* Counting in Cook County provided Democrat Mike Frerichs with 2,029 net votes late today. As you can see by the chart on the upper right hand side of the blog, Republican Tom Cross now leads Frerichs by just 9,214 votes - a margin of just 0.27 percent.
Chicago still has at least 24,000 votes to count, and suburban Cook has about 5,500.
My intern Marc Reiter called over 20 of the largest election authorities outside the biggest ones this afternoon, and wasn’t able to find any new votes counted, or totals released. Rockford counted about 400 votes later on and Frerichs picked up 164 net votes.
*** UPDATE *** From the Cook County Clerk’s office…
We have about 1,300 mail ballots in hand, which will be counted Monday. We’ll probably have 500-1,000 trickle in over the next week.
Bulk of provisionals will be added Monday - estimate is 6,000/8,000 will be verified and count.
So universe for suburban Cook is likely in the 7,800-8,300 range.
That’s a lot more than Kennedy and I thought were out in Cook. Also, the spokesperson’s math is off. I put the range at 7,800 to 10,300.
…Adding… As mentioned above, Frerichs’ net gain in suburban Cook on Friday was 2,029 votes. That’s out of a counted universe of 7,454 votes. If that ratio holds up, and being conservative here by using the low end of the range, he can expect to get another 2,000 or so net votes out of suburban Cook.
Cross received 19.47 percent in Chicago. Let’s make it 20 percent, and he’d expect to receive 4,800 votes from what we know is left to count there (which could be more, as suburban Cook clearly shows). Frerichs would emerge with a net gain of, conservatively, 14,000 votes.
Adding Chicago and Cook together, we get a conservative net gain of about 16,000 votes. That would put Frerichs ahead by about 6,500 votes. Again, I’m rounding down and being conservative here.
The question now is, how many more votes are left to be counted outside Cook County? And the answer is we just don’t know.
…Adding More… I’m told Lake County has almost 2,000 mail-ins and 1300 provisionals to count. Of the 1,300 provisionals there are 1,018 where voters said they never received a mail ballot so those will have to wait the full 14 days of the vote by mail process to figure out.
The Frerichs people claim late mail-ins are usually Democrats. We’ll have to wait and see, however.
Comments Off  
|
* From a press release…
Governor-elect Bruce Rauner today announced that Mike Zolnierowicz will serve as his gubernatorial chief of staff.
“I’ve worked closely with Mike Zolnierowicz for more than a year and he has my complete trust and confidence,” Rauner said. “I know he shares my commitment to making our state the most compassionate and competitive in the nation. Mike will be a dedicated public servant whose only focus is on bringing back Illinois.”
“No one has a better understanding or greater love of Illinois than Mike Zolnierowicz,” U.S. Senator Mark Kirk said. “Mike is an outstanding choice who will serve the people well.”
Mike Zolnierowicz
Mike Zolnierowicz currently serves as director of the Bruce Rauner Transition Committee. He previously worked as deputy campaign manager for Citizens for Rauner, Inc., overseeing more than 500 paid employees and more than 10,000 volunteers. Prior to joining the Rauner campaign, Zolnierowicz served as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Senator Mark Kirk. As deputy chief of staff, Zolnierowicz managed the Senator’s Illinois operations, overseeing the Senator’s work with key stakeholders, including community leaders, the Congressional delegation, the state legislature and Constitutional officers. Zolnierowicz graduated from Downers Grove North High School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Hope College.
One of the most solid guys I’ve ever met.
*** UPDATE *** I wouldn’t put too much stock in this Tribune story about Rauner’s potential advisers if I were you. Rauner’s team is most definitely leak averse, and this doesn’t look like a leak to me. Instead, it looks like a few folks promoting themselves. Probably not a great idea.
23 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
Question of the day
Friday, Nov 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We’re only supposed to have one governor at a time, but Illinois has a history of governors-elect (or governors-in-waiting, in the case of Pat Quinn) who have tried to influence decisions before actually being sworn in. And it happened again yesterday…
The future governor did, however, urge Quinn and lawmakers not to take any major action to enact new laws before his administration takes over Jan. 12.
“I hope that there will be no real significant action take during the lame-duck and with a governor on the way out,” Rauner said.
“I hope that anything of significance to be addressed can wait until mid-January so we can all deal with it together on a bipartisan basis,” he said, adding that major decisions “made by folks who are on their way out of office … would be very inappropriate.”
Quinn, in conceding the race a day earlier, made clear that he would continue to push for passage of an increase in the state’s minimum wage to at least $10 an hour from its current $8.25 an hour rate.
* Because of that Quinn promise, Rauner made it particularly clear that the minimum wage should not be raised until he takes office. The response…
As far as attempting to raise the minimum wage, [Cullerton spokesman John Patterson] said: “Those would all be conversations to have with the members to see what they’re interested in doing.”
Steve Brown, spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, reiterated that.
“I think if there’s support for any particular proposal the Legislature should act,” Brown said.
* Statewide support for raising the minimum wage was two-to-one on Tuesday…
Yes 2,262,241 (66.7%)
No 1,129,856 (33.3%)
And the referendum didn’t just ask whether voters supported raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, it asked whether that should be done before January 1, 2015 - which is, of course, before Rauner takes office.
The GA can also delay implementation until June 1 so that it only requires a simple majority vote.
* The Question: Should the General Assembly vote on raising the minimum wage before January 1? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey service
107 Comments
|
A look at Chicago turnout
Friday, Nov 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chicago’s election returns are being examined closely because the 2015 mayor’s race has already begun. Here’s Mary Mitchell…
In the city’s 20 predominantly black wards, Quinn got about 12,319 fewer votes than he did in 2010. Citywide, Quinn got 40,247 fewer votes than in 2014. The incumbent governor lost by more than 170,000 votes.
Interestingly enough, Quinn actually did better in some predominantly black wards than he did four years ago.
For instance, in the South Side’s 9th Ward, which includes the Roseland area, Quinn got 15,964 votes compared to 13,895 in 2010. Rauner picked up only 511 votes, 81 fewer than Scott Lee Cohen did in 2010.
Rather than a black backlash, it appears a lot of Democratic voters decided they couldn’t hold their noses.
In 2010, 689,951 Chicago residents cast ballots in the governor’s race, compared to 621,995 cast on Tuesday.
* Dan Mihalopoulos…
A coalition of labor and activist groups claimed it registered 80,000 new voters in Chicago this year. They failed badly in their first attempt to channel those voters, for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s re-election bid.
Rather than bringing more people to the polls Tuesday, voter turnout was down sharply in the city’s wards compared to the 2010 election. According to the city’s election authorities, less than 622,000 votes were cast — a drop of about 70,000 in four years. Quinn received more than 40,000 votes fewer in Chicago than four years ago.
The campaign that boasted of registering so many new voters was called Every Vote Counts and also signed up new voters in the Cook County suburbs. It involved staunch Emanuel foes such as the Chicago Teachers Union, the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois Indiana and the Grassroots Collaborative activist group.
That campaign failed miserably. Absolutely miserably.
* Greg Hinz…
Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner did do OK out in Milwaukee Avenue land, snagging 38 percent in the 39th Ward, 40 percent in the 38th Ward and a near-majority 47 percent in the 41st Ward — the last ward in Chicago to have given most of its votes to a GOP gubernatorial nominee, Jim Ryan against Rod Blagojevich in 2002.
But this election, Mr. Rauner outpolled Democrat Pat Quinn by an unofficial 7,707 to 7,346 in the 42nd Ward, which covers the heart of downtown, according to the latest unofficial totals.
Equally notable, Mr. Rauner came within 90 votes of snagging Lincoln Park’s 43rd Ward and at latest count had 43.51 percent of the vote in the new 2nd Ward, which snakes from Ukrainian Village south and east to the Near North Side. Almost as good, he cracked the one-third mark in the 32nd Ward, which covers the increasingly upscale Bucktown/Wicker Park area, and Lake View’s 44th Ward.
Some of that is because of the hard work of long-ignored Chicago GOP leaders. “It’s the fruition of years of effort,” says 42nd Ward GOP Committeeman Eloise Gerson. “We’ve touched base with the people.”
But most of it, I suspect, has to do with the nature of the neighborhoods that mostly feed downtown’s growth industries: finance and technology, trading and upper-level management, law and accounting. Those folks mostly are social liberals, but Mr. Rauner’s entrepreneurial, pro-business “growth” message almost certainly resonated with them more than Mr. Quinn’s attacks on Mr. Rauner’s wealth and how he obtained it.
40 Comments
|
What’s up with the state treasurer’s race?
Friday, Nov 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Scott Kennedy’s Illinois Election Data website is by far the most useful, most up to date, most indispensable site anywhere in this state. He’s far ahead of both the AP and Reuters, and that’s why I’m using his numbers (posted in the near upper right hand corner) as we track the oh so close state treasurer’s race.
Kennedy was concerned about the freshness of numbers from 20 small counties, so I had my new intern Marc Reiter call all of them today. Nothing has changed yet from the AP’s original results.
* So, who’s gonna win this thing? Scott wrote the following analysis exclusively for us…
The margin as of the morning of 11/7 is Cross by 11,407 per my unofficial count.
Here is what is known and unknown:
The City of Chicago still has almost 24K votes to count and Frerichs will net a margin probably somewhere between 10K and 15K out of that.
I am told that Cook has about 13K votes to count. Yesterday Cook counted about 6,500 votes and Frerichs netted about 1,500 votes, if that trend stays the same Frerichs will likely net another 2,000 to 4,00 votes here.
On Wednesday night, both DuPage and McHenry updated their numbers from election night. I expect these were mail ballots. Cross netted about 3,700 and 4,900 votes respectively from those two updates. As near as I can tell neither Lake or Will has provided a similar update. Also, Kane should be looked at too but it’s important to remember that both the Kane County Clerk and the Aurora election authority have jurisdiction there.
* Here are some questions that when answered would give us a better picture overall:
- In these collar counties, how many uncounted votes are there that are not included in the data publicly available on the county websites and when is it expected to be counted/updated?
- It would also be helpful if someone did the same for the next 20 or so biggest counties.
- Last, the State Board of Elections typically has no election results until the certified totals are reported to them in about a month but one bit of useful information they do have concerns the number of early voters and vote by mail applicants. During the election season each election authority has to report the list of people voting early or by mail within about 48 hours to the State Board and then that data is made available to the state parties so they can update their voter files nightly. The State Board should be able to use this data to give a count by county of the number of vote by mail people for each.
It’s important to remember that even with vote by mail there will be several numbers here. The number of people who applied for a ballot, the number of ballots returned to the election authorities that either have been counted or still need to be counted, and then the number of ballots that have not yet been returned but potentially could still legally show up in the mail and be valid votes.
You can do a little math to come up with some likely scenarios based on what is known but there are a lot of unknowns still to be resolved before you can accurately predict the final outcome for sure.
32 Comments
|
* As we all know by now, Bruce Rauner said this on election night…
“I placed two very important phone calls. I called Speaker Madigan. I called [Senate] President [John] Cullerton, and I said to them ‘This is an opportunity for us to work together.’”
* Rauner admitted yesterday that he didn’t talk to either man. He said he called Madigan’s chief of staff and left a voicemail and said “I…we” called Cullerton’s chief of staff.
Madigan’s spokesman said Tim Mapes received a call from an “unknown number” and let it go to voicemail. Mapes was kinda busy on election night and didn’t have time to chat with someone he didn’t know. Mapes didn’t listen to the voicemail until yesterday after he was told what Rauner said. Madigan had previously checked all of his lines because the Rauner campaign insisted that Bruce had tried to call him. Sun-Times…
“Why he called a staff person’s cell phone from an unknown number” was beyond him, [Steve Brown] said.
“The bottom line is, they never talked on election night,” Brown said of Rauner and Madigan.
Notice a change in tone?
* Cullerton’s chief Dave Gross said he answered the call and some staffer he didn’t know started going on about something or another and he cut the guy off and said something like “I get it, Rauner wants to talk to Cullerton,” said he’d pass the word and clicked off. He was kinda busy too.
Anyway, now you know.
* John Kass gets the last word…
Elected officials are taken at their word, until they don’t have one. And then it’s over.
The Boss Madigan fib isn’t a monumental thing. But it’s not a tiny little thing either. You might think of it as a wake-up call from the Boss to Bruce.
So wake up, Bruce Rauner.
It was an unforced rookie error. He’ll make more. Hopefully, not too many more.
Rauner says he’s working on setting up a meeting soon with Madigan and Cullerton. I’d sure love to be in that room.
64 Comments
|
Today’s number: $97.31 million
Friday, Nov 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kent Redfield sent this to me on election day and I shared it with subscribers. Here are the top contributors to Bruce Rauner since he started running in 2013. His total raised as of election day at 9:45 am was $65.89 million…
$27,559,000 Rauner, Bruce
$8,650,000 Republican Governors Association
$4,939,000 Griffin, Kenneth – Financial Citadel
$2,526,000 Illinois Republican Party – in-kind contributions (Citizens for Rauner transferred $7.950 million to the IL Rep. Party)
$640,000 Uihlein, Richard & Elizabeth - Uline Corp
$565,000 IL Manufacturers Association Manufacturers PAC
$405,000 Christie, Elizabeth – Retired executive - Manufacturing
$405,000 Jannotta Jr, Edgar – Financial Investor
$280,000 Tullman, Glen - Financial 7Wire Ventures
$253,000 Digital Greensigns
$250,000 IL State Medical Society PAC
$250,000 Singer, Paul – Business Elliot Management Corp
$247,000 MacLean-Fogg Company & MacLean family
$223,000 Alpine Bancorporation Inc
$219,000 Macneil, David – Manufacturing McNeil Automotive Products
$205,000 Mansueto, Joe - Financial - Morningstar
$161,000 Keiser, Michael – Manufacturing RPG Corp
$155,000 Schwertfeger, Timothy Retired Nuveen Investments
$150,000 IL Chamber of Commerce Chamber PAC
$136,000 Lefkofsky, Eric – Financial Lightbank
$135,000 Trott, Byron – Financial BDT Capital Partners
$111,000 PEAK6 Investments
$110,000 Associated General Contractors of IL
$105,000 Kunkler, William – Manufacturing CC Industries
$104,000 Pritzker, Jennifer – Financial Tawani Enterprises
$100,000 Siebel, Tony – Energy C3 Energy
$100,000 Brinson, Gary, Financial GB Brinson Investments
$100,000 Childs, John – Financial JW Childs Assocaites
* Here are Gov. Quinn’s top contributors since 2013. His total raised was $31.42 million…
$4,941,000 Democratic Governors Association
$1,778,000 SEIU IL Council PAC Fund
$1,250,000 SEIU HealthCare IL IN PAC
$1,005,000 Eychaner, Fred – Media Newsweb Corp
$1,120,000 UA Political Education Committee Pipe Trades
$781,000 Laborers Political League Education Fund
$583,000 Engineers Political Education Committee Separate Education Com IUOE
$555,000 IUOE Local 150
$551,000 IL Education Association IPACE
$567,000 IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund
$513,000 United Food & Commercial Workers International Union
$500,000 Drive Political Committee Teamsters
$378,000 Illinois Federation of Teachers
$355,000 SEIU COPE – National
$352,000 Pritzker, J.B. & M.K. - Financial Pritzker Group
$300,000 International Association of Fire Fighters
$281,000 I UPAT Political Action Together Painters Union
$278,000 UAW IL United Auto Workers
$253,000 Construction & Gen Laborers District Council Chicago & Vicinity
$250,000 UAW V – CAP
$250,000 Chicago Land Operators Joint-Labor Management PAC (IUOE Local 150)
$200,000 American Federation of Teachers
$200,000 Working for Working Americans
$188,000 Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters
$178,000 IL Hospital Association
$175,000 Chicago for Rahm Emanuel
$160,000 Brandt, William CEO Development Specialist, Inc. & Development Specialists
$148,000 IUOE Local 399
$131,000 Realtor PAC IL Realtors Assn
$129,000 Cook County Teachers Unions (Community College)
$115,000 Teamsters Volunteers in Politics
* Kent also aggregated Quinn’s top 10 union groups…
$3.383 million SEIU
$1.741 million IUOE
$1.491 million Pipe Trades Unions
$1.387 million Laborers Unions
$1.381 million Teacher Unions
$0.791 million Teamsters
$0.660 million IBEW
$0.528 million UAW
$0.513 million UFCW
$0.467 million Fire Fighters Unions
Total: $12.342 million
* Keep in mind that these totals don’t include Independent Expenditures by groups like Illinois Freedom PAC, the Local 150 spending for the Libertarian Party candidate, Personal PAC’s money, and ballot initiative money. When you total all that up, we’re over $100 million.
23 Comments
|
* The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners has updated its totals online. This latest info could be crucial to the too close to call state treasurer’s race. From a press release…
Here are the biggest items that remain:
- Absentee Ballots: Approximately 9,900 absentee ballots that were received Monday and Tuesday, plus 1,500 that arrived on Wednesday that had postmarks of Nov. 3 or earlier.
- Approximately 10,000 in-precinct provisional ballots from 48 wards, excluding what we still needed to retrieve from all of the 3rd Ward and parts of the 4th Ward.
- Approximately 2,900 Same-Day registration provisional ballots from Monday and Tuesday
There then is a universe of 11,400 absentee ballots that were mailed out to voters but not yet returned, which hypothetically could have a Nov. 3 or earlier postmark and arrive by close of business Nov. 18. Some of those may arrive and qualify to be counted, and others may arrive postmarked too late to be counted, and still others may never arrive if the voter decided instead to vote in the polling place on Election Day.
That totals over 24,000, plus whatever additional absentees they receive.
* The AP has Cross ahead by 21,011 votes. Reuters has Cross ahead by 3,552 votes. I’m not sure who’s right, but I tend to trust the experienced AP more than Reuters.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Forget about the AP, forget about Reuters. Scott Kennedy’s online tracker has, by far, the most updated numbers. And right now, the tracker has Cross up by only 13,202 votes. That could easily be wiped out by those Chicago ballots.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Kennedy updated his numbers…
Yikes.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Kennedy explains his update…
I went to all the election authority websites again tonight and updated any data that was new in the tracker. Here’s a summary of what’s new:
City of Chicago – they finally included the last 6 uncounted precincts in their totals, they now have 100% precincts reporting. It appears that the City of Chicago totals only show regular votes, it doesn’t appear they have vote by mail votes or any provisionals (including same day registration) counted. See more on that here. Frerichs had a net gain here of 1,171 votes.
Cook County Suburbs – they added a little over 6,500 votes to their existing numbers, I’m guessing these were vote by mail ballots. Frerichs had a net gain here of 1,509 votes.
Jackson County – they added almost 1,700 votes to their existing numbers, Frerichs had a net gain of 53 votes.
City of Rockford – they added about 600 votes to their existing totals, Frerichs had a net gain of 231 votes.
Ogle County – they added 4 votes to their existing totals, Frerichs had a net gain of 2.
I had heard that Will County was supposed to have some updated numbers, which most likely would have added to Cross’ advantage but they haven’t updated anything yet.
Also here are a few known issues:
Fulton County – I went to check to see if there was any update and tonight I couldn’t find a link to their totals. Not sure if I am just missing it or what. I swear it was there last night.
Jersey County – I am still using the AP’s numbers here. The numbers they have listed on their website are so small they can’t be right. The AP’s numbers are consistent with historical norms, the numbers they have listed just seem like there has to be an error. I’ll keep an eye on this.
Marshall County – their website was down tonight and displaying a server error.
20 Small Counties – all the data in pink on the tracker is still just what the AP reported for these 20 small counties. Most of them don’t even have a county website so short of calling them all I can’t verify the AP’s reported numbers.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Meanwhile the Chicago GOP sent out an “emergency” plea for volunteers…
Volunteers,
Tom Cross won the Treasurer’s race Tuesday, but only by a few thousand votes. Now they’re counting absentee and provisional ballots at the Board of Elections, and the Democrats are going to try to make up the difference. We need volunteers to ensure that the votes get counted correctly.
Please show up at the Chicago Board of Elections tomorrow. The work starts at 8:00 am, but any time you can give during the day will help.
Chicago Board of Elections
69 W Washington
Contact: Caitlin Huxley
Phone: 312.841.0172 or Caitlin.Huxley@ChicagoGOP.com
The job is very simple, and very important: watch the ballot process to make sure everything is above board.
Don’t let the Democrats take this one away.
Chris Cleveland
* From Team Frerichs…
Thanks to all of you, our race is extremely close and could go either way. While the Cross campaign has indicated that they believe there are only 17,000 ballots still to be counted as of Wednesday morning, by everyone else’s count, election authorities are still counting tens of thousands of ballots across the state.
Many of those ballots come from seniors and military personnel serving overseas, as well as the provisional ballots cast on Election Day by people who unfortunately waited as long as nine hours to vote.
We, like most people, believe those votes should be counted. The race is extremely close right now and could go either way, and the campaign is waiting for all the votes to be counted.
62 Comments
|
Today’s number: 322,329
Thursday, Nov 6, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Our number today is this site’s total page views during election day/night. 322,329 is also a new record, by far. And we only crashed once, when ScribbleLive crashed and everyone freaked out, including me…
Heh.
Sure glad that’s over.
Thank you!
16 Comments
|
Meanwhile, in Opposite Land
Thursday, Nov 6, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Indiana State Building & Construction Trades Council…
We pursue politics as means to improve infrastructure and to spur economic development for the benefit of our membership and society as a whole. Politics is important, but it is always secondary to the direct needs of our membership for steady employment, cutting edge training, quality healthcare, and a stable and comfortable retirement.
The Tuesday saw a Republican sweep that was weeks in the making. It was a nationalized election that was a referendum on President Obama, ISIS, Ebola, and Obamacare. Most voters felt disenfranchised, and stayed at home. Independent voters, who trust neither party, saw Republicans as the lesser of two evils. The local issues, such as education, just did not resonate with the majority of voters. Despite all of this, and a General Assembly with an increasing number of anti-labor members, we will overcome and press on.
No matter the outcome of any election, we will continue to pursue projects, ideas, policies, and legislation that promote the best interests of our membership. I believe that regardless of party, the pursuit of infrastructure investment, economic development and workforce training will remain a top priority of the Indiana General Assembly. Are there those in the legislature that will pursue an anti-labor agenda? You bet! Will their agenda get traction this year? It very well may. Are we prepared to fight for what is right and rightfully ours? Damn straight we are!
Here are the basic results of Tuesday’s Indiana House and Senate races. The Indiana Senate is going to be 40-10, Republican-Democrat. Senators Richard Young (D-Milltown) and Tim Skinner (D-Terre Haute) both lost. Our Republican friend, and UA contractor, Mark Messmer (R-Jasper) also picked up the open Democrat seat held by Senator Lindel Hume (D-Princeton) who just retired. State Rep. Rick Niemeyer (R-Lowell), who was endorsed by the Northwest Indiana Building Trades, picked up the open Republican Senate seat that was held by Sue Landske (R-Cedar Lake). This means that we lost two Democrat friends, and four retiring Republican friends, but picked up two Building Trades-friendly Republicans.
The Indiana House is 71-29, Republican-Democrat. Mara Reardon (D-Munster) and Shelli Vanderburg (D-Crown Point) lost, as did Rep. Bionca Gambill (D-Terre Haute) to Bruce Borders (R-Jasonville). The Dems picked up Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown), who beat Rep. Jack Lutz (D-Anderson).
We must now start reaching out the the newly elected Republicans, and sole Democrat, and make sure that they are educated on our issues.
Thank you for all your work this election cycle!
In Solidarity,
Pete Rimsans
Executive Director
All emphasis in original.
46 Comments
|
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Nearly 100,000 workers in Illinois are employed in clean energy jobs. The clean energy industry – including renewable energy and energy efficiency – is roughly the size of Illinois’ real estate and accounting industries combined.
Over the last three decades, all net new job creation in America has come from young, high-growth firms. Illinois’ clean energy industry is a growth-stage industry, with an average firm size of six employees and projected annual employment growth of 9%.
Clean energy workers are manufacturing wind and solar equipment, building and operating clean energy projects and installing and upgrading energy efficiency systems. Thanks to these jobs, Illinois families and businesses saving energy and cutting their electricity bills. That’s why:
• 84% of Illinois voters want to prioritize a clean energy future and more towards cleaner sources of energy
• 75% see renewable energy and energy efficiency as secure, reliable and affordable.
• More than 65% recognize renewable energy and energy efficiency as sources of job creation.
• More than 68% recognize that renewable energy and energy efficiency stabilize or reduce energy costs.
The message from Illinoisans is clear: Legislators should prioritize voter-supported renewable energy and energy efficiency and support policies that maximize Illinois job creation through the clean energy economy.
Data from survey conducted by a bipartisan research team of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3) and Public Opinion Strategies. More info on this poll is available at ilenviro.org/cleanenergypoll.
Comments Off
|
*** UPDATE *** Service details…
* Visitation will be from 12 noon-6:00 p.m. at Esterdahl Mortuary (6601-38th Avenue in Moline) on Saturday & Sunday, November 8 & 9.
* Funeral will be at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 10, at Sacred Heart Church (1608-13th Street in Moline).
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* From the Quad City Times…
Former U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, who has been battling Parkinson’s disease for years, died Wednesday night, according to his longtime friend and district director, Phil Hare.
Evans, who represented the 17th Congressional District in Illinois for 24 years and was a hero of local Democrats on both sides of the Mississippi River, had been living at the Hope Creek Care Center in East Moline. He was 63 years old.
Hare said that he got the call late Wednesday night, and that he had seen Evans as recently as 10 days ago, when retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin also paid a visit.
Evans, a former Marine who won accolades for his work helping veterans who had suffered the effects of Agent Orange, was swept into office in 1982, and he maintained the seat even in the face of stiff Republican challenges in the 1990s.
* A text message early this morning from a pal in organized labor…
Lane Evans passed away yesterday. One of the most inspiring political leaders I have ever known. He dedicated everything he had to the people of Western Illinois. It will be a long time before we see another one like him. Thank heavens for Lane Evans.
Lane surprised the Republicans when he won his first race in 1982. In 1984, he won reelection by the same margin that Ronald Reagan won his district, despite voting against the President more than 90 percent of the time (if memory serves, a higher percentage than any other member except Harold Washington, who was at 100 percent). Those two wins made him a larger than life figure for many Democrats.
He was so successful politically because he never, ever forgot about his district. Unlike a lot of members of that era, he flew home every weekend and had one of the best constituent service operations in all of Congress. And he never forgot who he was and where he came from.
I didn’t always agree with him, but I sure as heck admired him.
* From Cheri Bustos…
Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) released the following statement on the passing of former Congressman Lane Evans, who represented for more than 20 years the same Congressional District Bustos is honored to now represent:
“I was saddened to wake this morning to the news that Lane Evans passed away late last night. A native of Rock Island, and a proud Marine Corps veteran, Lane represented everything that is right about public service. He was a champion for our region in the halls of Congress and a strong advocate for veterans and working families across the country. Lane will be sorely missed by all who he touched but his legacy of service will never be forgotten.”
Bustos first got to know Lane Evans when she was a newspaper reporter, covering the region. She last visited him during the summer at Hope Creek, where Lane lived and was cared for.
* Dick Durbin…
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin today released the following statement after learning of the death of former Quad Cities Congressman Lane Evans.
“Illinois lost one of its kindest, most caring public servants with the passing of my friend and colleague Lane Evans. When I last visited him, I told him our friend Barack Obama still remembered his quiet courage as a Congressman. I recall our many common causes for veterans and our downstate districts and, of course, our many hard fought campaigns.
“Lane told me years later that it was during a joint appearance in 1996 at a Labor Day parade in Galesburg that he first felt the numbing in his hand which led to his Parkinson’s diagnosis: a disease that trapped his body but never restrained his great spirit. Thank heavens for Lane Evans.”
* Sen. Kirk…
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) released the following statement today after the passing of former Illinois Congressman Lane Evans at the age of 63:
“For 24 years, Congressman Lane Evans dedicated his life to serving the people of Illinois. As a Marine, and senior Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Congressman Evans gave a voice to the thousands of Illinois veterans and worked to rid the stigma that often surrounds combat-based injuries. I am grateful for the work he has done to care for our nation’s servicemen and women, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family today.”
* From the White House…
Statement from President Barack Obama on the passing of former Congressman Lane Evans
“Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Congressman Lane Evans. Lane was a proud veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and dedicated much of his public life to helping his fellow veterans, particularly those who fought in Vietnam and were exposed to Agent Orange. Lane was one of my earliest supporters when I ran for the Senate, and I was proud to have him by my side when I was elected President. Above all, Lane was an American hero, a dear friend and a beloved public servant of the people of Illinois. Michelle and I extend our thoughts and prayers to Lane’s family and friends, and the people he represented in Congress who loved him so dearly.”
35 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
Gov. Quinn concedes
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Saying we should “respect” those who waited and “persevered” to cast their ballot, Gov. Pat Quinn said “it’s clear that we do not have enough votes to win the election.”
Quinn said he was appointing his chief of staff to be a liaison to the Rauner transition team.
The governor said he would work to pass the minimum wage in the closing days of his administration. “That’s a good thing to be fighting for. So I’ll see you soon.” He took no questions.
…Adding… As of 3:39 pm, the governor has yet to call Bruce Rauner to congratulate him and offer to help with the transition. Also, notice that Quinn never once mentioned Rauner’s name or, as a commenter pointed out, congratulated Rauner on his win.
…Adding More… Raw audio…
…Adding Some More… Bruce Rauner…
“I thank Governor Quinn for his many years of service to Illinois and appreciate his commitment to making this a smooth transition. I look forward to getting to work to make Illinois the most compassionate and competitive state in the nation.”
* Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois…
The people of Illinois have spoken, giving Bruce Rauner the chance to lead. As do all Illinoisans, we hope that as Bruce Rauner turns to governing he will recognize that he serves everyone in the state, including LGBT individuals and their families, and the clear majority of Illinoisans who support LGBT equality.
As Mr. Rauner wraps up his political campaign, Equality Illinois will be ready to work with him to advance equal treatment and social justice for all in the Land of Lincoln.
Equality Illinois also congratulates Governor Pat Quinn on running a campaign and an administration that embraced all Illinoisans.
Under Pat Quinn’s leadership, we advanced protections for students from bullying and violence in schools, we made history by recognizing marriage equality, and countless people got a job, a home, insurance, a mortgage, a business opportunity because of anti-discrimination vigilance by the Quinn administration. We made great strides toward fairness and equal treatment for all. We thank Governor Quinn for his years of service.
* Mayor Emanuel…
“Governor Quinn has been a great partner to the City of Chicago. I would like to thank him for the work he has done on behalf of our residents, and I will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him as we fight to raise the minimum wage over the next two months. I would also like to congratulate Governor-elect Bruce Rauner. We must work together on behalf of all Chicagoans and put progress ahead of politics to move Chicago and Illinois forward.”
* Video…
Click to view
* Christine Radogno, Illinois Senate Republican Leader…
“On behalf of the Senate Republican caucus we wish our heartiest congratulations to Governor-elect Bruce Rauner. We look forward to working with Bruce and his administration to return Illinois to greatness. We will also offer our full support during this time of transition. We extend our appreciation to Governor Quinn for his years of service to the people of Illinois.”
137 Comments
|
Karmeier “cautiously optimistic” about victory
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
The Karmeier Retention Campaign Manager, Ron Deedrick offered the following statement on November 5, after the unofficial retention numbers came in on Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier’s successful bid.
“Justice Karmeier has been retained and he is thankful for the voters of the Fifth Judicial District for sending him back to Springfield to be their southern Illinois voice at the state Supreme Court,” Deedrick said. “The numbers are close, but the 60 percent threshold has been achieved and we are cautiously optimistic that the numbers may continue to edge up.”
Last I heard they were at 60.4 or something.
…Adding… BND…
The unofficial totals of the 37 counties compiled by the News-Democrat show 225,825 ballots were cast to retain Karmeier with 146,754 against retention. That’s 60.6 percent of voters approving retention for Karmeier. He was required to get 60 percent of the vote. […]
But that may not be the end of the fight, Deedrick said. He expects recounts and legal challenges to the results.
In the month before the election, Karmeier faced an anti-retention campaign, with lawyers from the Korein Tillery law firm donating $1.2 million. Korein Tillery won a $10 billion verdict, including $1.77 billion in legal fees, against cigarette maker Phillip Morris in a Madison County class action lawsuit. That case is currently under appeal.
16 Comments
|
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
“Chicago-based Exelon’s profit rose 26 percent in the third quarter…The country’s largest owner of nuclear power plants, Exelon reported net income of $993 million…”[Chicago Tribune, October 29, 2014 – emphasis added]
Just this past week, a Crain’s analysis revealed that contrary to their claims, Exelon may not be in dire straits after all:
“The analysis…raises questions about whether the state effectively will be asked to compel ratepayers to subsidize a profitable enterprise.” [Crain’s, October 27, 2014 – emphasis added]
Illinois’ businesses and citizens are still struggling. The last thing we need is a massive rate increase to bail out Exelon nuclear plants built during the Nixon administration and already paid for several times by ratepayers.
Even ComEd, Exelon’s own sister company, doesn’t agree with subsidized generation at above-market prices:
“ComEd has long believed that competitive markets will work in the best interests of our customers…so we are concerned about the negative impact on our customers from a requirement that would force utilities to buy subsidized generation at above-market prices.” [Crain’s Chicago Business, November 20, 2013]
Just Say No To Exelon’s $580 Million Rate Hike!!
Comments Off
|
Rauner announces transition team
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Governor-elect Bruce Rauner today announced Lieutenant Governor-elect Evelyn Sanguinetti as chair of his gubernatorial transition and also announced the senior leadership team.
“I am committed to assembling a diverse and talented team to drive results for our state and bring back Illinois,” Bruce Rauner said. “There is no one better prepared to help me achieve our administration’s goals than Evelyn. She has been my partner throughout this campaign and will continue that role as we prepare to take office.”
Senior Members of Transition Team
- Evelyn Sanguinetti, Chairwoman
- Mike Zolnierowicz, Transition Director
- Chip Englander, Senior Advisor
- Nancy Kimme, Transition Advisor
- Mike Schrimpf, Communications Director
“I look forward to working with the Governor-elect to build an administration that reflects our state’s diversity and is prepared to lead on Day One,” Evelyn Sanguinetti said.
The transition committee is also committed to disclosing and capping all contributions to the effort. More details about the transition will be announced in the near future.
Kimme is the only person on that committee with extensive state government experience.
…Adding… I was on the phone when I posted this so I was a bit distracted. Mike Z, Chip and Schrimpf are top notch staffers. They’ll be able to handle their roles. The object is to recruit the best and the brightest people they can to advise the candidate in the coming weeks. They should be able to do that, as long as they listen to Nancy.
45 Comments
|
* How many times have we heard Gov. Pat Quinn repeat that line?
Google returned 8,900 results.
I can somewhat understand why Gov. Quinn didn’t concede last night. His campaign repeatedly pleaded with voters to stand in line for hours. Some folks waited until 3 o’clock this morning to vote. I can see why he wouldn’t publicly walk away while people who are loyal to him are sacrificing time away from their loved ones.
* But, it’s now Wednesday afternoon, and Quinn is trailing by five percentage points with 99.5 percent of the precincts reporting. Maybe he closes the gap by a little, but the “will of the people” is obvious.
Governor, you and your opponent tore this state in half with a hundred million dollars in negative advertising. It’s time you helped heal those divisions that you helped create. It’s time to pick up the phone, call Bruce Rauner and concede. I have his number if you need it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the governor’s office…
GOVERNOR’S PUBLIC SCHEDULE
**Wednesday, November 5, 2014**
CHICAGO – Governor Pat Quinn will address the media.
WHEN: 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: James R. Thompson Center
15th Floor – Blue Room
100 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, 60601
*** UPDATE 2 *** WGN says they will live stream the event. Click here.
57 Comments
|
* There’s no public schedule for Bruce Rauner today…
Late last night, Rauner spokesman Mike Schrimpf said nothing was scheduled for today.
“Focus now on transition and governing. Won’t rush that,” he said in an email.
* Tribune…
Rauner’s transition to governor actually began months before Election Day, said one campaign insider who was not authorized to speak publicly, with a closely held assemblage of veterans from previous Illinois Republican governors and GOP insiders. Their work included shaping the potential personnel in a Rauner cabinet. […]
Earlier this week, Rauner said part of his immediate work was to “assemble a superstar ‘A’ team to turn the government around.”
“This matters so much to me, I’m just on a mission. I’m going right to work,” he said.
* Bernie…
Rauner’s administration will likely bring a full roster of new department directors, and Rauner’s past tough talk about “government union bosses” certainly raises questions about how any negotiations with state workers will go. […]
Rauner may well reach an accommodation with Madigan over time, said former Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican who backed Rauner. […]
Madigan wouldn’t speak to me for four months after I was elected,” Edgar told reporters in Springfield on Monday. “We finally reached an accord. … He knew I was the governor. I wasn’t leaving. … I think once he realized he could trust my word, that I wasn’t going to change my mind every day,” they were able to work together.
“He would still take me to the mat a few times, and I would take him right back,” Edgar said. “But again, I think we worked out a mutual respect and we were able to get things done.”
* From Rauner’s speech last night…
Just a few minutes ago, I placed two very important phone calls. I called Speaker Madigan. I called President Cullerton and I said to them: This is an opportunity for us to work together.
This is an opportunity to work together on a bipartisan basis, to solve the problems, the challenges facing families in Illinois.
I thought that was an important moment, even though the mention of Madigan’s name prompted loud boos from the audience. Rauner made it clear, I thought, that he was going to try and unify the state.
* But then I read the Sun-Times…
A Madigan spokesman, however, said he was “not aware of any call.”
I called that spokesman this morning and he made it clear that he didn’t want to make too big of a deal about it. He hadn’t asked Madigan about the call and Madigan had made no mention of it. He has another call into the Speaker and he has promised to ask if Rauner did, indeed, talk to him.
As far as Cullerton goes, a member of Rauner’s staff reached out to a member of Cullerton’s staff last night, but the two men haven’t yet spoken, I was told.
* Either way, Rauner did his best to say something positive last night, to show he was ready to move forward, even if it was only symbolic.
*** UPDATE *** Madigan’s spokesman said “We don’t see anything that suggested Rauner called Madigan last night or today.”
OK, I’m changing my mind on this. That’s not a good way to kick off a relationship with the Speaker.
62 Comments
|
Question of the day
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* In your opinion, who (or what) were the three biggest losers yesterday and why?
83 Comments
|
Once again, it’s the economy, stupid
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I have my own take on the minimum wage issue for subscribers, but I like this one, too…
The lesson of Tuesday’s minimum wage votes is that Democrats can do more on the minimum wage, not that they can help themselves politically by talking about it more. Just because a proposal is popular does not mean it can be a keystone in your economic agenda. As Kevin Drum of Mother Jones has noted, Democrats have an economic agenda that is heavily attuned to the poor; it’s much less clear what they would do for the middle class.
Many policies that help the poor are favored by the middle class. But if politicians want to win the votes of the middle class, they have to campaign on issues that affect them directly. Minimum wage increases do not serve that political end.
* So, yeah, the minimum wage hike referendum passed with almost 67 percent of the vote, but the candidate most associated with that referendum, Pat Quinn, lost by five points.
Quinn simply did not have an economic message that resonated strongly enough with the middle class.
* Here’s a striking result: 2010 exit polling showed that 26 percent of respondents belonged to union households. That number rose to 32 percent in 2014 exit polling. So, unions did a good job of getting their folks to the polls.
However, Bill Brady won 31 percent of union households in 2010. Bruce Rauner won 41 percent of union households this year.
* Or check out this one: In 2010, Brady got 39 percent of the vote from those who made less than $100K a year. This year, Rauner took 46 percent of that group.
* In 2010, 49 percent of those who said they were worried about economic conditions sided with Bill Brady. This year, it was 54 percent for Rauner.
37 Comments
|
And the winner is…
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* US Sen. Mark Kirk’s 2010 win proved that a pro-choice moderate could win a GOP primary and go on to win a general election. Kirk deployed several of his staff members to the Rauner campaign and they not only helped keep the messaging on track (Lance Trover, Rich Goldberg), but put together what turned out to be one heck of a field operation (Mike Z). Trover and Z are actually Topinka people, and her 2010 comeback was as important as Kirk’s win, so she shares in this as well.
From Kirk’s statement last night…
“For the first time in a long time, I am optimistic about the future of Illinois,” Kirk said. “In a show of unity, I will host Governor-Elect Rauner, Mayor Emanuel and Senator Durbin to lunch so we can immediately begin to work in coordination for our great state.”
So, other than people who actually won their own races yesterday, Kirk is my “biggest winner” of 2014. And he’ll need a strong gubernatorial ally to help fend off the right wing and the Democrats in 2016, if he decides to run again.
The RGA comes in a close second, in my book. Former RGA staff were crucial to Rauner, and the huge RGA checks didn’t hurt, either.
* Your own thoughts on biggest winners? Let’s focus on the positive here, please.
68 Comments
|
Madigan declares victory
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As I told subscribers earlier today, Bruce Rauner funded two campaigns, his own and the House Republican effort. He went one for two. Despite all the cash, all the outside help (including from Dan Proft’s Super PAC), it appears that Speaker Madigan did not lose a single seat. From Illinois Public Radio…
With Bruce Rauner’s win, Illinois Republicans have something to celebrate. But they failed to make gains in the General Assembly, which could have big repercussions for Rauner down the line. […]
Rauner had tried to help Republicans make dents in Democrats’ power hold on the General Assembly — contributing money to races, and to the state party.
It didn’t work.
House Republicans failed to gain even a single seat. Which means House Speaker Michael Madigan will continue to preside over a bare minimum super-majority.
Democrats in the Senate lost one member — incumbent Mike Jacobs, of the Quad Cities. But they still have 39 of the Senate’s 59 seats.
* Tribune last night…
The suburban battlegrounds featured Democratic Rep. Katherine Cloonen of Kankakee in a tight race against Republican Glenn Nixon of Bourbonnais; Democratic Rep. Carol Sente of Vernon Hills who was holding a strong lead when Republican Leslie Munger of Lincolnshire conceded Tuesday night; and Democratic Rep. Scott Drury of Highwood held off Republican Mark Neerhof of Lake Forest, who conceded.
In Lake County, Democratic freshman Rep. Sam Yingling of Grayslake appeared to beat Republican Rod Drobinski of Wauconda, who conceded.
In DuPage County, freshman Democratic Rep. Deb Conroy of Villa Park was leading Heidi Holan of Glen Ellyn, and Democratic Rep. Martin Moylan of Des Plaines was leading Republican Mel Thillens of Park Ridge. […]
In western Illinois, Democratic Rep. Mike Smiddy of Hillsdale faced Republican Jim Wozniak of East Moline. In central Illinois, Democratic Rep. Sue Scherer of Decatur faced Republican Mike Bell of Edinburg.
The only one kinda-sorta race in doubt right now appears to be Cloonen. But the HDems are confident they have enough provisionals to win it.
34 Comments
|
Undervote? What undervote?
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Lots of folks thought there would a huge under-vote in the governor’s race. It was just so nasty, so mean, so devoid of heart and spirit. People would just skip over it.
But, guess what? With 99.5 percent of the votes counted, more people voted in the governor’s race than in any other statewide contest…
US Senate - 3,439,117
Governor - 3,464,622
AG - 3,442,333
SOS - 3,454,120
Comptroller - 3,423,838
Treasurer - 3,370,406
Thoughts?
27 Comments
|
Some congressional take-aways
Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Man, was this ever a thumping…
U.S. House District 12
100% of precincts reporting
Bost 106,435 (52.7%)
Enyart 84,136 (41.6%)
Bradshaw 11,47% (5.7%)
Eleven points?
Sheesh.
* And so was this…
U.S. House District 17
100% of precincts reporting
Bustos 108,228 (55.2%)
Schilling 88,004 (44.8%)
* Lots of mixed messages this year. Bustos wins, but her own state Sen. Mike Jacobs loses. And yet Rep. Mike Smiddy, who represents half of Jacobs’ district, wins.
I think what we can take away is that the candidate mattered this year much more than the party, or the incumbency factor or even the district (Smiddy’s district leans Republican) or etc. Enyart, Schilling and Jacobs just all got out-worked, out-thought, out-messaged, out-everything.
* One more…
U.S. House District 10
100% of precincts reporting
Dold 93,036 (51.8%)
Schneider 86,572 (48.2%)
Schneider’s campaign trumpeted his Democratic Party affiliation - in a Republican year.
44 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|
