigns are about records matter. As I pointed out, you know, JB Pritzker, and my opponents on the Puffin side were attacking me and my record even before I formally announced but I’m not gonna fall into the trap of JB Pritzker.

Pearson: This isn’t about JB Pritzker. [Crosstalk]

Irvin: …You know, I’m not gonna fall, I’m not gonna fall into the trap of JB Pritzker talking about what he thinks we should be talking about in this campaign…

And then he went on to attack Darren Bailey over property taxes, migrant workers and mask mandates.

* Let’s move to the constant “Let me finish” refrain. After a long attempt at trying to change the subject from a question about whether there should be a federal law outlawing abortion (which would directly impact Illinois, since it has such strong abortion rights in statute), Irvin was interrupted by a reporter and said…

Hold on, let me finish, let me finish, let me finish. Let me, let me, let me finish. Let me finish. Let me, let me finish. And, you know, as I said…

* As mentioned above, he was asked if he would vote for Trump in 2024. He talked about Pritzker, the Safety Act, etc., and when Mary Ann Ahern eventually grew impatient and tried to ask the question again…

Let, let me finish. Just let me, let me finish. Let me finish. Let me finish. You know, he, he said, he said that we should be grateful that Mike Madigan is the Speaker of the House

* While avoiding an answer to Pearson’s Trump question, Irvin began talking about how he was “offended” at Jesse Sullivan’s claim to military service, his filibustering was interrupted again…

Let me finish, let me finish, so, so let me, let me just say this, also Jesse Sullivan, he advocates, advocates and supports open borders, that means he doesn’t really want there to be a United States.

The Irvin people are quite upset that reporters didn’t ask their candidate about the press conference’s topic, which was the deaths at the LaSalle Veterans Home and the Pritzker administration’s failure. But they almost never make their creation available to reporters and Irvin completely dodged commenting last week on one of the biggest issues in the entire nation and he’s been hammering away at his Republican opponents for being closet Democrats, so they had to expect that there would be some off-topic questions.

Again, this is a campaign based on a fantasy world of his opponents being secret Democrats and the only person interested in his voting record is the governor. Check out his latest TV ad, for crying out loud…

And reporters apparently have finally had enough of it and want him to answer for it. This ain’t rocket science.

71 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Rate Jesse Sullivan’s response ad to Richard Irvin’s attack spot

Monday, May 9, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. Press release…

Veterans are responding to Richard Irvin’s latest attack ad on Jesse Sullivan, calling on Irvin’s campaign to pull the ad and apologize to families who have lost loved ones serving in military or civilian roles abroad.

The Sullivan campaign released a new ad, featuring veterans voicing their disgust with the shameful political attack that is riddled with falsehoods.

Veterans from across the state also published an open letter this morning, saying, “Every veteran who served in combat served alongside Department of Defense civilians. They undertake the mission at great personal risk. They love our country. And they serve honorably…Irvin’s ad contains multiple falsehoods, most notably the dismissive comment that Jesse was a ‘social worker.’ Irvin’s shameful use of veterans to dismiss this form of public service is a disgrace.”

Major Monte Montes, US Army (ret.) and Sullivan’s former supervisor emphasized the personal risk Jesse faced, saying: “The location the HTS team (and Jesse) was assigned to in 2012 was extremely hostile and volatile … the patrols the HTS team participated in were often targeted by insurgents with improvised explosive devices, rifle fires, and mortars.”

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, US Army (ret.) underscored the importance of DOD civilians to the overall effort, saying, “Civilians who volunteered to serve at the front in Afghanistan were critical to protecting our nation from jihadist terrorists who use mass murder as their principal tactic in a war against all civilized people. It is courageous to serve in combat environments, in any capacity. and we should value and thank those who have served our country, putting their own lives at risk doing so.”

For his work abroad, Sullivan received the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism, and the Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service.

* And here it is…

*** UPDATE *** Another Sullivan press release…

In a press conference today, Richard Irvin yet again ducked important questions on abortion and his own Democrat voting record, distorted his own background, and blatantly lied about Jesse Sullivan.

He once again omitted details about his defense of violent criminals, his own record of tax hikes, and big-government expansion in Aurora. He presented no ideas or solutions for the state of Illinois, which is more of the same for a campaign that seems to have no relationship whatsoever with the truth.

IRVIN LIE: “[Sullivan] says that he wore, you know, he served in uniform. C’mon. We all know what that means…”

FACT CHECK:

• A coalition of veterans released an open letter today calling on Richard Irvin to apologize for his disgusting attacks.
• Jesse Sullivan was an Army civilian, deployed by the Department of Defense to Afghanistan.
• According to DOD records, Sullivan was a Human Terrain Analyst under US Army TRADOC G2, who led fieldwork and intelligence collections on more than 68 dismounted patrols outside of the wire.
• Sullivan received the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terrorism, and the Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service.
• Additional background: “As veterans.. we are repulsed” by Irvin ads attacking Sullivan.

IRVIN LIE: ”[Sullivan] advocates and supports open borders. That means he doesn’t really want there to be a United States.”

FACT CHECK:

• Irvin’s citation is a magazine article, written by someone Jesse doesn’t know, in a college magazine years after Sullivan had graduated. Sullivan had nothing to do with it.
• Richard Irvin has voiced support for sanctuary cities and as mayor of Aurora, praised a law to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities as “the right, just and fair thing to do.”
• Sullivan believes in enforcing the law, and does not support sanctuary cities or preventing federal authorities from enforcing the law.

…Adding… Sullivan’s problem is that he hasn’t addressed this line from his announcement speech…

And finally, I proudly served our nation in uniform doing counterinsurgency work in Helmand Afghanistan with the US Department of Defense.

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