…Adding… Just making sure I point out that they misspelled the word Madigan. It’s not “Madgian.” Y’all say his name like 78 kabillion times a day, for crying out loud. Get it together, please. #ILStateFairFacePalm.
No one had a worse Tuesday evening politically than Richard Uihlein.
The multimillionaire from Illinois — who has built a name nationally with his heavy campaign spending — dropped about $10.7 million through third-party groups trying to get Delafield businessman Kevin Nicholson the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. It wasn’t enough.
State Sen. Leah Vukmir outpaced Nicholson by more than 25,000 votes with a combination of shoe-leather campaigning and traditional party politics.
Just how much money did Uihlein throw at the race? Consider this: Some of the Uihlein-funded TV spots were still running in Milwaukee three hours after the polls closed and minutes after Vukmir was declared winner in that race.
Richard Uihlein, a packing supply magnate and a descendant of one of the founders of the Schlitz beer company, has amassed one of the worst track records among mega-donors in recent years when it comes to backing winning candidates. […]
Among the other losing candidates that received Uihlein’s money: U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama. […]
He bankrolled the majority of the campaign for Jeanne Ives, a conservative state representative who unsuccessfully challenged Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner for the Republican nomination in March, by sending her campaign $2.5 million. […]
Uihlein backed Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s brief 2016 presidential campaign, before supporting Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Both men lost the primary to President Donald Trump.
Not to mention all those state legislative races during the spring.
The two billionaire mega donors poured $1.25 million into a super PAC that was supposed to supercharge Chris McDaniel’s insurgent bid to be Mississippi’s next Republican senator.
A year later, much of the money from Illinois shipping supply CEO Richard Uihlein and New York financier Robert Mercer is gone. Only a fraction was spent reaching voters who could boost the former state lawmaker’s uphill battle against Cindy Hyde-Smith, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s preferred candidate in a November special election that will determine who finishes out retired GOP Sen. Thad Cochran’s term.
What the Remember Mississippi super PAC has provided, however, is a generous payday for at least 18 campaign consultants who received the lion’s share of the money, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
* I’ll be bringing my laptop to the fairgrounds with me, but, I don’t expect to post much of anything this afternoon. The Democrats are having a beer bash at the Bud Tent, so I’m thinking there will be nothing newsworthy. But, one never knows.
Anyway, please be nice to each other and keep it as Illinois-centric as possible. Aretha Franklin’s role in the Blues Brothers movie makes her life and passing on-topic.
* Rep. Christian Mitchell, the new executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois, was also asked by reporters today about Speaker Madigan’s impact on the Democratic ticket.
“This, ultimately isn’t going to be a race about individuals, it’s going to be a race about values,” he said. Mitchell then talked about how people who are pro-choice or want health care guarantees should vote for Democrats.
I don’t think this is about individual personalities. This is about making sure that we compete up and down the ticket, everywhere in this state, which is what we’re doing, what we’re going to have the resources to do. […]
Republicans have tried to do this I think longer than I’ve literally been alive. Again, it’s not going to be about personalities, it’s about who runs better campaigns. I think the Democrats are going to do that.
* The Question: If you were an Illinois Democratic candidate/honcho, how would you respond when asked if Speaker Madigan is a liability to your party?
One name heard frequently was Mike Madigan, the Democratic House Speaker.
“One thing that brings us all together and will unite us in November is knowing that now is the time for Mike Madigan to retire,” Jim Durkin, House Republican Leader said.
“Can we continue to fight back and break the stranglehold that Mike Madigan’s machine’s has on our state, can we break that lock hold and grow jobs, cut the taxes get term limits, end the corruption,” Rauner said.
Rauner spoke of the “darkness of Madigan and Pritzker,” saying “everything is on the line.”
“We’re not going to fall backwards. We cannot let Madigan and Pritzker get total control of this state,” Rauner said. “That’s going to be more taxes, more corruption, more job losses and a devastating future for our children and our grandchildren in the state of Illinois. We can’t let that happen.” […]
[Illinois Republican Party Co-Chairman Tim Schneider] said voters will realize that “this race is about Michael Madigan once again controlling this state, the status quo, business as usual.”
“Republicans now need to come together. We can have issues where we might disagree … but you know what? We’ve got to unite. This is the time for everybody to come together,” Rauner said.
“We can have our differences on different policy issues, but what really matters is we don’t give total control to Madigan, his machine, funded by Pritzker. More corruption. Higher taxes. More job losses. That’s what they’ll bring,” he said.
Tim Schneider, chairman of the state GOP, told reporters Wednesday that the past Ives challenge and McCann being on the ballot are “just distractions.” He said as Republicans meet voters, it’s clear “the people of Illinois don’t want a Madigan puppet as their governor.” […]
He said Illinois can sometimes be seen as being in two parts.
“We have downstate Illinois that really embraces Donald Trump, and the northern half of the state, they are less confident in his abilities and don’t like his rhetoric,” Schneider said. “We have to deal with that.” But he said that when “people realize that this race is about Michael Madigan once again controlling this state, the status quo, business as usual, I think they’ll come home. I think we’ll get independents and all the Republicans and some soft Democrats to vote for the governor and win House seats in November.”
In addition to saying House Speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois chairman Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) is pulling the strings for everything – particularly gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker and other statewide candidates and Democratic lawmakers – Rauner said the choice is clear.
“The reason we’re going to win,” Rauner said, “is our message is a unifying message. Democrats want lower property taxes. Democrats want term limits. Honest Democrats not loyal to the machine want the same changes that we do.”
Rauner also spent time talking about the attorney general’s race. He said Republican Erika Harold is so fearsome that incumbent Lisa Madigan decided not to seek another term just weeks after Harold arrived. And he characterized Harold’s rival, State Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), as “bad news,” another Madigan puppet.
The attack on Madigan “confirms they don’t have anything in the way of an accomplishment to talk about,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. “It’s more falsehoods on just about every level.” A Pritzker spokeswoman did not respond.
Republican candidates and officials kept up their relentless attacks on the unpopular Madigan and their efforts to link Pritzker to him in the minds of voters. Darlene Senger, the Republican candidate for comptroller, said Republicans were robbed of the comptroller’s office. She said Comptroller Susana Mendoza is a “Madigan mouthpiece.”
She also said Madigan, the head of the state Democratic Party has been weakened by accusations of misconduct leveled against some of his associates.
“That fortress Madigan built is cracking and I’m going to kick the hell out of it,” she said.
Rauner still faces criticism from social conservatives for signing House Bill 40, which expands public funding of abortions in the state.
Senger, who said she opposes the law, said voters will have to examine the alternatives to Rauner. Asked by a reporter if that made Rauner essentially the lesser of two evils, Senger said, “That’s pretty much what it is. What choice do you have?”
Oh my. And she was so close to getting some Raunerbucks with that Madigan rhetoric.
* Bernie has a story about Republican secretary of state candidate Jason Helland questioning whether incumbent Jesse White will serve four years if he’s reelected…
“Is an 84-year-old man really going to serve until 2023?” Helland asked Wednesday at a GOP meeting in Springfield — part of Governor’s Day activities that included a State Fairgrounds speech where he made similar remarks. “This election is an appointment election,” meaning White’s leaving would create a vacancy to be filled by appointment.
Helland, 42, also told reporters: “The secretary of state just doesn’t have the stamina to last until 2023,” given that he previously announced he wouldn’t seek another term past the 2010 election or the 2014 election. Last year, White announced he changed his mind, and would seek a sixth term this year.
ROCCO CLAPS, political director of Citizens for Jesse White, responded that White will “absolutely” serve the full four years of his sixth term, should he win. […]
Helland also said: “A vote for my opponent is a vote for Madigan’s appointment,” referring to House Speaker MICHAEL MADIGAN, D-Chicago, who also chairs the Democratic Party of Illinois.
I ran into Secretary White last night and he looked fine to me. Helland really ought to avoid the ageism. It’s just not right.
But Helland’s warning is something that should be debated. Secretary White has, after all, said he wouldn’t run for reelection twice before and did anyway. I don’t know many people who firmly believe that White will serve all four years of his next term. It’s openly discussed in Democratic circles.
I had the chance to chat with Helland’s campaign manager yesterday and he said there would be a lot more stuff like this through November. That’s fine by me, but his candidate needs to drop the cracks about his opponent’s age. I’ve been hearing that “old man” stuff since before White ran for his first reelection in 2002, and all Jesse did was stomp his opponent into the dust, winning every single county.
You’re likely not gonna win this year, dude. Don’t be remembered like this.
* This letter was sent Tuesday by the Anti-Harassment, Equality & Access Panel (Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Sen. Melinda Bush and Rep. Carol Ammons - all Democrats) to the chairmen and executive directors of both major political parties and the two county chair associations…
As you and your party’s leadership gather this week at the Illinois State Fair, we wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the work we are doing as part of the Anti-Sexual Harassment, Equality and Access Panel (AHEA). AHEA is a nonpartisan organization whose focus is to help develop guidelines that political organizations and campaigns can adopt to create safe and supportive environments for women, free from sexual harassment, while pursuing intentional efforts to promote more women into leadership positions and recruit more women to run for office.
The three of us spent the month of July traveling to cities across the state meeting with women who work in the space of campaigns and politics to learn from their experiences and gather their ideas around how we can change culture and behavior in the workplace moving forward. This work took us to Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, Rockford, Springfield, Edwardsville and Carbondale.
And no matter what town they called home, they all share a set of hopes for a better future for women here in Illinois.
Here are some takeaways from this process that we will address in the AHEA report:
• We need to end the culture of fear and retaliation for reporting sexual harassment and stop smearing and discrediting those who bring complaints forward.
• Political campaigns need to firmly establish what sexual harassment is from the start of employment for all employees; consequences for such behavior need to be established.
• Local political parties remain under control of a good old boys network that leaves little room for women or people of color, continuously giving white men a leg up when it comes to running for state and federal office. The system is fundamentally set up to dissuade women from running for office.
• An intentional effort needs to be made on the part of men to join the fight against institutionalized sexism. Women also need to reach out and incorporate men into the discussion.
• A process needs to be created that allows those who experience sexual harassment to be reported in a way where they have full faith and confidence that their complaint will be taken seriously, investigated and resolved in a way that can be trusted to be fair and legitimate.
• Women need to feel supported in their pursuit of running for office and do so free from judgment based on their family, marital, sexual orientation, socio-economic or racial status. Women simply want the opportunity to run.
Within the next few weeks, we will provide all of you, as leaders within your respective parties, along with all registered political campaigns and other affiliated political organizations, with a full report detailing our recommendations and best practices around changing the pervasive culture of sexual harassment throughout Illinois politics. We look forward to following up with you after you’re in receipt of our report and, even more so, working with you to make Illinois politics a place where everyone, regardless of their gender, race or economic status can feel welcomed and can thrive.
* There were a ton of cops outside JP Kelly’s when I drove by last night, but I was running late for a meeting and couldn’t stop…
Late last night, Springfield police arrested and charged @RodneyDavis’ field director Levi Lovell with aggravated battery. He’s still behind bars this morning. Multiple witnesses told me he shouted in @BetsyforIL’s face and punch someone at her campaign event at JP Kelly’s.
Mug shot of @RodneyDavis’ field director Levi Lovell arrested for aggravated assault. @WCIA3 has obtained video of the incident. Lovell chased @BetsyforIL & her husband around the bar asking menacing questions until he was asked to leave. That’s when he started throwing punches. pic.twitter.com/kviFvJj6zi
“@BetsyforIL” is, of course, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, Congressman Davis’ Democratic opponent. I’m told her husband was pushed.
I’ll post the video when it’s available.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Oh, man, this is so bad…
Video shows a drunk, belligerent Levi Lovell pestering @BetsyforIL and her husband at a campaign fundraiser. Bartenders and staff asked him to leave. He trolls them as “discriminating” against him because he’s black. View is obstructed, but it appears at least one punch landed. pic.twitter.com/eNgIVxkLxe
Pushing and shoving continues outside where @RodneyDavis’ field director demands to be allowed back inside. Perhaps ironically, this is precisely the sort of hooligan Davis says would upstage a town hall if he ever held one. Lovell previously interned for @RepShimkus, @GovRauner. pic.twitter.com/E1O0kWSGtL
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Congressman Davis’ campaign…
Hey Rich - here is a statement from Matt Butcher, Campaign Manager. Would appreciate you posting.
“As soon as I was made aware of the incident, his employment was immediately terminated. This campaign has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or violence of any kind.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** I’ve asked for a statement from the congressman himself.
Dirksen Londrigan issued the following statement: “I’m relieved that my family, staff, and supporters are all OK and that this incident didn’t escalate even further.
“I am disturbed that someone would show up to an event and try to harass and intimidate me and my family, but he is sorely mistaken if he thinks that it is going to slow me down one bit.
“Nasty, divisive politics do nothing for our community. I will continue to hold public town halls, campaign with civility, and show this office and voters the respect they deserve.”
Her campaign manager, Emma Brown, said it was clear that Davis is worried about re-election, but that is no excuse for the behavior of his staff.
“Rodney needs to answer very clearly whether he or his campaign were aware of what this young man planned to do or even directed him to attend the event and try to intimidate Betsy, her family, and her supporters,” Brown said.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Rep. Rodney Davis himself…
My sincerest apologies to Betsy, her husband Tom, and everyone at JP Kelly’s. The incident involving a young field representative on my campaign should have never happened and his employment was immediately terminated. His actions go against everything I stand for and go directly against what I have been promoting, which is more civility in politics. This kind of behavior will never be tolerated on my campaign or with anyone on my staff.
Springfield police Lt. Brian Oakes said Lovell showed up to the event “purposely trying to record members of Betsy Dirsken Londrigan’s campaign, trying to get them to say something inappropriate.”
Oakes said Lovell “smelled like an alcoholic beverage” and was “believed to be intoxicated.” […]
His profile says he had volunteered for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus’ 2016 campaign and had interned for state Rep. Tim Butler in 2015.
The profile says Lovell graduated from Lincoln Land Community College and from Eastern Illinois University, where he was involved with College Republicans.
* The photos that every Republican tracker wants to take today are of Speaker Madigan standing next to or near any Democratic candidates. If Madigan had actually given shout-outs to his House candidates, then that would become an “issue” in their respective campaigns…
Unlike Madigan - who mentioned no candidate by name, and didn't speak to wanting Dems to hold onto a House majority/gaining back a super-majority, Cullerton gave shout-outs to all Senate Democratic candidates (mostly women, btw) https://t.co/jYKCiE6OJv
Why did the State Dem Chair Mike Madigan not stay and listen to the other Dem speakers at the #ILDemDay County Chair Breakfast? “Meetings and fundraising fill most days,” according to his spokesman pic.twitter.com/H81ONaNpDm
The Work Of His Life: Kwame Raoul Argued In Court That Two Neglected Children Should Return To Their Mother’s “Injurious Environment”
Debilitating gunshot injury, shaken baby syndrome, and other terrible tragedies plagued household
“Kwame Raoul says a safe home for children is the ‘work of his life,’ but his own legal record proves otherwise. Raoul argued in court that two children should be returned to a household where their two-and-a-half-month-old sibling was shaken to death, one child accidentally shot themself with an unsecured firearm, leaving them with a debilitating injury, and their mother oversaw an environment that gravely endangered their lives. Kwame Raoul’s views and record are dangerous, and that’s why he’s attempting to cover it up with false ads.” - Erika Harold campaign spokesman Aaron DeGroot
Yesterday, Kwame Raoul’s campaign released a new television ad titled “Safe Home,” where he makes claims about prosecuting child abuse and neglect, but the ad failed to mention the other disturbing side of Raoul’s legal career.
Nearly two decades ago, Raoul argued in court on behalf of a mother whose two children were removed from her custody after harrowing tragedies struck their home. A third child died of shaken baby syndrome, while one of the children accidentally shot himself with an unsecured firearm, leaving him blind in one eye, brain damaged, and paralyzed. Those were just two of the terrible tragedies that led DCFS to remove the two children from their mother’s care.
Kwame Raoul argued in court that the mother had not done anything that warranted losing the custody of her children. Raoul says a safe home for children is the ‘work of his life,’ but his own legal record proves otherwise.
When Lisa Madigan withdrew from the race, my opponent State Sen. Kwame Raoul entered the race. And he immediately dismissed me as a mere Miss America, and said he knew Lisa Madigan did not leave the race because she was afraid of facing me. Well, Lisa Madigan may not have been afraid to face me, but Sen. Raoul apparently is, because he’s been trying to duck debates and avoid joint forums. Our state deserves an attorney general who is tough enough to stand on any stage, with any person, even if that person is just a mere Miss America.
The governor also used his speech to demand that Raoul debate Harold, asking why the Senator was hiding.
* Meanwhile…
Today, Kwame Raoul’s campaign for Attorney General released a new television ad, “Safe Home,” highlighting Republican Erika Harold’s shocking views on the safety of children and same-sex couples who wish to care for them. The ad is running statewide on television and digital platforms.
“As both a father and a public servant, it’s unconscionable to me that the safety of a child would ever be up for debate,” said Kwame Raoul. “When I was a prosecutor, I took children out of abusive homes so that they could live with loving families. Whether from neighborhood violence, online predators or even within their own home, our kids are at risk. As attorney general, I will make our children’s safety my top priority.”
Video transcript:
[GRAPHIC]
You won’t believe what Erika Harold believes.
[REPORTER VOICEOVER]
Republican Erika Harold, views on gay adoption are surfacing.
Harold was asked…‘If you had to place a child in foster care, and the choices were either a loving gay couple or a heterosexual couple who were known child abusers, who would you choose?’
Harold chose the child abusers.
[KWAME RAOUL]
Your personal views influence what you pursue. We can’t allow that type of extremism into the Attorney General’s office. I prosecuted child abuse and neglect.
This is the work of my life, and I’m just getting started.
Harold has repeatedly supported policies that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. During her 2014 congressional campaign, Harold supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and protection for employers who fire employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Kwame Raoul is endorsed by a host of organizations whose members are deeply committed to the safety and welfare of children, including the National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Education Association, Illinois Nurses Association, and more.
* I have to head to the fairgrounds. I’ll be bringing my laptop with me, but I just don’t know how much I’ll be posting today. In the meantime, keep an eye on the live coverage post for constant updates (click here).
Please, be nice to each other in comments, and try your very best to keep the discussion Illinois-centric. Thanks.
This [JB Pritzker] is the guy who tried to buy his office. He tried to get into the game, he was sucking up to Blagojevich. Now he’s sucking up to Mike Madigan.
What’s one of the great things about being a billionaire? You don’t have to suck up to anybody. Right? I mean, that’s Donald Trump. The great thing about being a billionaire is you don’t have to suck up.
This guy is a billionaire ass-kisser. He is a billionaire ass-kisser. That’s who he is.
He kissed Blagojevich’s ass. Now he’s kissing Mike Madigan’s ass. We can’t lose to this guy. Right? He’s a tax cheat. He’s a suck-up. And what’s he want to do? He wants to raise your taxes and hand the government over to Mike Madigan.
He also said Pritzker is “making the Bahamas great again,” because the Democrat has almost all of his money there and he’s using some of it to build a $100 million house. It was quite the barn-burner. “He wants to raise your taxes and he’s hiding his income in South Dakota and the Bahamas” where they have no income tax, Porter said. His conclusion…
Please pardon my language. I got a little worked up. But, I don’t know about you guys, I’m going to do whatever I can, I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure we win this race. I’m gonna make sure that a normal guy is going to be in the mansion, the guy that actually pays his taxes and reports his taxes. He pays his taxes to help fund things in Illinois. He gives away money in Illinois to try to build schools and to make life in Illinois better. He’s not making life better in Nassau in the Bahamas.
Asked if the name picked for the Coliseum would be permanent or only last for a set time period, Elizabeth Tomev, spokeswoman for the governor, said “The details of the program will be announced soon.”
Past discussions about naming rights have included the idea that they could be purchased for a period of years. Slayton said in 2017 that preliminary discussions at the time for naming rights for the Coliseum, Grandstand and Exposition Building were in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 a year for five years.
Slayton said Tuesday that there had been discussions with an agriculture association to get to name the building for $1 million for five years, and the offer was sweetened to $1 million for 10 years, but it was passed over.
As for how long the naming rights purchased by the Rauners will last, Slayton said that will be up to the foundation board, which will meet after the State Fair. It would also be up to the board if the name would last forever. He noted the possibility that the name will come from an Illinois school child.
AFUCIO? I won’t even try to guess the hidden meaning of that typo, especially considering the governor’s antipathy toward organized labor (and please don’t “go there” in comments, either).
But, hey, at least they spelled “pavilion” right.
Also, if you look at the map, the Secretary of State’s tent is listed, but the location is not marked on the map itself.
The context was his admission that JB Pritzker is outspending him three-to-one on TV ads, but that it won’t do Pritzker much good because he’s not an attractive candidate. “Once you’ve spent that for saturation, the rest of it’s wasted,” Rauner told the gathered Republicans. “We just gotta make sure we’ve got enough to get our message out.”
A Williamson County commissioner says the push for a gun control advisory question on November’s ballot has nothing to do with letting the voters speak and everything to do with heavy-handed Springfield politics.
Commissioner Ron Ellis said when the Williamson County Board first started talking in June about letting the voters decide if the board should oppose specific gun control bills that were being debated in Springfield, he was all for it. In fact, the three-person board voted unanimously to put the question on the ballot, they just had to finalize the language. […]
Ellis said that board meeting put the political machine in top gear, and the pressure was on him particularly. He said he got a call from Joe Hackler, the Southern Illinois director for Citizens for Rauner Inc., about his support of the measure.
“I was literally told that if I didn’t put this on the ballot that there would be repercussions,” Ellis said. He said he later heard from a local Republican official that if he wasn’t careful, it was possible there could be a smear campaign launched against him for standing up to Springfield, making his political life very difficult in the future.
“I was told later … that they would put press releases out against me, make me out to be anti gun, that I was NOT a true Republican and make sure that someone ran against me in the primary in two years,” Ellis said in a text message to The Southern on Monday.
Ahead of Governor Rauner’s speech at the State Fair for Governor’s Day, the Rauner campaign is launching a new paid digital ad.
The ad echoes the themes that Governor Rauner will touch on during his remarks: taking on corruption and fighting for the future of our state.
Governor Rauner has fought since day one to end decades of insider politics, grow the economy, and make Illinois the best state in America to build a business and raise a family.
They said it couldn’t be done. The Madigan Machine is just too strong, they say. It will never go away. Never fail to fail us. In spite of the odds, millions of us believe in the future our kids deserve and the possibilities of this great place we still call home. Now, we have a choice. We could leave our future to the same corrupt career politicians, or we can fight. I choose to fight.
* More to come in a bit. Official explanation is an illness.
…Adding… Press release..
The following statement has been released by Doug House, President of the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association:
“Everyone who knows Vice President Biden knows that he gives our party and our country his all, but unfortunately he is sick and is under doctor’s orders not to travel.
The cancellation is of course disappointing, but it is clear that the circumstances are simply unavoidable. We all hope he gets well soon and I’m sure he’ll be back campaigning for Democrats in Illinois and across the country in no time.
While Biden’s trip to Springfield is cancelled, our event will continue. We remain excited for what will be the largest brunch in our history and look forward to hearing from our incredible slate of Democratic leaders who are ready to energize our party and lead us to victory up and down the ticket this November.”
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Mayor dubbed by Obama as ‘Future of Democratic Party’ will headline IDCCA brunch in light of Biden cancelation
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois – Thousands of excited Democrats attending the IDCCA’s largest-ever annual brunch on Thursday will meet rising star South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (boot-edge-edge) who replaces Vice President Joe Biden after an unavoidable, late cancelation due to illness.
“Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a shining example of what can happen when Democrats take their message to every community,” said Doug House, president of the IDCCA. “That’s IDCCA’s primary mission – to fight and win in places where we’ve been told we can’t succeed. Mayor Pete’s dynamic message is one Illinois needs to hear as we work to turn races up and down the ticket from red to blue.”
“South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a rising star in the Democratic Party who jumped at the chance of filling in for Joe Biden,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said. “We welcome our Hoosier Democratic friend to Springfield.”
About Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg - a Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant – was first elected mayor of South Bend in 2011 at only 29 years old, and in 2015 he won re-election with 80 percent of the vote. Known fondly as ‘Mayor Pete,’ in Buttigieg’s seven years as mayor, South Bend went from being called one of America’s 10 dying communities by Newsweek to experiencing a period of rapid population and investment growth.
As Mayor, Buttigieg took an unpaid seven-month leave for a deployment to Afghanistan. For his counterterrorism work, he earned the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
President Barack Obama named him one of four Democrats who represented the future of the Democratic Party. He’s received national hype in The Washington Post, which called him “the most interesting Mayor you’ve never heard of,” and in The New York Times, which ran a column saying that he could be the nation’s “first gay President.”
In 2017, Buttigieg ran for Democratic National Committee chair, earning national praise for his clear message and emphasis on rebuilding the Democratic Party from the ground up in every community. House said that message will play well Thursday.
Mayor Pete studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford and holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Literature from Harvard. The son of educators, he was born in South Bend and grew up in the Northwest Side and North Shore Triangle. He graduated from St. Joseph High School in South Bend.
An active musician, Mayor Pete plays piano and guitar, and has performed with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. He lives with his husband Chasten in the same South Bend neighborhood where he grew up and is restoring a once-vacant home there.
He currently serves on the advisory board of the United States Conference of Mayors, and is chair of the Mayors’ Task Force on Automation, which addresses the impact of automation on American communities.
