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* From The Hill…
The Service Employees International Union is launching radio ads ripping former Rep. Debbie Halvorson’s (D-Ill.) on economic issues, making them the latest deep-pocketed group to go after her — but the first not to focus on her opposition to gun control.
The ad says Halvorson voted against extending unemployment benefits and voted for lower inheritance taxes, and “voted with Republicans 88 times.”
“She calls herself a Democrat but votes with Republicans over and over again,” the ad’s narrator says. “We need someone who will stand with President Obama.”
The narrator says to vote for one of the other candidates in the race — of which there are many. Halvorson, the only white candidate in a heavily African American district formerly held by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), has a chance to win because of the crowded field, her high name identification in the district and her support in the district’s far suburbs.
Mayor Bloomberg’s PAC, meanwhile, has upped its anti-Halvorson spending to $1.3 million.
* From a press release…
Robin Kelly, candidate for Illinois’ second Congressional district, released her fundraising numbers, current through February 13th.
Total Raised as of February 13: $417,727.19
Individual Contributors: 5,254
Average Contribution: $79.50
Nothing yet from Hutchinson. I’ll let you know.
* Speaking of Hutchinson, the Kankakee paper ran this story the other day…
Both Republicans and Democrats in Kankakee County are throwing support behind state Sen. Toi Hutchinson’s bid to take the 2nd Congressional District seat formerly held by Jessie Jackson Jr.
Kankakee County Republicans held a bipartisan rally for Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, on Monday, and the Kankakee County Democratic Central Committee handed her a unanimous endorsement earlier in the day. The rally, held at The Homestead Restaurant in Kankakee, featured county and municipal officials from both political parties. […]
Bruce Adams, a Democrat and mayor of Bradley, one of Kankakee County’s Democratic strongholds, said both parties recognized the benefits of working together. […]
Mike Bossert, Republican Kankakee County Board chairman, said his party agreed with the approach.
“It’s about getting our county behind a candidate who supports us,” Bossert said. “We thought we’d put partisan issues aside and come together.”
* But a subsequent letter to the editor by the county’s Republican Party Chairman says Bossert was quoted out of context and that the rally wasn’t a rally…
This bi-partisan “Meet and Greet” held at the Homestead Restaurant Monday evening was attended by members of the community from all party affiliations. While several Republican elected officials were present, this is NOT to be construed as an endorsement by the local Republican Party for a Democratic candidate. In fact nothing could be further from the truth. […]
As chairman of the Kankakee County Republican Central Committee, I was appalled at the following statement reported in the Journal today, “Mike Bossert, Republican Kankakee County Board Chairman, said his party agreed with the approach.” In speaking with Chairman Bossert, he asserts that he was very specific with The Daily Journal’s reporter that his presence at the event was not an endorsement of the Democratic candidate. Rather, his attributed quote was an agreement with a previous statement that elected officials should work together for the benefit of their constituents. To this clarification, I agree, not the implication left in The Daily Journal’s article.
That’s a bit confusing because the county board chairman did say the event was about “getting our county behind a candidate who supports us.” Either way, Hutchinson obviously does have some local GOP support.
* Related…
* Schakowsky, Robin Kelly say anti-gun SuperPAC flooding 2nd district combats NRA money
* Obama allies rally against gun-rights Democrat in Illinois special election
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 11:59 am
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Not a huge fan of Debbie Halvorson, but why is it a surprise that she sometimes voted with Republicans? Her previous districts contained some GOP precincts. Dan Lipinski does the same thing all of the time and it bothers no one.
Comment by Esquire Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:07 pm
Too lazy to look up burn rate but even half of 400k this late in the game buys a lot of radio and foot soldiers.
Rich, any AB/EV results yet? With that kinda dough and expected turnout being abysmal you could probably get a huge percentage of your base out through abapp chases.
Comment by Hammer Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:12 pm
If you are interested in tracking the fundraising numbers in IL-2 check out this Google Doc. http://bit.ly/WDemW5
Comment by nickdaggerscfo Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:45 pm
esquire: i don’t think it’s much of a surprise. it’s a matter of the fact that the new district is *much* more democratic than the one she represented.
hammer: early voting has been dismal (as expected), and suggests that there will be the low turnout that has been predicted…
Comment by bored now Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:49 pm
*Dan Lipinski does the same thing all of the time and it bothers no one.*
There are many that would disagree with this statement.
Comment by Montrose Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:49 pm
I’m curious how Robin’s current fundraising for the 2d CD compares to her fundraising for her state level run 2 years ago.
Comment by Oh Yeah Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:55 pm
oh yeah: seeing that she raise $1M in her statewide campaign, you’d have to say that she’s raising money at a fast clip, but she’s not anywhere near what she did for the treasurer’s race. the suggestion that robin didn’t raise money in 2010 is a myth perpetuated by a candidate who needed a raison d’etre to enter the race…
Comment by bored now Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 12:57 pm
What, no outrage over Bloomberg and the Citizens United SCOTUS case?
Comment by Cincinnatus Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 1:04 pm
I’m not a fan of Halverson, wouldn’t vote for her, and I really don’t like the NRA. But I am wondering - this is really a chance for the NRA to pick up an unexpected congressional ally. Why aren’t they giving big money to a Superpac to attack Robin or support Halverson?
Comment by Robert the Bruce Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 3:01 pm
Heere they come! Around the turn! It’s anybody’s horse race!
Comment by walkinfool Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 3:31 pm
Without even saying Kelly’s name all of the out of town dough on a single issue makes it possible for the president to come to town with an implicit endorsement of Alexi Giannoulias’ former chief of staff without risking possible embarrassment if the Kelly campaign goes bad.
Comment by Kasich Walker, Jr. Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 3:49 pm
– But I am wondering - this is really a chance for the NRA to pick up an unexpected congressional ally. Why aren’t they giving big money to a Superpac to attack Robin or support Halverson? –
Perhaps there’s a sub rosa movement to get their peeps to vote for Halvorson in what will be a very low-turnout, open primary, without attracting a lot of attention.
The silence has been deafening.
But if she gets beat, a lot of lawmakers will be asking the same questions.
Either way, Bloomberg has shown he’ll write the checks and will have to be dealt with.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 4:08 pm
the NRA’s strength has always been it’s under-the-radar stuff, like organizing union members in suburban areas and getting them to vote against the traditional democratic candidates. and they don’t just use the mail; they are fairly well organized and are able to communicate with their fellow travelers without shouting it in the media. whatever bleeding halvorson was feeling from the early attacks has subsided (this probably hurts toi as much as robin’s rise)…
Comment by bored now Thursday, Feb 14, 13 @ 5:28 pm