* Chicago Magazine…
All up and down the Republican ballot, rural conservatives defeated establishment candidates. In the 15th Congressional District, U.S. representative Mary Miller, who earned Trump’s endorsement by objecting to the 2020 electoral count, beat fellow incumbent Rodney Davis, who voted to accept the results. Thomas DeVore of Greenville, who tattooed “Freedom” and “Liberty” on his forearms, won the nomination for attorney general over international business attorney Steve Kim of Deerfield.
This shift will pose a problem in November for state GOP candidates, particularly in Chicago’s outlying areas, says Jackson: “Republicans are going to have a very difficult time winning any of the constitutional offices. In some of these suburban districts, Bailey’s going to be a terrible drag on what could be competitive races and what could potentially be a big Republican year.”
Naturally, House Republican leader Jim Durkin, whose southwest suburban district runs from Hinsdale to Lockport, disagrees with that assessment. He is encouraging fellow GOP candidates to set aside hot-button social issues like abortion and gun control and run on “kitchen table” matters such as crime and inflation. “The economy is going to prevail as the single greatest issue in the suburbs and collar counties,” he says.
A moderate who voted to increase the gas tax, Durkin is the pro-Bailey crowd’s model of a RINO. “Much to the dislike of the far right, I don’t have flames coming out of my nose and mouth,” he says. Durkin supports the nominee, but as he sees it, Bailey won a primary, not the soul of the Illinois GOP. “The conservatives and the far left were the majority of voters who came out [for the primary];” in the general election, he says, it’s the middle that will determine outcomes. “I wholeheartedly believe there is a voice for moderates in the party. That’s what we see in the suburbs, and that’s what we need to compete statewide. I’m looking for legislators who are not going to be the party of no.”
That may still be true in the suburbs, but statewide, “the establishment is knocked back on its heels,” Jackson says. “The party from Jim Thompson to Jim Edgar to George Ryan has lost that control of the Republican Party.” And those Republicans will have to take their party back before Illinois elects another Republican governor.
* One of the local Republican Party ballot appointments last month…
Chicago City Wire recently had an opportunity to interview Patrycja Karlin, the Republican candidate for the Illinois 20th Senate District. […]
Q: Why did you decide to run for the state legislature?
Karlin: Illinois is drowning in crime, corruption and fiscal irresponsibility; it is killing the innocence of our children with impunity and depriving parents of any decision-making regarding their children. Businesses are running for cover in other states. Illinoisans are moving away in greater numbers than at any time in the history of Illinois. We can save Illinois! First by eliminating the Democratic Super Majority in the Illinois Congress. That does not happen by itself. District by district, seat by seat, Republicans can take the Illinois Legislature and start enacting laws that will protect all Illinoisans! We can make our state prosper again! It is possible! […]
Q: What’s the first bill you will sponsor in Springfield?
Karlin: I am extremely passionate about parental rights. The Chicago Public School system and the Chicago Teachers’ Union are taking away parents’ right to have a voice in what their children are taught. These progressive activists oversee our children’s education. I will propose legislation that will enshrine parents’ right to know what is taught in our local schools. I will work to keep the radical ideologies of gender ideology, and Critical Race Theory out of our schools. Given the opportunity, I will introduce the Illinois Bill of Parental Rights.
“Illinois Congress.” Her petitions have been challenged. She’s running against Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago).
* WGN quoting the governor…
Why can’t Republicans just stand up and say what Darren Bailey said was wrong? Why can’t Darren Bailey just apologize? He’s twisted himself into knots first trying to explain what he said, then going back and saying he meant what he said. This is a guy who does not understand what it takes to be a leader of Illinois [who] frankly doesn’t understand he needs to apologize to the survivors of the Holocaust who are still among us in Illinois and to all of us who care about how the governor speaks about the choice, the very difficult choice that women need to make sometimes about their reproductive rights, and the awful, truly tragic, traumatic and one of the worst tragedies in the history of the US and that’s the Holocaust.
* Illinois Republican Party…
In light of the DOJ and FBI’s unprecedented decision to raid the home of the Former President of the United States, ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy issued the following statement:
“Although it has been two days since the raid on the home of the immediate past President of the United States, the American people have heard nothing from Attorney General Merrick Garland. In view of this unprecedented breach of tradition and heavy handed approach to an investigation of a former President, and the apparent double standard relative to investigations of Democrats similarly situated at the national level, Attorney General Garland should have already provided a thorough and immediate explanation.” Chairman Tracy added, “The American people deserve honesty and transparency from our Department of Justice, which is why I am calling on Attorney General Garland to immediately disclose the justification for this extraordinary use of legal power against a political opponent of the current administration of which he is a major part.”
* NRCC…
Hi there –
Joe Biden is underwater in a new poll of IL-13 with an approval rating of just 43% and a 57% disapproval rating, with 50% strongly disapproving.
Reminder: This is a district Biden won by 11 points in 2020.
That’s bad news for political insider Nikki Budzinski, who helped implement President Biden’s reckless spending spree that led to record-high inflation.
NRCC Comment: “Illinois voters will hold Nikki Budzinski personally accountable for her role in implementing Joe Biden’s toxic agenda that’s cost them more for basic necessities.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Courtney Parella
It’s not exactly new. Some of the numbers are three weeks old and Biden may have clicked up a bit since then. Also, despite the Biden numbers, Budzinski still holds a narrow lead, albeit within the margin of error. Still, she should be much better known than Republican Regan Deerin.
* ABC 7…
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy’ Garcia (D-Chicago) previously ran for mayor against Rahm Emanuel in 2015, and is leaving the door open to join the crowded field challenging Lori Lightfoot.
“I want to deliver for working families as my responsibility as a congressman, I’ve been working very hard for the past three and a half years, that is my top priority,” said Garcia said Wednesday. […[
“I’m getting a lot of calls, obviously from people across the city to consider it. I’m flattered by that,” Garcia said during a sit down interview in his southwest side congressional office.
He said he really enjoys being a congressman. But too much run for mayor again?
“I’m not shutting the door completely but I’ve gotta tell you, I’ve never been as challenged or rewarded as I have been over the past three and a half years as a member of the United States Congress,” Garcia said.
* And on a lighter note…
According to the Pritzker campaign, the video was shot at a Youth for JB rally held in Chicago on Tuesday evening.
*** UPDATE *** Times of San Diego, 2014…
Four years after “60 Minutes” labeled him a “21st century snake oil” salesman, a former La Mesa shopkeeper has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.
Lawrence “Larry” Stowe, who operated Stowe Biotherapy in downtown La Mesa for about five years, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell misbranded and unapproved drugs that he called cures for a variety of incurable diseases, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson in Houston.
U.S. District Judge Gray Miller sentenced Stowe, 61, to a total sentence of 78 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Stowe had pleaded guilty Sept. 7, 2012.
In handing down the sentence Friday, Miller stressed that Stowe “took advantage of people dying and offered them hope.”
* Quad City Times this week…
A man who was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison in a scheme to sell unlicensed drugs, claiming to treat or even cure the terminally ill, now is serving as a vice chairman for the Rock Island County GOP. […]
Stowe on Tuesday, speaking from GOP headquarters in Rock Island, said the federal judge threatened him with a 30-year sentence if he did not accept the plea.
“I never got the chance to defend myself,” he said. “It’s just like the people from January 6 (attack on the U.S. Capitol). Those people didn’t commit any crimes.” […]
Several members of the county party who reached out to a reporter about Stowe’s new position declined to comment on the record, saying they do not wish to inflict damage upon their party.
Um, the damage is done.
* But that’s not all the RICO GOP has done lately. This story is from 2018…
County Republicans have asked Glen Evans, state representative candidate for the 72nd District, to withdraw from the race. […]
Court records show Mr. Evans, of Rock Island, was charged with criminal trespass and criminal contempt after violating an order of protection in December 1997. The charges were dismissed in February 1998.
In addition, Marion County, Indiana records show an outstanding warrant for Mr. Evans in 2008 after he failed to appear for a probation hearing on a charge of violating an order of protection against his wife, Erica Evans. […]
Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney said Mr. Evans has previously run for office as a Democrat in about 18 different local races. He has lost every election with the exception of two precinct committeeman races. […]
According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Mr. Evans has never filed a campaign fundraising report. […]
“I do know he has never voted in a Republican primary other than this last one,” [Rock Island County Republican Central Committee Chairman Drue Mielke] said. “He is still welcome in our party, but we’ve asked him to not run. It was a consensus among leadership. We just don’t feel we can support Mr. Evans. We needed to let him know.”
Glen Evans now chairs the county’s Republican Party.
This could have implications for the 17th Congressional District race. You can’t win that CD without Rock Island County.
