Lauren Underwood released her third ad of the General Election Oct. 24, after a dominant performance at her one and only public debate with her incumbent Republican opponent, Randy Hultgren.
The ad, which will run on broadcast, cable and digital platforms, highlights the story of Plainfield residents Carrie and Tom Jackson. The couple’s son, Tyler, was diagnosed with cancer at age 18. Carrie attended Hultgren’s one and only town hall event of 2017, and heard her representative make a promise.
“When I attended Randy Hultgren’s town hall in April 2017, I felt as though he made a personal promise to protect my son Tyler’s health care. He broke that promise,” Carrie said. “Lauren Underwood heard the same promise. I’m voting for Lauren because she will fight for my son.”
Carrie: A few years ago, we found out our 18-year-old son had cancer. Randy Hultgren had a chance to protect people with pre-existing conditions like our son, and he failed us. And that’s when all my activism started. It’s not just about politics. It’s not about Republican and Democrat. It’s about the lack of humanity that’s being shown. The lack of common decency.
Tom: And we need people like Lauren Underwood who will bring us together. And she definitely will do that when she’s in Washington.
A robust six figure buy will blanket the Chicagoland cable markets starting tonight through Election Day targeting sensible conservatives that continue to support our President and candidates with like minded values.
President Trump: This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
Announcer: With Sam McCann as our conservative governor, he will fight alongside President Trump and the police to protect our borders and this state from illegals. Our nation is being overrun by illegals and our values are being attacked by extremist liberals. Illinois must elect Sam McCann as governor to work with President Trump and our police to rebuild Illinois together.
McCann recently reported a $430K contribution from the Fight Back Fund, a dark money group that appears to be controlled by Local 150 of the Operating Engineers Union.
Please see State Rep. Marty Moylan’s statement demanding that Marilyn Smolenski calls on her benefactor, Dan Proft to remove an unethically obtained advertisement from the airwaves.
Smolenski is a Republican running against Moylan. Rep. Moylan’s press release is here. The president of the Park Ridge League of Women Voters demanded this week that the video clip of the debate be removed from the TV ad, which is paid for by Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC. Apparently, there was an agreement by both candidates not to use any video taken of the debate in advertisements.
* So, what’s everybody all excited about? I asked Moylan’s spokesperson…
The ad is a sad attempt to disparage Representative Moylan’s record of independent leadership by using an unethically obtained sound bite from the forum to deceive and divide voters in the 55th District.
By the way, Moylan leading the “Who do we like? Mike!” chant near the end of the ad was from a union rally ahead of a screening of that Illinois Policy Institute documentary on Speaker Madigan the last election of Madigan as House Speaker. The Illinois Policy Institute had some demonstrators there, so the unions organized a counter-protest. Proft has reported spending a whopping $785,000 on ads attacking Moylan.
An election guide posted on the Communist Party USA’s (CPUSA) website said that the party is “deploying its resources” to unseat U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), as part of a larger effort to flip 24 Republican seats the Democrats need to capture control of the House.
“A plan for staff travel is being worked out with each district (it considers a close race),” the party’s Sept. 20 posting said. […]
Political analyst Chris Robling said that the Communists and other fringe groups in American society have absorbed the message of the Democratic Party, one that’s no longer resonating with a broad national base.
“The Democrats are incapable of appealing to a majority of voters outside the major urban areas,” Robling said. “That’s why the over the past recent elections they lost the presidency, the House and Senate, governorships and state legislatures.”
“They are reaching out to groups, including criminal illegal aliens, that are rightfully marginalized, “ he added. “Don’t underestimate their willingness to do anything for what they perceive as the greater good.”
The linked “election guide” doesn’t actually say which Illinois districts those dastardly commies are trying to flip.
Robling, by the way, predicted two years ago that Donald Trump’s candidacy could help Sen. Mark Kirk and Comptroller Leslie Munger in the suburbs and even in Chicago. Both lost. Trump lost every collar county but one.
Responding to a moderator’s question at a recent political forum in Barrington, Democratic state representative candidate Mary Edly-Allen said campaigns should be limited to $100,000 in contributions and lamented her opponent’s spending on “very expensive” mailers and television commercials.
Edly-Allen is running against appointed Rep. Helene Miller Walsh (R-Mundelein).
* Up until that forum, Edly-Allen had reported raising just $38,845 since getting into the race on June 4th.
Perhaps unbeknownst to her, two days before the forum the House Democrats spent $14,000 on a poll in her district (the in-kind contribution wasn’t actually reported until October 15th).
The HDems must’ve liked what they saw in that poll. Since then, they’ve pumped in close to $270,000. Also since the forum, Personal PAC has spent about $52,000 both for Edly-Allen and against Miller Walsh.
“We need to take a real closer look at finance reform,” Edly-Allen said. “When I spoke on Saturday, that (lack of cash) was the truth. I actually had a conversation with the (House) Speaker (Michael Madigan) on Sunday afternoon. And I was like, ‘I need help. She’s got mailers. I can’t afford them.’ I needed to counterpunch.”
Hilarious. “Money is BAD!!!” *Gets tons of money* “Money is NECESSARY!!!”
“It’s one thing to accept $300,000 from Mike Madigan and his cronies, but it is completely hypocritical for Mary Edly-Allen to announce to the League of Women Voters that she wants to limit her campaign — and all others — to $100,000, then immediately cash every $50,000 check Madigan brings to her campaign coffers,” Miller Walsh said in a statement to the Daily Herald. “If Mary were honest, she would give Madigan his money back and tell him she won’t be bought off and vote for him for speaker of the House.”
Courtney: I have been living with endometriosis for 20 years.
Linda: I was healthy, except for the MS. Scared to death with the MS.
Courtney: I was having to make choices between groceries or the medication I needed. When people like Erika Harold threaten Obamacare, I can’t believe how little she values people like me with preexisting conditions.
Linda: The threat of Obamacare being taken away is one of those sort of bad dreams. So when I hear that politicians like Erika Harold wanting to repeal Obamacare, I get angry, and honestly get scared.
Courtney: I can’t vote for Erika Harold.
Linda: Absolutely not.
* The Champaign News-Gazette editorial board, which endorsed area resident Erika Harold, is spitting mad…
If politics wasn’t such a sleazy business, this advertisement would set a new low for being misleading.
Harold, like Raoul, is running for attorney general of Illinois, not for federal office.
Obamacare — aka the Affordable Care Act — is federal legislation passed during former President Barack Obama’s first two years in office.
Court challenges have been filed against Obamacare and been rejected. There is nothing that Harold could do about repealing Obamacare, even if she wanted to do so.
This is classic scaremongering engaged in by a loser candidate who fears he’ll lose an election if he can’t drive his opponent’s negatives sky high.
* I asked the Raoul campaign for a response…
That’s false. Donald Trump and Republican state attorneys general are in Texas district court trying, yet again, to destroy the ACA and take healthcare away from people with preexisting conditions. Democratic AGs, including Lisa Madigan, have intervened to vigorously defend it. In 2014, Republican Erika Harold said she wanted to “repeal it all,” regarding the ACA. Not only could she do something to destroy Obamacare — we have every reason to believe she would.
The campaign is right about the court case and the News-Gazette is wrong.
* From the Champaign News-Gazette in 2014, when Harold was running for Congress…
Harold said she wanted to “repeal it all and start all over again with consumer-driven” reforms.
“Specifically on the issue of the Affordable Care Act, I don’t think it’s a bill that can be reformed. When we look at the consequence throughout the district, with people losing plans they liked, having to pay increased premiums and I think we’re going to see the full effect of it when the employer mandate goes in effect … I think it’s fundamentally flawed.”
Kwame Raoul is lying about Erika’s record because he can’t run on his own fourteen-year record of failure in Springfield. The truth is Erika supports the Illinois law barring insurance companies from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions, and Erika would not have joined the lawsuit seeking to have the Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional.
This week Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs released his first television ad for his re-election campaign: “Numbers.” This ad highlights how Frerichs’ has been standing tall for Illinoisans by protecting our tax dollars, finding savings through a performance audit, cutting Wall Street fees in half, and modernizing operations to better serve veterans, the disabled, seniors and consumers alike.
“For me, standing tall isn’t just a political slogan. It’s the values I learned growing up in the small farming community of Gifford, Illinois and it’s what I’ve taken to Springfield to stand up for people every day,” Frerichs said. “Being a good steward of taxpayer dollars is vital to bringing stability to our state for generations to come.”
As the state’s Treasurer, Mike Frerichs has been an aggressive watchdog of our tax dollars, using his office to put the public’s money to work through smart and sound investments. Mike, who grew up in the small farming community of Gifford, Illinois, is a Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO), and he has put those skills to work to cut fees charged by Wall Street banks in half and improve investment returns for Illinois’ college savings program, run his office more efficiently to save tax dollars, and provide opportunities for more Illinois workers to save for retirement.
Frerichs has put his office to work for regular people and will continue to stand tall for all Illinoisans by providing them the tools they need to succeed.
As a Certified Public Finance Officer, I work hard to make sure the numbers add up, but even I won’t try to make sense of these numbers. As Treasurer, I’m always crunching numbers to protect our tax dollars.
That’s how I found savings through a performance audit of my office. I reduced Wall Street fees and improved investment returns. I modernized operations to better serve veterans, seniors, and consumers.
I’ll always help Mom around the house, and I’ll always stand tall for Illinois taxpayers.
Q: You want to roll back the 2017 income tax increase; if so, which programs will you cut to make up for the revenue loss from the income tax reduction?
A: The exciting thing is we don’t have to cut programs. What we need to do is grow the economy faster which we can do very quickly and I’m doing that right now. But also there is about $6-billion in excess spending in our government’s structure itself. Not social programs, not human services or education. The cost of Illinois government, our government in Illinois is much more expensive than it is over in Iowa. We have 7,000 units of local government in Illinois, way more, like double what most states have. And we also have more mandates and restrictions on our schools and requirements on our cities and our counties. And as a result we have the highest property taxes in America. We don’t need to cut human services, what we need to do is make government more efficient and effective.
Sounds like he’s mixing up local property taxes with state spending.
A: We don’t need to cut programs, what we need to do is shrink the government bureaucracy. I’ll give you an example for your viewers, when I got into office, many of our departments didn’t have computers, if you can believe that. And those that did were running software from 1974. Very inefficient. We’ve now, rated Grade A as one of the most innovative technology state governments in America. And we’re saving hundreds of millions of dollars by using computers and using mobile apps to bring down the cost of providing our services and increasing the efficiency. Those are the kinds of things that we can change so we don’t have to raise taxes in fact when you get lower taxes and not cut human services.
Q: But as far as your relationship with Speaker Madigan and others, what will you do differently? How will you recast your, rebuild your relationship?
A: The Speaker is, he’s one of the most corrupt of politicians in America. My relationship with him will be very cordial but it’ll also be very just matter of fact. What we’ve got to do is work sometimes with him but often times around him. We’ve got the balanced budget done even though he didn’t want to, we worked around him on that. We got the new school funding formula done, we had to work around him.
They got the budget done this year by working around Madigan? You mean during all those meetings in Madigan’s office?
Q: Reaction to Pres. Trump’s positive comments yesterday about the Montana congressman who assaulted the news reporter? He said the assault was nothing to be embarrassed about.
A: I have to say I’m appalled, I’m deeply disappointed. There’s no room in our society, in our civil society for physical assault let alone verbal assault. We should respect each other, have direct honest communication that’s appropriate and proper and respectful. No place for those sort of actions.
We should respect each other by running appropriate and proper ads about how Illinois is f-d if Pritzker is elected?
A: The polls are baloney. The polls have been proven wrong many election cycles. In Illinois and in the past and the ones I’ve seen have been way wrong. When I’m talking to people it’s very, a lot of enthusiasm, ‘Governor stay strong, don’t back down.’ I don’t know whether we’re winning at the moment but I wasn’t winning in the polls 4 years ago either. And we’re moving up fast, the truth is getting known and when the truth is known, I’ve had great success, we need to get more progress and we’re going to fight for a better future and do a lot more my second term and I’m fighting against a guy who’s loyal to Mike Madigan, funds the corruption, cheats on his taxes and all he’s running on is raising the income tax more on the people of Illinois. Disaster. Turn out the lights with that guy, we’re going to stay strong, we’re going to win.
I’m Erika Harold. If JB Pritzker is elected governor, he and Mike Madigan will have total control over state government. That much power in the hands of any one political party isn’t good for Illiniois. I’ll be a check on the Pritzker-Madigan agenda and work for you, not them.
Can Harold win? The “wave” environment would suggest not, but if voters are looking for a check on JB Pritzker and Speaker Madigan and they can’t bring themselves to vote for Gov. Rauner, she might be a realistic option. At least, that’s what the Republicans are hoping for. It’s probably too bad she can’t just come right out and say that in an ad, but much of her money is coming from Rauner, so it’s unlikely that she can or will.
Wall: The polls show he’s down, but the governor remains upbeat, but he may politically need to do something this Saturday that he didn’t do in August - go Downstate and stand with President Trump. What do you have to do to overcome the polls that show you trailing?
Rauner: Well first of all, the polls I think, are very wrong. They’ve been wrong the last few election cycles. I don’t know if I’m trailing or leading right now, but I think I’m trailing a bit.
Rauner: We are not a sanctuary. I have blocked sanctuary status for the state of Illinois, and I’m strongly against illegal immigration. And I have fought to elect good conservatives like Mike Babcock, like Dwight Kay, and this guy McCann, he’s a phony. Nobody should vote for him. A vote for him is a vote for Mike Madigan and Pritzker. And Pritzker is a nightmare for the state. Nightmare. Turn out the lights. Job losses. Taxes. Corruption. We’ve gotta stay strong. […]
Host: What the heck is Sam McCann doing?
RAUNER: He’s pure baloney, he’s a fraud, he’s a phony. He’s a plant by Madigan. Madigan does this all the time, he does this so many elections, he did it in his own election two years ago. He brings in phony people who are just there to confuse voters and try to divert votes from the real candidates. McCann – all you need to know about McCann is that his supporters and McCann are sending out mailers attacking good conservative legislators like Dwight Kay, like Sen. Connelly in the western ‘burbs and around the state. They’re working for Madigan and Madigan’s cronies – a handful of union bosses – that’s all they’re doing. McCann is not a true conservative, he’s a Madigan loyalist who’s planted there to confuse voters and try to divert votes.
Today Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza released her second television ad of her re-election campaign: “Champion.” The ad highlights Mendoza’s accomplishments as Comptroller over the past two years featuring editorials and endorsements from around the state.
In their endorsement of Mendoza, the Herald-Whig called Mendoza “a champion for those who couldn’t advocate for themselves.” The State Journal-Register called her an “Agent of change” who “has sought to create a more transparent government” in their endorsement. In September 2017, Mendoza was called “one tough lady” in the Chicago Tribune. And in their endorsement, the News-Gazette wrote “Mendoza has shown herself to be an energetic, thoughtful steward.”
Mendoza loves standing up to big bullies and Politico called her “one of Rauner’s worst nightmares.” She has the strength and determination to keep fighting for the people of Illinois as Comptroller.
Narrator: She’s described as an “Agent of Change” creating “a more transparent government”
“A champion for those who couldn’t advocate for themselves”
Susana Mendoza…“One tough lady”
Who has “transformed the Comptroller’s Office”
“Helping Illinois rebuild”
“Energetic, thoughtful”
Mendoza’s a “fearless financial counterforce”
And one of “Bruce Rauner’s worst nightmares.”
Susana Mendoza: I love standing up to big bullies. It’s who I am. And I’m going to keep doing that as long as voters give me the chance to.
Today, the Rauner campaign is launching a new digital video titled “Bruce and Diana on Illinois’ Future.”
Bruce and Diana raised their family here in Illinois and understand the promise that the state holds for the future. Illinois is their home, and they know that home is worth fighting for.
Governor Rauner: “I was born and raised in Illinois, we’ve raised six wonderful children here, and I just feel so connected to this place. Illinois is a very special place, it’s a very special home, and I never want to leave. I think Illinois has an incredibly exciting future, and I think we’re at a key inflection point, a key turning point for the state. We’ve had a lot of frustrations. Many of our children have been leaving the state, many residents have been moving, our taxes seem to go up all the time, we’ve had not nearly as many jobs growing in the state as we should. We’ve improved some of that, but we’re at a point where I believe we can achieve dramatic improvements in the next few years. We have such wonderful people in our state. We have such great location and natural advantages.”
Diana Rauner: “The natural beauty and the natural resources of Illinois, our strategic center at the middle of the country, is actually something that is undervalued.”
Governor Rauner: “We can be, and I believe will be, a booming economy with great opportunity for everyone.”
It’s the work of someone who knows he is in deep trouble and is desperate to break through, someone who still thinks he could change the minds of Illinois voters if they just stopped long enough to listen to his message, which is what it always has been:
If you don’t vote for me, you are sooo f—–. […]
Rauner spoke with students Tuesday at Chicago Hope Academy, repeating his oft-told story of how unnamed businessmen convinced him to run for governor to save the state.
And it occurred to me that it’s a shame that Rauner may soon pass from the public scene without ever identifying those public-spirited citizens so that the rest of us could properly thank them.
When he was finished, Rauner joined the students of the Christian high school in prayer, then retreated outside to explain to reporters why he thought it necessary to use “f—–” in a campaign commercial.
* Everybody was yakking yesterday about Gov. Rauner’s new “Unholy union” ad featuring a wedding ceremony between Speaker Madigan and JB Pritzker. This is a screen capture from US Rep. Peter Roskam’s new ad slamming his opponent Sean Casten…
Everybody’s getting into the act.
* And check this out. A buddy took this with his phone. The Roskam ad ran immediately after the Rauner ad this morning…
Beyond President Donald Trump and almost every issue they were asked about, Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and Democratic challenger Sean Casten during their latest debate also clashed over a sex columnist.
In Monday night’s WTTW forum, Roskam referenced a recent Wall Street Journal story in which Casten cites sex columnist Dan Savage when asked to name a leader who inspires him.
“He bound himself to some people who were advocating political blackmail and political slander,” Roskam said of Casten during Monday’s debate. “And I think he should distance himself from these people.”
Casten didn’t back away from the comments.
“The person I embraced … is Dan Savage, who has been a voice for the LGBT community and particularly for the It Gets Better Project of teens who were considering suicide,” Casten said. “Mr. Roskam has been a horrible advocate for that community, and maybe he doesn’t like that I support them, but I do.”
We’re at peak something right now. I just don’t know what it is.
The Illinois State Labor Relations Board was “clearly erroneous” on several points when it backed Governor Bruce Rauner’s January 2016 claim of an impasse in negotiations between the Rauner administration and AFSCME Council 31—the largest union representing frontline state employees—a unanimous three-judge panel of the Fourth District Appellate Court ruled today.
The appellate court vacated the labor board’s finding of impasse and remanded the case to the board.
“Refusing to negotiate in good faith and trying to impose his extreme demands are part of a pattern of behavior for Bruce Rauner. Instead of doing his job as governor, his overriding goal has been to weaken unions, especially those in the public service,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “Today the court backs up what we’ve said all along, there never was an impasse. The Rauner administration should immediately come back to the bargaining table with our union instead of wasting more taxpayer money on losing litigation.”
The labor board was wrong to depart from its usual practice in determining the question of impasse and to do so without offering any explanation, the appellate panel found.
If the labor board had followed precedent of the past 30 years, “the parties would not be at overall impasse”, the judges wrote. Thus, “the ILRB’s conclusion … was in error.”
The court also found that the Rauner administration violated labor law by failing to provide AFSCME with information it requested pertaining to subjects of bargaining. “[P]arties may not claim a lawful impasse if they have failed to provide information considered relevant to those issues upon which they disagree because this effectively frustrates the bargaining process,” the judges wrote.
The case stems from contract negotiations between the Rauner administration and the union in which Rauner made an array of extreme demands, including no pay increase for state workers for four years, a 100% hike in employee costs for health care that would cost the average worker thousands of dollars a year, and a free hand to privatize public services without oversight.
The Rauner administration walked away from negotiations on Jan. 8, 2016, declaring that the two parties were at impasse and asking the labor board—whose members Rauner appoints—to give it the power to unilaterally impose the terms of its final offer.
AFSCME strongly disputed that the parties were at impasse and repeatedly sought to restart good-faith negotiations.
The union appealed the board decision to the appellate court, which ruled for AFSCME today.
Today’s ruling follows a unanimous November 2017 decision from the Fifth District Appellate Court which found that Rauner broke the law by blocking pay plan progression for the newest-hired state workers since July 2015. The Rauner administration has still not complied with that ruling.
When CMS declared impasse, AFSCME representatives disagreed and reiterated many times the parties were not at an impasse. The Union was described in both sets of notes as aying it was “shocked and appalled” and had, or was working on, counters in those areas of alleged impasse. The Union went on to say that, earlier that day, it had accepted the State’s $1000 bonus proposal in the “Wages and Steps” package. In both sets of notes, the Union stated at least three times it did not believe the parties were at impasse and it was not done bargaining. This is of particular significance since in most instances where the NLRB has chosen to utilize the “single critical issue impasse test,” both parties have acknowledged their belief they were truly at impasse. Such is not the case here. Moreover, at no point in the negotiations, prior to declaring impasse, did CMS state it was near its bottom line. “The failure of a party to communicate to the other party the paramount importance of the proposals presented at the bargaining table or to explain that a failure to achieve concessions would result in a bargaining deadlock evidences the absence of a valid impasse.” Virginia Holding Corp., 293 N.L.R.B. 182, 183 (1989). For these and other reasons expressed herein, we do not believe the record adequately supports a finding of impasse.
FREY: “What do you think about this migrant caravan that’s coming to our southern border and how does it affect Illinois? And where’s your position on that?”
RAUNER: “That’s very important, that question, Annie. Illegal immigration is very destructive of America. And we’ve have an illegal immigration problem for decades. Illinois in particular has a massive illegal immigration problem. We have hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants here in the state of Illinois and that lowers wages, it hurts union workers. It takes away union jobs, factory jobs, farm jobs. It keeps wages low and causes higher unemployment for American citizens. It’s wrong. I support comprehensive immigration reform. As part of that what we need to do is get E-Verify. I don’t know if you’ve talked about that with your listeners Annie. I’m pushing E-Verify with Congress right now. The way to end illegal immigration is to mandate that in every state across America, I’m working with President Trump and Congress right now on this issue, we need to mandate E-Verify for all employers. So that digitally everybody who is looking for a job can be checked in the federal database whether they’re citizens, or whether they have the proper visas, and so they can be prevented from taking a job that should go to an American citizen. This is something I’ve recommended for a long time. I’m working to get it done in Congress right now and it’s the single best way to stop illegal immigration, to raise American wages, and to protect American jobs for American workers”
REPORTER: “Talking about the migrant caravan. A lot of people coming from Guatemala and Honduras and El Salvador. President Trump has said he plans to close the border if this group continues advancing as a solution to not letting them in. Do you share his views on this particular issue?”
RAUNER: “Well I’ll say this. We have a process to help refugees, evaluate refugees, and understand requests for asylum. We have a process. We should respect that process and pursue it. America is a welcoming place for refugees, who are truly refugees, and who truly are seeking asylum for legitimate reasons. And I hope that anyone who’s seeking refuge in America can be properly evaluated and assisted if it makes sense. I personally believe we need comprehensive immigration reform in America. Our immigration system is broken. We make legal immigration far too difficult, far too difficult. We should streamline it, support legal immigration, as we should end illegal immigration. And I don’t believe that the most powerful way to do that is necessarily at the border. I believe the best way to end illegal immigration is by mandating E-Verify. E-Verify, it’s not high cost. It’s already a program that exists with the federal government. Mandate that in states across America so that we can know who’s really a citizen or has the proper visas to be hired. That will do the most that we can to end illegal immigration.”
REPORTER: “Should the border be closed though?”
RAUNER: “Thanks very much, everybody.”
Since he mentioned E-Verify yet again, I used the “participating employer” search function at the E-Verify website and the only state-related participating agencies I could find were the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (not under his control), the Illinois National Guard, the Illinois State Police Forensic Sciences Command, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (not under his direct control), Illinois State University (not under his control), the Illinois Student Assistance Commission and the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission (not under his control).
Rauner later defended the ad after an event at Chicago Hope Academy, 2189 W. Bowler St., where he ended his visit by praying with students. But the governor declined to repeat the swear word himself, opting to substitute “screwed.”
“I can say very clearly that Pritzker in office with Madigan, the people of Illinois are abused, or screwed, to use that word. I’ll use that word,” the governor said, predicting “massive tax hikes, massive increases in corruption and massive job losses.”
He also denied the commercial has an anti-gay message, saying he supports same sex marriage and has been “very supportive of the LGBTQ community as governor.”
PEARSON: “A character in your new TV ad playing a [inaudible] says that basically the election of JB Pritzker, working with Mike Madigan, that Illinois is F’ed and he uses the word “F’ed.” Can you stand before us today, with this character that your campaign is paying for, and tell us, using the word that the character uses, that that’s the case in Illinois.”
RAUNER: “I can say very clearly that Pritzker in office with Madigan, the people of Illinois are abused. They’re screwed, to use that word, I’ll use that word.”
PEARSON: Why won’t you use the word that’s in the ad that you’re paying for?
RAUNER: “I use my own words. My words are: we are in huge trouble. Turn out the lights in the state of Illinois to Pritzker and Madigan getting power together— massive tax hikes, massive increase in corruption and self-dealing, and massive job losses. We’ve already been losing businesses, too many businesses for decades. The stream of businesses that have been leaving Illinois will turn into a flood if Pritzker and Madigan are in power together.”
PEARSON: “Why won’t you use the word that the character uses of the person you’re paying in that ad to tell that to the people of Illinois? It’s your campaign. Your campaign is saying, ‘Illinois is F’ed.’ Why won’t you use the word?”
RAUNER: “I use my words for myself, and when I—”
PEARSON: “But that is your campaign. That is your words.”
RAUNER: “My word is— I’ll say this, we’re screwed. We’re screwed as the state of Illinois, if Pritzker and Madigan get power, we’ll have gerrymandered districts again after 2020 census— nightmare for our democracy. We’ll have one-power rule with more corruption and domination by Madigan’s political machine that’s been destroying our state for 35 years. We’ll have a massive income tax hike. We’ll have a new vehicle-miles tax. We’ll have $11 billion in new spending that will be in deficit again, very quickly, and we’ll have massive out-migration of businesses and families. We’re all screwed as a state if those two guys get in there. That’s clear.”
“Everything in an ad is a choice,” [said Chris Mooney, who is a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and is president of the state politics section of the American Political Science Association], including having a white man play the clergyman, having the marriage and the music.
“I do know they chose to do those things and the fact that marriage equality is still a hot issue, and the fact that the governor continues to really try to shore up his right after sort of devastation in the primary, all that suggests that maybe that’s what’s going on here,” Mooney said.
* Some other coverage…
* Rauner Campaign Drops Bleeped F-Bomb In ‘Unholy Union’ Ad Slamming Pritzker - Gay lawmaker slams Rauner for “blatant homophobia”; LGBTQ group Equality Illinois says “Our weddings are not a joke.”
A Democratic state senator says she is sharing her story for the first time about being date-raped in 1991 because she takes issue with statements made several years ago by the Republican candidate for Illinois Attorney General.
“I just shared that for the first time in 27 years. I didn’t expect me to do that.” […]
The 50-year-old Lightford on Thursday said she felt compelled to talk about her rape, after hearing about past comments made by attorney general candidate Erika Harold, that many victims of sexual harassment become “very promiscuous.” Harold, 38, reportedly made the comment when she was 22.
“It did the total opposite for me,” Lightford said.
* I have the transcript of her full remarks. I talked with Sen. Lightford yesterday to make sure she was OK with me posting this here. You can also listen to her tell her story by clicking here…
LIGHTFORD: Yeah, you know I just shared that for the first time in 27 years. I didn’t expect me to do that. But when I just learned of her, I just sat on the couch and I listened to the story that ran on CBS 2, and she was 22 years old when she made those comments. And then what come up to my mind was I was 23 years old when I was date raped. And I wasn’t looking to be date raped.
I had just graduated from Western Illinois University. I came home for the summer and I was celebrating. And I met a guy during Spring Break while I was home. And back then there were no pagers and cellphones and Twitters and emails and all of that. So, either you would get collect calls or calls would come in or you would make collect calls. So he called me a couple times and we became friends over the next 3-4 months. And so he’s like ‘well when you graduate we’re going to celebrate’ you know. So I used some of my graduation money and bought me a great outfit to go out and celebrate. And I met him at a club downtown on Michigan Avenue. We had a great time. There were other people at the club I knew. We danced and drank champagne. It was all a celebration. I was the first in my family to earn a degree.
And so when the party was over he says ‘Well let’s go grab a bite to eat and instead of going in separate cars, just get in the car with me and I’ll bring you back to your car.’ Okay, no problem. So, while I was in the car with him he hopped on the highway and we were going far south and I wasn’t really familiar as much at that age with the South Side of Chicago. I had one relative that lived at 8040 S. Vernon. I remember my uncles’ address, my great uncle.
And so when we passed 95th Street I’m thinking ‘where are we going?’ And then the split happened. I don’t know if I went 57 South or the other way. I don’t know. But we started driving a little bit. So I asked him “Where are going to eat? Why are we going so far from downtown?’ You know there was a lot of eateries down there. So he went ‘oh, well I’ve got to stop by the house.’ And I said ‘oh okay.’
So he drives and wherever we get off, I’ve never been in this area at that time of my life. But when we pulled up to the house, it was a corner house, we just pulled right into the garage, attached garage. So I didn’t expect anything. My feet were hurting and I was taking my shoes off in the car. So I pulled my shoes back on and go on in the house.
And it just looked a little abandoned to me, a little bit to me, like coming through the kitchen. And I thought ‘is this how this guy living?’ You know. His house look a little, you know. So he directed us, I guess it was a kitchen and then a hall. And the bedroom was immediately to the right. And then he directed us in there. And went in there and it’s only a bed and it looked really like doom and gloom and I can see over him a little bit into like what would be the living room I guess, or the dining room, of the house. And it was just an abandoned looking house. And so now the red flag really pops up and we’re in the room and I’m just standing there.
And I say ‘Well are you gonna just go ahead and do whatever you need to do so we can go? Because I’m getting a little hungry.’ And he said ‘Oh, well, oh gee, your feet hurt, have a seat. Take your shoes back off.’ And I was like ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ You know. And he was like ‘Have a seat, you’ll be okay.’ And then I sat down and I kept my shoes on and he says ‘Take your shoes off.’ And I was like ‘Well are we going to be much longer?’
And he did like this call. I don’t know this like ‘whoody who’ call or some kind of call. And this guy appears at the door with a pitbull. And I was afraid from that point. And he had the door open and the guy must have come up from the basement because he left that door open. And I can hear all these male voices. And the first thing that came to mind was ‘I’m in a drug house and I could either be gang raped or he could let the dog out on me. Like would anybody know?’ Because I didn’t have, back then there were no pagers or cellphones, or anything. So I wouldn’t have been able to get any help. And I didn’t know where I was.
And my celebration from graduating from college, I just…. And I thought I knew him. It had been months of friendships and conversations. And so the guy left, and they said some things to each other. And the guy left. And he closed the door and said, ‘Well just lay down and relax.’ And I said,’I just want to leave. I think we outta just go get something to eat and just leave.’ And he said ‘No, be still.’ And he told me to be quiet and he raped me.
And after he raped me, we got back in the car. And I just sat there and cried silently. And then we got back to the car and he drove me back to my car. And I got in my car like, ‘What the hell just happened?’
I had only had two sex partners in my life and I had never been taken advantage of like that before. And it was more of ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have went with him’ but I thought he was my friend and I knew him and we were just celebrating. We were supposed to go to get something to eat. And where was I? And if I go and try to tell law enforcement I can’t tell them where I was. I can’t tell them anything. And at this point is the guy really who he said he was all this time?
I was like really, I was really in a bad space. I remember driving home and saying to myself ‘Thank God I am on birth control so I won’t be pregnant.’ Because I would not be able to look at that situation. And then I went the next day to a clinic and I had an STD test done and I so didn’t have chlamydia or anything.
I can’t tell you right now if he put on a condom or not. I just, once he made me lay down, I don’t know anything beyond that.
But I have never really shared this story. I turned 50 in May this year and I just remember feeling a little free and telling my mother one day. She and I were talking and I said, ‘Mom, I feel a little free.’ I said, ‘You know I was, I experienced date rape the summer of ’91.’ And she was like, ‘What? And you didn’t say anything?’ I was like ‘No, I was just, I think I was too embarrassed and too ashamed. And I didn’t know what to do with it. And I’ve lived with it for 27 years and now I’m finally telling you. And I feel good about it.’
And I didn’t go into any details with my Mom so she’ll hear it now I’m sure. But I never shared it with anybody. But I was moved to share it today because I was truly a victim. I didn’t want to have sex with him and I never became promiscuous. To teach me abstaining from sex would have done nothing for me in this situation. And her views, I don’t know that they go along with being a victim of rape. And I didn’t know that it was date rape. I didn’t learn there was a title to what I had experienced ’til later in life.
REPORTER: The reason you felt compelled to tell your story today is because you’re obviously against Erica Harold. And I would think, if you asked her, she would say ‘I’m opposed to date rape.’
LIGHTFORD: I just think it doesn’t tie in with the suggestions on how to go about it. And if you’re in a position as the attorney general I would think that there should be a little more thought processes in how to address a victim who has been sexually raped. And not come to the conclusion that they liked it. Or that they would become promiscuous. Or a whore as a result. It did the total opposite for me. I actually spent the next six years of my life having very little to no sex. Not trusting men at all. I just began to, I would only go on dates during my lunch, at work, or meet me at the LA Fitness to workout. Or Saturday matinees. Because I just was like so afraid to put myself in that position again. And I didn’t think that I was doing something wrong at that time. I had no idea that this guy was like this. I mean no one could have told me that.
REPORTER: I’m sorry I have to ask you this. And you kind of touched on it a little bit. You didn’t want to report it because you didn’t think people would believe you, or…?
LIGHTFORD: I just didn’t know where I was. I had no idea. I got in the car going. I couldn’t even lead police back there. I didn’t know where I was. Now that I am older and I’ve been all through Chicago I believe I had to be somewhere in the south suburbs. I don’t know that we drove as far as Indiana. But we had to exit off of 147th or Cicero or, I mean we were in one of the communities in that area. And it had to be a community that was experiencing some type of foreclosure or something happening because we were in an abandoned house. And they were selling drugs out of the house. I’m sure. Cause it was just a bunch of guys’ voices, and there were dogs. And I don’t know if they were dog fighting. I didn’t know what it was. But the pitbull was enough for me. But I didn’t report it because I just didn’t. I don’t know if I didn’t think that anybody would believe me. I think I didn’t believe that that had happened to me. I think I was still like ‘Why? Why would he do that to me? And what was that about?’ And I thought I was being a friend and if he wanted to go out on more dates I thought he was a nice guy. I mean maybe we could go out on dates and things. I didn’t think that he saw me as someone, you know, that he wanted to take me to a drug house for my graduation gift. And take advantage of me.
REPORTER: You were how old then?
LIGHTFORD: I had just turned 23.
REPORTER: 23.
LIGHTFORD: Yeah, and for her to say that at 22, it just touched me. I just listened to the story and it just hit me. I was like, I thought right then ‘I was 22′ and then I said ‘No, I had had my birthday. I graduated from Western. I had my birthday May 10th and graduated from Western all in that same week.’ And so it had to be a couple weeks after that when I went out with this guy. So it was either the end of May or early June of 1991.
* Facebook has a search function that allows you to look up how much each candidate has spent on FB ads since the company started keeping track in May of this year. As of today the totals are…
JB For Governor/Rauner Failed Me: $2,120,937
Citizens for Rauner: $168,690
Those totals include a small number of ads that weren’t officially labeled.
* With that in mind…
Today, the Pritzker campaign released a new digital ad, “Blame Game,” highlighting the man who can do no wrong… according to himself.
It stars Bruce Rauner and features the various ways he’s blamed others for his failures. From the dismal state of the state to the school funding crisis to his fatal mismanagement in Quincy, Bruce Rauner claims he’s “not in charge” while Illinoisans pay the price.
St. Clair County prosecutor Brendan Kelly remains one of Democrats’ most prized recruits of the cycle. The Irish-Catholic Notre Dame graduate and Navy veteran has been called the “Conor Lamb of Downstate Illinois” and is exactly the type of moderate Democrat who has done well here in the past. But President Trump’s popularity in this coal and steel-heavy district looks like it might be too much for Kelly to overcome.
A new New York Times/Siena College poll shows Bost leading 48 percent to 39 percent (up from 44 percent to 43 percent a month ago). Trump, who carried the seat 54 percent to 40 percent four years after Barack Obama won it by two points, is coming to Bost’s hometown this Saturday for a rally, and they have a decent story to tell: U.S. Steel announced earlier this year it would add 800 jobs at its old Granite City works as a result of tariffs.
Moreover, the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund has been aggressive in attacking Kelly’s prosecutorial record, alleging more than 50 percent of county crimes were pled out. Kelly has said he won’t vote for Nancy Pelosi, but this is one place where Trump’s base appears to have reawakened in the past month. In addition, Bost just won the endorsement of a large teachers’ union. The race isn’t over, but it’s a Democratic frustration.
The Illinois Education Association endorsed Bost last week.
The attorney general of Illinois should be independent, unafraid of special interests, political parties or politicians.
I’m Erika Harold and I’m accountable to you, not the president, not the governor.
And unlike Kwame Raoul, I’ll never take orders from Mike Madigan.
That’s a strong ad.
…Adding… From Aviva Bowen at the Raoul campaign…
It’s a little late for Republican Erika Harold to convince voters she would be independent of Bruce Rauner, who said he’d ‘personally recruited’ her. As for the president, Donald Trump and Republican AGs are in court working hard to take healthcare away from Illinoisans with pre-existing conditions, and Erika has been typically silent. That’s not independence or courage, but it’s consistent with her position to eliminate the ACA and hurt our families.
Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, who barely lost to Rauner in the GOP primary, said McCann is working for Madigan. While some are voting for McCann because he is pro-life on abortion, Ives said, they should know the senator is attacking a few of the most pro-life legislators.
“If you are pro-life or speak up against public sector unions, these mailers are supposed to hurt you,” Ives said in an interview. “Sam McCann is not about winning the governorship. This is about silencing the rest of us. The end game here is doing Madigan’s bidding.”
[Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst’s] campaign spokesman, Timmy Pawula, said he was baffled with McCann’s mailer “with no valid points” to back the claim she is a “Rauner Rino.” […]
Most of Parkhurst’s money comes from Republican organizations largely funded by Rauner.
That’s some good newspaper writing right there, folks.
If it’s fair game for the Republicans to constantly harp on Speaker Madigan’s influence, it’s fair game for McCann.
Nancy Pelosi and Mike Madigan couldn’t be happier. Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is pushing their radical liberal agenda. Londrigan supports Pelosi’s government run health care that would end Medicare as we know it.
To pay for it? They’d have to double everyone’s income taxes.
Now Londrigan is using DC liberals to lie about Rodney Davis. Shameful. Dishonest. That’s liberal Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. Defending Main Street is responsible for the content of this ad.
* For Brendan Kelly, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and Lauren Underwood…
Progressive Turnout Project expanded its investment in targeted digital advertisements to get out the vote in support of an additional 21 Democratic candidates in competitive U.S. House and Senate races across the country. The organization will spend another $837,000 on top of a previously announced $1.8 million digital GOTV investment in 31 races.
* American Federation of Teachers radio ad attacking Randy Hultgren…
* Script…
Career politician Randy Hultgren has stopped working for us. During his twenty years in Springfield and Washington, he’s taken over half a million dollars from the insurance industry. And voted to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions like asthma, cancer and diabetes. Hultgren would even allow insurance companies to hike up premiums on older Americans. AARP calls it an “Age Tax.” It’s time to stop Randy Hultgren and start fresh with Lauren Underwood. Lauren is an African American registered nurse who worked for President Obama on public health. She knows and understands health care challenges first hand. That’s why she’ll fight to lower costs and expand access to quality health care for everyone. On November 6, vote for Lauren Underwood, the Democrat for Congress.
* AARP…
Use of the AARP name and logo in a recent political ad in support of Democrat Lauren Underwood in the race to represent Illinois’ 14th Congressional District were unauthorized and do not represent the views of the non-partisan organization that works on behalf of older adults and their families.
The liberal mob pushing their extreme views. Trying to hijack our democracy. And steal seats on the United States Supreme Court.
Despicable lies. Disgusting character assassination. A new low, even for them, falsely accusing an innocent person of being a sexual predator.
Brett Kavanaugh is a faithful husband, loving father and proven public servant and the liberal mob set out to destroy him, and his family, because of their own extreme political agenda.
Now if Nancy Pelosi is put back in charge, they are threatening to impeach President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh. And [Democratic candidate] is on their team.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The choice couldn’t be clearer.
On November 6th, vote to defeat the liberal mob. Vote against [Democratic candidate].
* My headline sums up what I think about the point of this Tribune oppo piece…
Anyone who’s lived through a major home renovation has a horror story or two, and when J.B. Pritzker embarked on a $25 million remodel of his Gold Coast mansions, more money brought more problems.
Workers wrongly installed a bedroom safe. Expensive imported Italian marble slabs intended for a child’s shower could not be located. There were issues about whether a famed French designer had contributed to delays and cost overruns.
A frustrated J.B. and wife M.K. Pritzker had enough. They blamed the general contractor, and believed he had to go.
“I am 100 percent for firing!” she wrote in a 2010 email.
What resulted was a legal dispute that lasted several years. How it unfolded provides a glimpse into the billionaire Democratic governor candidate’s wealth and the steps he takes to keep it from public view, including asking for confidentiality agreements from contractors and fighting in court to keep the jury from hearing about his riches.
With two weeks remaining until Election Day, the Rauner Campaign is launching a new TV ad titled “Unholy Union.”
The ad highlights the devastating results of giving JB Pritzker and Mike Madigan total control of Illinois. Together, they will bankrupt Illinois with billions in new proposed spending and a massive tax hike.
Pritzker and Madigan – key players in the Chicago political machine – have repeatedly engaged in corrupt behavior to benefit themselves. Madigan has made millions off of high property taxes in his role as a property tax appeals lawyer, helping cronies like Pritzker get reductions on their property taxes. And Pritzker has engaged in a “scheme to defraud” taxpayers by ripping toilets out of his mansion, dodging $330,000 in property taxes.
Since allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation in Madigan’s organizations surfaced, Pritzker has continued to funnel millions into his coffers. When Pritzker’s staffers sued the campaign over harassment and discrimination, Madigan has been notably silent.
It’s clear that Illinois can’t afford the high taxes and corruption of the unholy union between Pritzker and Madigan.
Officiant: Repeat after me. I, Mike Madigan, take you, JB Pritzker, as my unlawful partner in destruction, to raise property taxes, corrupt government, and bankrupt Illinois’ future.
Madigan: Done, deal.
Officiant: And I, JB Pritzker, take you, Mike Madigan, to honor and obey til death do us part.
Pritzker: Always have, always will.
Officiant: By the power vested in me, I now pronounce Illinois [F-bomb partially bleeped].
Voiceover: Mike Madigan and JB Pritzker, an unholy union Illinois can’t afford.
Perhaps as a symbol of how far Illinois and the nation have moved on the issue of same-sex marriage, the fact that the ad depicts a “wedding” of two men is no longer its most provocative part.
In the 2002 Republican primary for governor, the late conservative activist Jack Roeser sent out mailers that thanked Jim Ryan for supporting “special rights for homosexuals” and “opening the door to gay marriages.” The mailing featured two bridegroom figurines atop a wedding cake. Roeser backed then-state Sen. Patrick O’Malley over Ryan, who was then the state’s attorney general.
Still, the ad could prove to be a reminder to social conservatives unhappy with Rauner’s actions as governor that included his signing a law expanding rights for transgender people.
* The Pritzker campaign’s response from Galia Slayen had sort of a marriage theme to it…
It is only fitting that Bruce Rauner would choose to end his campaign by blaming others for his own failures. After four years of seeing their governor more interested in affairs with special interests, badmouthing his own state and refusing to compromise, the people of Illinois are looking forward to their divorce from Bruce Rauner being finalized on November 6th.
*** UPDATE 1 *** With a hat tip to a commenter…
Rauner just vetoed a law to protect LGBTQ Illinoisans from workplace discrimination. Now he is mocking same-sex marriage as an "unholy union". Rauner's blatant homophobia has no place in Illinois. #twill#ilgov@WindyCityTimes#LGBTQhttps://t.co/1UbbhplOe3
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Brian C. Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois…
We are deeply disappointed by Gov. Rauner’s new campaign ad that mocks marriage equality by tying two of his opponents together in a parody wedding.
We remind the governor that the official platform of the party he leads opposes marriage equality. A recent national poll found that a plurality of Republicans still oppose marriage equality. There is still much work to be done to move the hearts and minds of many Republican voters to value the dignity of same sex weddings. As someone who has officiated same sex weddings, Gov Rauner could serve as a model of inclusivity and use his campaign to vigorously promote full acceptance of LGBTQ Illinoisans. Instead, he chooses to raise the specter of gay marriage to turnout the most extreme elements of his base. We recognize a dog whistle when we hear one.
The governor should be ashamed of using the LGBTQ community for comedic value to make a political hit. Our weddings are not a joke. Gov. Rauner does not represent Illinois’ values with this ad.
*** UPDATE 3 *** The governor was on the Big John and Ramblin’ Ray show today and couldn’t say if this was his ad…
HOST 1: “I love the new ad. And we’ll play it after you leave because we don’t have time right now.”
HOST 2: “The ‘Unholy Alliance.’”
RAUNER: “Oh my goodness, we’re so abused if those two guys go in there.”
HOST 1: “Is that one of yours or is that an outside group?”
The Rauner campaign just confirmed that the "Unholy Union" ad launched today was commissioned by their campaign and @BruceRauner approved it before it was launched. #twill
“Bruce Rauner’s new ad is the last gasp of a failed leader stumbling out of office, willing to co-opt the homophobia of schoolyard bullies to try and divide us one last time. It’s not just offensive, it’s pathetic. Four years ago, Rauner invited voters to throw him out of office if he failed to get results. Without any accomplishments to speak of, Rauner’s re-election campaign has been reduced to cheap jokes, lame dog-whistles to conservatives who never forgave him, and an awkward public courtship of Donald Trump. As Rauner embarrasses himself in these final two weeks, Republicans voters have to ask themselves – are they proud of the campaign Bruce Rauner is running?”
“I thought this ad was so remarkable that I shared I with a couple of listservs – political scientists around the country,” said Chris Mooney, who is a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and is president of the state politics section of the American Political Science Association. “I’ve received dozens of responses (from) people who can’t believe it. All over the country, they say they’ve never seen anything like it. … It’s an exteme version of a negative ad.”
Mooney said at first blush, he can’t see how the ad will help Rauner. He received lots of snarky comments from colleagues, he said, including one saying the ad belongs in a campaign magazine’s hall of shame. […]
“Everyhing in an ad is a choice,” Mooney added, including having a white man play the clergyman, having the marriage and the music.
“I do know they chose to do those things and the fact that marriage equality is still a hot issue, and the fact that the governor continues to really try to shore up his right after sort of devastation in the primary, all that suggests that maybe that’s what’s going on here,” Mooney said.
