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Campaign notebook
Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois early vote totals…
* Chicago early vote totals…
The most up-to-date Early Vote and Vote By Mail totals in Chicago, night of Sunday, November 6, 2022.
The Early Vote total stands at 134,014 ballots cast.
Additionally, 103,205 Vote By Mail ballots have been returned to the Board – total VBM applications stands at 208,962.
The grand total is 237,219 ballots cast so far in Chicago for the November 8th General Election.
FOR COMPARISON:
- As of June 26, 2022 (1 day out from the 6/28/22 Primary Election): 98,512 ballots cast
- As of November 1, 2020 (1 day out from the 11/3/20 Presidential Election): 756,935 ballots cast
- As of November 4, 2018 (1 day out from the 11/6/18 General Election): 274,756 ballots cast
Chicago is now up to 20 percent of the statewide total, which is about where it was in 2018.
* False alarm…
On Friday afternoon, lawyers representing Champaign County Board member Jim McGuire filed a lawsuit alleging that Champaign County deputy clerk Michelle Jett mishandled official ballots. Attached to the lawsuit is a sworn affidavit from an election judge in County Clerk Aaron Ammons’ office, which included pictures of ballots on the passenger seat and floor of Jett’s car.
The judge threw out the order after Jett and the county provided evidence they were sample ballots being used to test voting machines.
…Adding… More…
Champaign County Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons has agreed to tweak a procedure concerning pre-election printer testing at polling places, bringing to an end to an emergency lawsuit and partisan skirmish that stretched into this past weekend.
A hearing set before Judge Anna Benjamin Monday started nearly an hour late while lawyers hammered out an agreement that then eliminated the need for the hearing.
The resolution of the lawsuit filed by Champaign County Republican Party Chair Jim McGuire against Ammons and Ammons’ director of operations, Michelle Jett, calls for all paper used to test election printers to be secured and preserved from the time of testing until 60 days following the election.
* We talked about this story last week…
At issue is an attempt by Dan Proft, a longtime Republican operative and onetime losing candidate for Illinois governor, to inject himself into a potential legal settlement being sought by Brett Corrigan, a Bailey family friend who worked for the campaign for more than a year before leaving around mid-September. Corrigan’s attorney described his client’s complaint as an “internal HR,” or human resources, matter but didn’t provide any additional details. […]
Corrigan declined to comment and referred all questions to his attorney, Scott Kaspar of Orland Park. Kaspar said Corrigan attended Bailey’s private Full Armor Christian Academy in downstate Louisville, Illinois, and lived with Bailey’s family on their farm in nearby Xenia. Corrigan on the campaign trail served largely as a “body man” for the Republican governor candidate, who is also a state senator, closely following Bailey at events and assisting Bailey as he needed. Since June 2021, state campaign finance records show, he was paid $18,861 by Bailey’s campaign.
But around mid-September, Corrigan left Bailey’s campaign — whether he was fired or left on his own is a matter of dispute, his attorney said. Corrigan now serves a similar role for GOP attorney general candidate Tom DeVore, whose campaign Corrigan joined almost immediately after leaving Bailey’s.
Bailey told reporters yesterday that he wouldn’t answer any questions about the matter because Corrigan was still a student at Bailey’s school.
* New Illinois poll published on FiveThirtyEight has Pritzker up by 20…
Caveat: That pollster had a not great 2020 cycle and is rated as B-.
* From the Veep’s visit…
* Here we go…
…Adding… CD17’s Crystal Ball House rating was just moved from Tossup to Leans Republican.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Crain’s | Conservative activist behind faux newspapers is done living in Illinois: “I no longer have a place in Chicago or Illinois,” Proft wrote in an email to Crain’s, “nor will I until and unless the political leadership changes and that new leadership reforms the way we fund schools and structure and fund public sector pensions and in so doing reduces the usurious property taxes Illinois families pay.”
* Illinois Review | Kathy Salvi on the campaign trail gives three reasons to vote for her: Monday night, Kathy Salvi, 2022 Republican candidate for US Senate, gave a rousing speech at a rally in Lombard Monday night. Salvi gave three reasons Illinoisans should vote for her Tuesday: Economy, Crime and Education - all topics that are motivating voters to the polls.
* Patch | Raoul Vs. Lawyer DeVore For Attorney General: Illinois Election 2022: As expected, Raoul and DeVore plan to take very different paths as Attorney General and have targeted their opponent’s philosophies of lawmaking on key issues facing Illinoisans. Perhaps, most notable is the controversial SAFE-T Act, the sweeping criminal justice reform package that was passed by lawmakers and that is set to go into effect on Jan. 1. Neither Raoul nor DeVore responded to multiple requests from Patch to complete a pre-election questionnaire dealing with issues facing Illinois voters in Tuesday’s general election.
* Block Club Chicago | With Fewer Polling Places And Translators, Non-English Speaking Voters Could Be Discouraged, Advocates Say: Community organizers said they’ll do heavier lifting this election to help voters with language barriers cast ballots amid shakeups to the voting process. Nearly half of Chicago voters will have a different polling place for the election Nov. 8 than they did in the June primary, said Max Bever, Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman. There will also be 97 fewer polling places citywide, and the board has struggled to hire poll workers, especially those who are bilingual, he said.
* Pantagraph | Chilly, breezy Monday across central Illinois. What about Election Day?: Cooler today than Sunday, but near normal for this time of year. Seasonable temperatures tonight as well. What temperatures are expected for Election Day? Any chance of rain? Find out in our updated forecast video.
* Shaw Local | Controversial mailer with SAFE-T Act concerns sent to DeKalb residents: Earlier this week, DeKalb resident Eric Petruchuis said he was angry when he learned his photo had been included in a publication circulating around town beneath a headline that read, “Under the SAFE-T Act, these suspects would be released into your neighborhood.” His photo was on a page with 15 other mugshots, along with full names and bullet points of the charges allegedly pending against them. No other details were published with the arrest photos. One problem, for Petruchuis at least, is it wasn’t accurate. While Petruchuis had been arrested in October, and spent a night in the DeKalb County Jail, the charges were dismissed the next day, according to court records and the DeKalb County state’s attorney’s office.
* Patch | Election Day Blood Moon Last Total Lunar Eclipse Over IL Until 2025: The Election Day lunar eclipse will turn the moon an eerie red in the hours before polls open across Illinois on Tuesday. It’s the last total lunar eclipse until 2025, and that alone makes getting up early to see it worthwhile. Skies over Illinois should be partly cloudy on Tuesday during the height of eclipse activity when the moon takes on a reddish or coppery hue. If you’re not keen on watching the whole thing, the blood moon lasts from about 4:16 a.m. to 5:41 a.m. local time.
* Telegraph | Haine, McRae criticize Julian, Huddleston on ‘pledges for votes’: The texts, from campaign workers for Julian and Huddleston, stated they would “uphold Illinois law which allows women to make their own healthcare choices with their doctor.” Neither Julian or Huddleston responded to a request for comment. Haine and McRae argued promising specific legal rulings during a campaign is unethical.
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Question of the day
Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek announces that DuPage County voters have the option to cast their ballot at any of the county’s 269 polling places on Election Day, rather than being limited to their local precinct polling place or a single vote center. DuPage County is the first and only county in the state of Illinois to offer voters the opportunity to “Vote Anywhere” on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8th.
“Now voters may cast their ballot conveniently at a polling place near their job or school, instead of rushing to or from their home precinct,” DuPage County Clerk Kaczmarek says. “Best of all, DuPage voters will no longer be turned away on Election Day for being in the wrong polling place in the county.”
The “Vote Anywhere” program was successfully implemented for the first time in the June 28, 2022 Primary Election, with approximately 13.5% of Election Day voters choosing to vote outside of their home precinct polling place. Ballots are printed on-demand at the polling place for each voter after check-in using the county’s brand-new all-paper ballot voting system.
The number of precincts remains unchanged from 2020. No voter will be deprived of their local polling place in order to fulfill “Vote Anywhere” Election Day voting. As always, strict security measures will be in place to ensure one person, one vote.
“There is not a jurisdiction in the state of Illinois making it easier to vote than DuPage County,” Kaczmarek says. “I encourage all DuPage County voters to take advantage of the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
To find the Election Day polling places nearest you, visit: www.dupagecounty.gov/election
* The Question: Should all election authorities in Illinois be mandated to offer a similar “vote anywhere” program? Explain.
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* Yesterday…
From the story…
When Chicago reporter Amy Jacobson recently asked Illinois Governor J.B Pritzker about requiring the covid-19 vaccine for schoolchildren, he said he would leave that decision to legislators.
But internal emails from the Illinois Department of Public Health suggest Prtizker is looking into adding the covid shot to the list of school vaccines through a process that doesn’t involve full Legislative approval.
On October 27th, a few hours after Pritzker put the onus for school shots on lawmakers, a question from the Governor’s Office was raised in an email thread between IDPH staff.
Deputy director Shannon Lightner wrote, “From the GO [Governor’s Office]: To add immunizations, do we have to go through the Committee and have three hearings?”
Heidi Clark, Division Chief of Infectious Diseases, replied, “That seems to be the case…No statutory changes are necessary, which is a plus, but those meetings would be pretty rough, I’m sure…”
* Dan Proft this morning…
The communications between the governor’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health indicate that they are preparing to move in that direction of a vax mandate, hold a few perfunctory hearings around the state and impose that vax mandate if this governor is reelected.
Um, no.
Darren Bailey’s running mate was on Proft’s show and said this about vaccinations…
I was very surprised when I took my son in for his senior year checkup and they asked me would I like to get him the shot. And I said no thank you, and I thought that would be the end of the discussion. It went on for about 10 minutes, him encouraging me that why he needed this, and I was very uncomfortable with it. And I finally had to say to him, You know, 17 years ago, I brought him in the same hallway and you guys gave him four vaccines instead of two that my other kids got in here. My son Reagan has Aspberger’s, he’s on the spectrum, very high functioning, but there are a lot of people who think that those many vaccinations at one time…I mean, there are theories that that causes kids to be on the spectrum. But I couldn’t believe that we just couldn’t move on to the next step in his examination. It was as if this guy was getting, you know, a kickback or something.
The connection between vaccines and autism have been thoroughly debunked.
* Today, Darren Bailey and Tom DeVore held a press conference to talk about the “revelations”…
DeVore: Now what people didn’t know on the 27th of October is that when the governor was on television making that comment, his administrative agency was already working on this process. The emails that we have, that were given to us by some very courageous mothers who do FOIA requests better than [loud applause] showed that they were already formulating their plan. … And the director of the Department of Health now sent an email that said that that you know they’re likely going to receive some pushback in the promoting of vaccines in the short term. And you may have those who say, well, that doesn’t necessarily say they’re doing it. And I would ask you, will they any other vaccines in the short term that the Department of Health would be promoting? Of course not. Of course not. I made a call to the Department of Health today. And I asked them, Do you have the date for this meeting of this committee? And they said the best we know right now it’s the second week of December. So as we stand here today, around the second week of December the Illinois immunization Advisory Commission committee is set to have a hearing about making a recommendation. … I am firmly convinced, but you’re going to hear real soon that Senator Bailey when he becomes the governor of the state of Illinois [applause] that he will not appoint anyone to the Department of Public Health, that would try to promote, I’m going to use their words, promote adding any vaccines in the near future. So it is my pleasure to introduce to you to talk about this Senator Darren Bailey.[applause]
Bailey: God bless you and thank you all for being here today. This is absolutely amazing. And it is an honor to stand here with mothers and their children and parents in the future of Illinois that we are in keep fighting for…
Audience member: Protect our kids.
Bailey: And that is exactly what I promise. I promise you this, that your children’s future will always be my top priority. I will not waver under pressure and I will never stop fighting for them and the future of our state. JB Pritzker uses our kids to make political points. … And let me be clear, I will not appoint an Illinois Department of Public Health Director who will attempt to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. Friends these decisions belong to the parents. These decisions belong to the parents with the consultation of their family physicians because you know what’s best for your children and their unique circumstances.
DeVore eventually got the audience riled up and then stormed out of the press conference when Mary Ann Ahern asked a question about the Proft papers.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
FYI—statement on the vaccine lies.
As the Governor has clearly said, there are no plans to update the vaccine requirements for school age children. But it should come as no surprise that Darren Bailey and Tom DeVore are once again playing political games with public health. The CDC recommended school age children get the COVID vaccine and the email chain they are referencing is IDPH making sure they had a full understanding of the process for adding a vaccine to the existing requirements in order to answer questions about it. In other words, it’s an email discussion where DPH staff are doing their jobs.
…Adding… DeVore calls a reporter doing her job “disrespectful”…
Doesn’t he have the word “Freedom” tattoed on his arm? Must mean freedom from questions.
…Adding… Capitol News Illinois…
“JB Pritzker uses our kids to make political points,” Bailey said at a rally in Oak Brook. “He locks schoolchildren out of their classrooms, and he tries to twist their tender minds with ideology in his quest to be the most left-wing governor in America. Now his minions are looking to impose vaccine mandates on our children.”
Pritzker, however, said he had no plans to mandate any vaccine requirements, saying Bailey was “lying” in “a desperate attempt to win some votes.”
“There’s absolutely nothing that’s happening that’s out of the ordinary. He’s just making things up,” Pritzker said when asked about Bailey’s allegation.
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Shenanigans!
Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* ILGOP press release…
The Illinois Republican Party is condemning a desperate, last-minute mailer targeted to Republican voters that attacks Illinois Supreme Court Justice Michael Burke. The mailer was paid for by a shady Democrat Political Action Committee (PAC) called “Ballot Access Illinois,” which has close ties to indicted Democrats. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement in response to the Democrats’ mailer:
“Just hours before the polls open on Tuesday, Democrats are flailing at the prospect of losing control of the Illinois Supreme Court and launching ridiculous attacks on Justice Michael Burke. Machine Democrats and shady political operatives are behind this desperate, last-minute mailer targeting Republican voters. The momentum going into Election Day is clearly on the side of Michael Burke and Mark Curran, and the Democrats are doing everything they can to mislead voters and stop Republican momentum.”
The chairman of “Ballot Access Illinois” is Rudi Patitucci, who currently works for Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign and has worked for Democratic candidates like scandal-ridden State Sen. Michael Hastings over the past decade, according to Patitucci’s LinkedIn page.
“Ballot Access Illinois” currently reports having no money in its bank account, according to its most recent D-2 filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, and hasn’t had any contributors for years. The Democrat PAC filed its most recent D-2 over two weeks late. Previous contributors to the PAC include indicted Democrat politicians Tom Cullerton and Danny Solis and several labor unions.
The shady Democrat PAC’s desperate mailer can be found below:
Thoughts?
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
I’m writing this a few days before Election Day, but, from where I sit, if the so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment fails to pass muster with voters, a campaign fueled by the Illinois Policy Institute could take a big share of the credit.
The proposed constitutional amendment is backed to the hilt by organized labor. They’ve raised $16 million to support their cause.
Their proposal would amend the Bill of Rights section of the state’s Constitution to guarantee workers the rights already in state law to organize and collectively bargain and prohibit statutory interference with their negotiated contracts.
The anti-union Illinois Policy Institute’s Vote No on Amendment 1 committee has reported raising $3 million so far, with $2 million of that coming from billionaire Richard Uihlein and $1 million coming from Government Accountability Alliance, which has the same mailing address as the Policy Institute.
But all they have to do is prevent the proposal from receiving 60% of the vote, or to prevent more than half of all voters who participate in the election from supporting it. By design, it’s easier to kill a state constitutional amendment than pass one.
The Illinois Policy Institute and its political committee have been claiming for weeks and months the proposal would increase property taxes by $2,100 per family because unions and members would have so many rights (which they already have under state statute) that local governments would be forced to raise taxes.
Actually, the group’s own data clearly shows there would be no projected change at all in property tax increases if the amendment is adopted. They admit their projection is based on what they claim are property tax trends over the past few years.
But the group skipped over the available 2020 property tax numbers when devising their projection and instead based their entire estimates on property tax data up to 2019. Using the 2020 numbers could have lowered their projected increases because the average property tax rate statewide has fallen from 8.88% in 2016 to 8.39% in 2020. Meanwhile, the assessed valuation has risen by 14%, which is helping drive property tax bills. If your house is worth more, your taxes will rise regardless of a smallish rate reduction.
Anyway, the Illinois Policy Institute and its Vote No committee have put lots of money online and elsewhere behind that tax messaging.
The group has also added a new line of attack. Their recent blast phone text messages reflecting their previous online advertising claimed: “More than 1,100 children have died under the care of DCFS since 2010. A constitutional amendment on your ballot on Tuesday will make the crisis worse. … Mandatory background checks and bans on DCFS hiring adults deemed ‘sexually dangerous’ by the state could be eliminated.”
If you go to the Illinois Policy Institute’s website, you’ll see their argument is based on some wild and ugly speculation.
State law, the group notes, requires Department of Children and Family Services hires to undergo background checks to make sure they are not classified as “sexually dangerous” persons.
But then Illinois Policy Institute leaps to the bizarre conclusion that a state employee union would demand their union contract forbid any such background checks and, if the state refuses to comply, could go out on strike to force the issue.
This ridiculously grotesque assumption assumes DCFS workers would willingly vote to strike and give up their pay and benefits, putting their families’ economic security in danger, in order to protect pedophiles and rapists.
Long before QAnon cult followers started proclaiming that Democrats were blood-drinking pedophiles, the Illinois House Democrats would routinely label any Republican candidate who opposed state mandates on schools as someone who would allow pedophiles into the classrooms — as if local school boards would actually want that or be willing to allow such a thing.
I’ve repeatedly called out the House Democrats for this rhetoric over the years. It relies on the assumption that the opposition is evil and monstrous. The Democrats are still using this line of attack. They’ve sent campaign mailers this fall warning voters that Republicans who oppose state school mandates would allow predators to work with children.
And now the same sort of argument is being used against an issue the Democrats’ own party overwhelmingly supports. I don’t blame the House Democrats for opening the historical door to this Illinois Policy Institute line of attack, mind you. It’s not without precedent.
But this sort of thing has to stop, although I doubt it will until voters start punishing those who use it.
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Video of the day
Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* I didn’t know Bailey could get down on the fiddle like that /s…
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Morning briefing
Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* The Lions handed the Packers their fifth straight loss last night…
* A roundup to start your day…
* Tribune | As Election Day nears, officials across Illinois boost security amid fear of violence: Election officials across Illinois offer a variety of answers about security and precautions being taken for the Nov. 8 elections and what, if any, harassment or intimidation they’ve received. Some say they haven’t felt tremors from the national threats. Still, many acknowledge there’s been a sea change in how elections are perceived by the public, and they know Illinois isn’t immune.
* Tribune | How an indicted state official who had volunteered for J.B. Pritzker became an issue in the attorney general race: A 2018 J.B. Pritzker campaign volunteer who was indicted last year for allegedly ripping off the Illinois State Police Merit Board is now at the center of a campaign tussle over whether she should face additional charges — a question that has roiled the Nov. 8 race for attorney general.
* Sun-Times | Biden, in Joliet to bolster Rep. Lauren Underwood, calls Medicare, Social Security critics ‘idiots’: Referring to protesters outside the school, Biden, talking about Social Security and Medicare said: “I love those signs when I came in — ‘socialism.’ Give me a break. What idiots.” Democrats accuse Republicans of pursuing policies that would weaken the two programs that senior citizens depend on the most. Though this was an official event, the political appeals were clear, with House Republicans only needing a net gain of five seats to switch control of the chamber — which is why flipping even one Democratic seat in Illinois could have a major national impact.
* Sun-Times | In final push, Kamala Harris frames election as fight for democracy and Republicans vow to ‘restore’ Illinois: Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Chicago comes a day after President Joe Biden campaigned for congressional Democrats in the suburbs, as the president, with his low approval ratings, has largely avoided some of the most competitive states.
* ABC7 | Illinois candidates make final push on final day of early voting: Chicago Board of Elections officials will be at the early voting Super Site in the Loop Monday morning to give an update on turnout. Meanwhile, the sprint to the finish is underway in the campaign for Illinois governor. Republican candidate Darren Bailey joining several dozen supporters in the Loop Sunday night for a flag-draped rally.
* Daily Herald | Are political ads more negative this year? Experts say no, there are just more of them: But is the tone and tenor of this election cycle’s negative campaigning especially heightened, or any different from the usual? Not necessarily, according to experts in the advertising and political science fields. There’s just more of it overall: on television, radio, glossy mailbox flyers, billboards and increasingly on social media.
* WTTW | Advocates Look to Combat Election Disinformation Campaigns Targeting Latinos: According to Equis Research, 70% of Latinos use social media as a primary source of political and election news, where fact-checking in Spanish is often sparse. Young Latinos are more than twice as likely as the general population to use messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, which also lack fact-checking. Jaime Dominguez, political science professor at Northwestern University, says social media entities should take responsibility for moderating disinformation on their platforms.
* Center Square | Candidates hold rallies across Illinois ahead of election: It was a busy weekend of campaigning in Illinois ahead of Tuesday’s midterm election. On Friday, President Joe Biden arrived in Illinois to campaign for two incumbent Chicago-area Democratic members of Congress. Saturday at an event in Joliet, when talking about social security as a safety net for senior citizens, Biden addressed protesters.
* Capitol News Illinois | Contextualizing cash bail’s end:Research from the Loyola University of Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice examines how arrests in recent years would have been categorized under the Pretrial Fairness Act that ends cash bail beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
* Tom Kacich | The million-dollar race for the 104th Illinois House District: But Rep. Mike Marron, a Republican from rural Fithian who is seeking a third House term, has a race with enough competition to make up for the others. Marron is being challenged for the third consecutive time by Cynthia Cunningham, a social-service worker from rural St. Joseph.
* State Journal-Register | ‘Biased and defamatory:’ Fake, inaccurate newspapers target Dem officials, Illinois voters: Political mailers have been commonplace in election years, telling voters who or who not to support and where they stand on the issues. However, in recent weeks, a similar albeit alternative form of dissemination has occurred throughout Sangamon County in the lead-up to Election Day.
* WCIA | Lawsuit alleges Champaign County election official mishandled ballots: Official says they are sample ballots: In the past 24 hours, a lawsuit was filed in Champaign County alleging a top election official mishandled official ballots, a judge ordered that official be removed from all of her Election Day duties, and that same judge scrapped the order, allowing the Champaign County Deputy Clerk to continue working for the office.
* Tribune | Voters in some suburban areas will decide Tuesday whether to pay for expanded mental health services: Addison, Naperville, Lisle and Winfield townships in DuPage County; Schaumburg and Wheeling townships in Cook County; Vernon Township in Lake County; and all of Will County will hold referendums on whether to establish property tax levies to fund services for mental health, developmental disabilities and addiction.
* Post-Tribune | Franciscan Health Hammond closing its ER by end of the year, leaving Lake County’s largest city with no hospital: After a century of having a hospital in its limits, the City of Hammond will no longer have emergency care services as Franciscan Hammond will close its operations there by the end of the year.
* WCIA | Springfield Clinic ‘not optimistic’ about deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield: A year after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) kicked Springfield Clinic, along with its 450 doctors and 200 advanced practice nurses, out of network, a top executive revealed that the clinic is “not optimistic about an agreement.” In response to an update request from WCIA 3 Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Chase Hammon said Springfield Clinic is “disappointed” that efforts to restore a previously decades-long relationship with the largest insurer in Illinois “have not been more fruitful.”
* NBC Chicago | Illinois’ Secretary of State Election a Battle to Replace Jesse White: The 88-year-old White has served as secretary of state since 1999 when George Ryan was elected as governor of Illinois. Since then, he has routinely collected nearly two-thirds of the vote in every one of his reelection bids, including a 68.3% vote share as he rolled to victory over Jason Helland and Steve Dutner in 2018. Now, White will take a step out of the political theater, and three different candidates are hoping to replace him in office.
* Red Line extension needlessly caught in the switches due to CTA/City Council beef:Sun-Times | If there’s any chance at all to rebuild and repopulate the Far South Side, the Red Line extension is key — and far too important to be caught in a standoff between the CTA president and the City Council.
* Sun-Times | CPS faces $600M financial cliff as costs shift to schools with no long-term funding plan in place: Mayor Lori Lightfoot has moved millions in pensions and other costs to CPS before it becomes independent, run by an elected board. Those new payments and longstanding financial challenges could lead to dire choices once federal pandemic relief runs out.
* Tribune | Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to buy Chicago-area cannabis operations in deal connected to $2 billion Cresco-Columbia Care merger: Sean “Diddy” Combs has agreed to buy nine cannabis retail stores and three production facilities in Illinois, New York and Massachusetts for $185 million as part of required antitrust divestitures for the pending $2 billion Cresco-Columbia Care megamerger.
* Grown In | Three Illinois dispensary licensees racing to open by early 2023: There’s been little word from Illinois’ first social equity dispensary licensees since they got their licenses from the state in late summer 2022. Although dozens of license winners attended Grown In’s Cannabis Business Conferences in September 2022, one cultivator told us that it’s been, “Very quiet out there.” Illinois is one of the nation’s most lucrative cannabis markets, with just 110 dispensaries that are making $160 million in sales a month. With those kinds of numbers, one would expect dispensary license holders to move as quickly as possible to get a store open.
* NYT | Russia Reactivates Its Trolls and Bots Ahead of Tuesday’s Midterms: The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence on the social media platform, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol. The posts mostly denigrated President Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely. They also lamented the use of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, depicting Ukraine’s president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda.
* The Hill | Biden on people calling him a socialist: ‘Give me a break, what idiots’: President Biden on Saturday said people holding signs calling him a socialist were idiots, while warning that Republicans want to cut health care benefits for Americans three days before Election Day.
Gov. Pritzker is on the final stretch of the campaign trail. He’ll be holding rallies in Marion at 6:45 a.m., Metro East at 8:45 a.m., Springfield at 11 a.m., Peoria at 1:15 p.m., Quad Cities at 3:30 p.m. and Rockford at 5:30 p.m.
More to come!
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Live coverage
Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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