* 7th Congressional District Democratic candidate Richard Boykin is up on TV with an ad spotted today during WGN’s midday news…
* 314 Action Fund endorses Dr. Thomas Fisher for the 7th CD. Press release…
Today 314 Action Fund, the nation’s only organization dedicated to recruiting, training and electing doctors and scientists, endorsed Dr. Thomas Fisher for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District. As a board-certified emergency medical doctor, Dr. Fisher is a Guardian of Public Healthcandidate. He’s answering the call to serve his community as 314 Action works to elect more doctors, nurses and health care professionals to office.
Through Guardians of Public Health, 314 Action is working to 100 new doctors, up and down the ballot and across the nation by 2030, raising and spending over $25 million in the effort.
* Citizen Action/Illinois…
Citizen Action/Illinois, the state’s largest public interest coalition, continues its statewide series of candidate forums with the next event TODAY, Thursday, October 9, focused on the Democratic candidates for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. The forum will take place from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Kennedy King College – U Building, Great Hall (740 W 63rd St, Chicago, IL 60621).
All Democratic candidates who filed with the FEC were invited to participate in this forum. Candidates attending this Senate Forum include: Robert Peters, Eric France, Adal Regis, Yumeka Brown, Donna Miller, and Willie Preston. […]
This forum will be livestreamed on Citizen Action/Illinois’s Facebook page, with additional events scheduled across the Chicagoland area and suburban communities through November 18. Details and RSVP information can be found here.
* The American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee endorses Sen. Mike Simmons for the 9th Congressional District…
The American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) today announced its endorsement of Illinois State Senator Mike Simmons for the U.S. Congress representing Illinois’s 9th Congressional District. AEPAC praised Senator Simmons as a trailblazing leader whose record of integrity, inclusion, and results makes him uniquely qualified to represent the people of Illinois in Washington.
Senator Simmons currently serves in the Illinois State Senate representing the 7th Senatorial District, where he has authored and passed fifty bills into law over four years. His work includes establishing a state child-tax credit, helping erase medical debt for hundreds of thousands of residents, expanding affordable housing, banning hair discrimination in schools through the Jett Hawkins Act, and eliminating “forever chemicals” from drinking water. […]
“As the first American of Ethiopian descent to serve in the Illinois General Assembly, I know the power that comes with authentic representation. The people of this district deserve leadership that reflects the true diversity and strength of this country - especially at a time when immigrants of all kinds are under attack. I am committed to becoming the first Ethiopian-American in Congress and working to ensure I am not the last.” - Mike Simmons
* More…
* WRAM | Julie Bickelhaupt Running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District: A lifelong Illinoisan, farmer, mother, and community leader, Julie Bickelhaupt is running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District on the Republican ticket in 2026, which is currently held by Democrat Eric Sorensen. Bickelhaupt shares her top three priorities for running: “The cost of living, clearly the cost of living is an issue for a lot of people in the area; mainly some being energy costs, healthcare, putting food on the table, food costs, and a big one for me that I have really noticed, especially through the county board and locking in rates and hearing what experts have to say is that those rates are going up and those needs are going up. With that, we need to figure out how to use all sources of energy within our country and our state and unleash that energy opportunities in order to lower some of those bills for constituents for the district.”
* Brownfield AG | Congresswoman questions support for competing soybean exporter amid farm aid talks: Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski tells Brownfield, “Why would this administration be providing financial taxpayer incentives to a country that is our competitor when we’re trying to sell our own domestically grown soybeans?” China recently purchased around 7 million tons of soybeans from Argentina, and Budzinski says… “China’s not buying our soybeans.” She says, “Why would we be providing any kind of financial bailout to Argentina right now, at the potential detriment of our own growers?”
* Press Release | IL Congressional Democrats statement on Trump’s threats to jail Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson: “Donald Trump’s continued and escalating threats against his political opponents should alarm everyone—especially since he’s proven they aren’t just idle threats. Our Constitution was designed to protect our country from tyrants who think they have ultimate power—and right now, our country’s founding principles are being tested. “With his public threats to jail political opponents—this time against the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago—who’ve done nothing but protect the rights of Illinoisans in the face of his egregious and unconstitutional actions, it’s as clear as it’s ever been that Trump believes he can pick and choose which laws to follow and who is guilty or innocent.
Jesse Jackson Jr. is seeking a return to Congress.
Jackson, the son of civil rights advocate Jesse Jackson, announced on his YouTube channel Wednesday that he is running to represent Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District in the US House. […]
“Like my father before me, I ask for your vote, as a vote for a new direction for this district, this party and this nation,” the younger Jackson said. “A vote of conviction. A vote of conscience.”
Jackson touted himself as having “spent my entire life fighting for working people, and I will continue to fight to reform the system to create greater fairness, equity and opportunity for all communities.” The 60-year-old added that he will fight “against the forces of evil and fascism” if voters send him back to Washington.
* Click here for a little background if you need it. A completely false and now-deleted post from 7th Congressional Candidate Anthony Driver Jr…
According to his campaign, Jason Friedman has “no affiliation and nothing to do with Friedman Real Estate.” Multiple outlets who covered the rally where Driver also made this claim (Block Club and Tribune) did not report on the erroneous accusation.
* Raja Krishnamoorthi’s Senate campaign…
Today, Raja for Illinois released its fourth television ad, “Serious Times.” In the new spot, Raja outlines his plan to address the harm that Donald Trump has caused Illinoisans head-on, reversing his cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, blocking him from deploying the National Guard without the Governor’s request, and reining in his innumerable additional abuses of power. […]
Along with the ad, the campaign launched TrumpAccountabilityPlan.com to highlight Raja’s 17-point plan to rein in executive overreach.
“We’ve had some fun with my name, but this election is deadly serious,” said Raja in the new ad. “That’s why we’ve released a detailed plan to take on Trump. Like my name, it’s too long for a 30 second ad, so here’s the highlights: repeal Trump’s Medicaid cuts that give billionaires another tax break, and stop presidents from abusing power.”
Since July, Raja for Illinois has blanketed Illinois airwaves with television ads, running “Bullies,” which highlights Raja’s record of standing up to bullies like Donald Trump, “Underdog,” which tells the story of how Raja’s upbringing instilled in him a lifelong commitment to fighting for others, and “29”, which features Raja speaking directly to the pain many Illinoisans are feeling as a result of the Trump Administration.
[RAJA] We’ve had some fun with my name, but this election is deadly serious.
That’s why we’ve released a detailed plan to take on Trump.
Like my name, it’s too long for a 30 second ad, so here’s the highlights.
Repeal Trump’s Medicaid cuts that give billionaires another tax break and stop presidents from abusing power.
What Trump’s done must never happen again.
I’m Raja Krishnamoorthi, running for Senate and I approve this message.
* On to the 7th Congressional District. Press release…
Dr. Thomas Fisher, an emergency physician and health equity leader running as a Democrat for Congress in Illinois’ 7th District, today announced his campaign has raised over $375,000 in only seven weeks since launching.
“In the ER, urgency is everything — our campaign is bringing that same pace to fixing healthcare, and an economy that leaves too many people behind,” said Dr. Thomas Fisher, candidate for Congress in IL-07. “This early support tells me people are ready for a representative who knows what it’s like to take care of people hurt and sickened while just trying to live and will fight to lower costs, protect care, and deliver for families on the South Side, the West side and the western suburbs. I’m grateful, hopeful— and ready to earn every vote and take on Donald Trump’s attacks on our health and freedoms.”
The funds will help the campaign expand direct voter contact and communicate Dr. Fisher’s vision to ensure affordable, accessible care and greater economic opportunity across the district.
Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.
“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”
But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.
“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
* More…
* Tribune | Oak Park elected officials stand against ICE after township trustee Juan Munoz detained in Broadview: “After a long and disorganized process involving multiple agencies, I was led to a black ICE van with other protesters, still unclear if I was to be released or transferred to another location,” Munoz said in a social media post the following day. “Ultimately, we were told we’d be dropped off at a gas station across the highway with no additional information. While detained, I spent the majority of the day in a group detention cell with a shared toilet, overfilled trash cans, and a foul odor. Outside the cell windows, immigration officials went about their work with cold efficiency; processing detainees, filing paperwork, making calls, and bureaucratically dismantling people’s lives.”
* Sun-Times | Feds dropping charges against couple who lawfully carried guns outside ICE facility: The move comes after a grand jury refused to hand up an indictment in the case, a defense attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. Richard Kling cited the old expression that a good prosecutor could convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. “Apparently they had less evidence than a ham sandwich,” said Kling, who represents Ray Collins.
* Tribune | Charges dropped against couple in Broadview immigration protest after federal grand jury refuses to indict: Although Havey said the charges were being dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors could seek to refile the case within 30 days, Kling said he highly doubted that would happen, noting the standard to get an indictment was very low. “If they couldn’t get a grand jury to indict, how are they going to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury?” he said.
* News Nation | Feds use ‘violent force’ on protesters, press, clergy at Broadview ICE facility: ACLU suit: The ACLU filed the suit jointly with a coalition of news outlets, media associations and protesters, including the Illinois Press Association, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Headline Club. In it, they say federal agents used “indiscriminate” force and interfered with First Amendment rights, including freedoms of speech and the press. “Never in modern times has the federal government undermined bedrock constitutional protections on this scale, or usurped states’ police power by directing federal agents to carry out an illegal mission against the people for the government’s own benefit,” the scathing suit read.
* Today’s song wasn’t intended by the late songwriter Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) to be about this topic, but art is universal and it touched me deeply, so I’d like to send it out to everyone who is either enduring cancer and everything that goes with it or loves someone who is…
Sometimes I get so sad
Sometimes you just make me mad
It’s a sad and beautiful world
It’s a sad and beautiful world
Sometimes I just won’t go
Sometimes I just won’t say ‘no’
It’s a sad and beautiful world
It’s a sad and beautiful world
Sometimes days go speeding past
Sometimes this one seems like the last
It’s a sad and beautiful world
It’s a sad and beautiful world
Ms. Staples will be at the Chicago Theatre in January.
