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* This has been a truly horrible candidate rollout…

Well, well, what a coincidence. On the same day Ann Callis resigned as a Madison County judge to run for Congress on the Democratic ticket, Gov. Pat Quinn announced the appointment of David Gill to a high-level state job.

Gill was the party’s nominee for the 13th District in 2012 and had been contemplating another run, but his appointment as associate director of the Department of Public Health clears the way for Callis.

Actually, there’s nothing coincidental about the Callis and Gill news. These were cleverly orchestrated moves by Democrats to avoid a primary fight, just like the party decided who would run for former Rep. Jerry Costello’s 12th District seat in 2012.

Hey, getting Gill out of the way was a very smart political move, but it was just way too ham-handed. They couldn’t wait a few weeks in between developments? What the heck? How do you allow this to happen?

* Post-Dispatch…

The gentle clicks of pieces falling into place last week didn’t go unnoticed by national Republicans. On Monday, a full day before Callis’ formal announcement of her candidacy, the National Republican Congressional Committee’s official blog led with a searing pre-emptive piece headlined: “Ann Callis: Bringing the ‘judicial hellhole’ to Washington.”

That’s a reference to Madison County’s national reputation as a haven for high-dollar lawsuits. It’s a side of the Metro East that Callis knows well, as the daughter of prominent Granite City trial lawyer Lance Callis. She later took the helm of the judicial system that oversees those national asbestos suits and other topics.

Callis was dogged early in her career by allegations that she got to the bench because of her influential father. That and Madison County’s reputation for litigation are attacks the GOP is likely to launch early and often in the long campaign ahead.

Not to mention the way the path was cleared for her. It’s exactly the sort of thing that Rodney Davis railed against when he forced Jerry Clark out of the race last year. The Democrats just played right into Davis’ hands.

* Oy…

Callis has been the apparent party favorite since January, when she was invited to the presidential inauguration for vetting by the party, according to national media reports at the time. Her press interviews Monday, and distribution of today’s expected formal statement, were coordinated in part by Washington-based party staff.

Yep, those crack operatives at the DCCC are definitely behind this. Check out her announcement press release…

Chief Judge Ann Callis Announces her Candidacy for Congress

When Washington has Failed,Judge Callis has Delivered Reforms for Middle Class Families

Citing the need for a proven reformer who can get things done for middle class families in Illinois, former Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis announced today that she is running to represent Illinois’ 13th Congressional District in Congress.

Even as Washington has failed to tackle the problems impacting middle class families, Judge Callis has stepped forward with reforms that have delivered for Illinois. She pushed for a mediation process that allowed families facing foreclosure a chance to stay in their homes. Judge Callis opened more court records to the public. And her work to create the first Veterans’ Court in Illinois led to national recognition from the Foundation for Improvement of Justice – all while returning thousands of dollars of her budget to the taxpayers.

“Like many of my friends and neighbors, I’m frustrated right now that Washington is not listening, and it’s not delivering for the middle class,” said Callis. “As Chief Judge, I’ve delivered reforms when Washington didn’t, and I’m running to deliver solutions for middle class families who are looking for good-paying jobs, and someone to protect Medicare and Social Security.”

Blah, blah, blah.

That press release screams “WE’RE FROM WASHINGTON, DC AND WE’RE HERE TO HELP!!!”

Run away. Run away.

* Her problem…

Champaign County provided the largest share of votes in last year’s 13th District race, 54,834 to 48,190 from Madison County, 48,033 from Macon County and 41,104 from Sangamon County.

Champaign County also was one of only three counties in the district (the others being Sangamon and McLean) where Gill defeated Davis last year.

Champaign, Macon and Sangamon won’t turn out in a mid-term anywhere near like they did in the presidential. She’s really got a tough race ahead of her in more ways than one. The DCCC got their self-funder, and Callis is gonna get fleeced.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 12:27 pm

Comments

I thought it was odd that Callis came out so quickly after Dr. Gill took his job with the Quinn Administration, but after reading this post by Rich, it is getting a terrible stench that is only going to help Rodney in his re-election.

Callis problen with announcing so early, and just on that and not on the “Gill part” of this equation, is that now we in the GOP will have extra months to get all of this backstory out, and I am happy Callis decided to be so helpful.

Callis could have waited until late June, or even late July to make all this “official” and saved the weeks of fending off stories before State Fair, parades, or even cookouts. Callis is behind the 8-Ball, and thank goodness she can self-fund. She will, indeed, be fleeced, but its her own money.

Rodney should feel a bit better, but keep working Congressman, keep at it.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 12:56 pm
also that UI Physics Professor George Gollin says he may run, so you’d have a contested Dem primary. So much for party unity.

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 12:57 pm
I see what you’re saying, Rich, but honestly I don’t see it. That story was going to get written if any Democrat anywhere did anything anytime to move Gill aside. It’s May in an off-year so why not get it over with?

And the DCCC always sends press releases out about candidates they like. Sure, they’re boilerplate and kind of silly- they’ve got >100 races to cover. You can’t expect local tailoring on that scale.

Comment by Will Caskey Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 12:57 pm
===And the DCCC always sends press releases out about candidates they like===

That was her cookie cutter release, dude.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 12:59 pm
Ah, my mistake. Well then cancel what I said about the DCCC.

Comment by Will Caskey Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:00 pm
That is some quality spinning, Will Caskey. Well done!

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:00 pm
=== It’s May in an off-year so why not get it over with?===

Except it’s May in an off year. Why not wait a month or two and then it’s not really an issue?

Also, it’s May in an off-year. We have almost no other politics to write about in these here parts. All we’re going to write about is the stink on this deal.

Again, not good.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:01 pm
I try to say something nice about Democrats and Pat Quinn and even the DCCC and look what Rich does

But seriously it probably could have been done slightly better, but only slightly. If Quinn is that much of liability then it will hurt via ads, not a news story written right now.

Comment by Will Caskey Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:03 pm
Will, usually news stories don’t mean much. And I agree that ads will be much more effective. But Downstaters tend to pay closer attention to stuff like this in the media. And we have TV markets where one congressional district can dominate an entire market. Also, talk radio focused on one CD.

Downstate is different. This is gonna sting.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:07 pm
It will be interesting down the road to see how the 2014 governors contest plays into this district. The Dccc and Nrcc and their superpacs may try to make this all about dc issues but with so many state/university workers and retirees in this district it seems a lot of turnout and party downballot voting could be affected by how the pension issue goes down and the stances taken on it by the gov candidates topping the ticket.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:10 pm
hisgirlfriday has a point. Normally, as Rich Miller has stated previously, voter turnout at UI is depressed in non-presidential elections which hurts Dems. but with so many UI employees worried about their pensions, that could be a motivating factor to GOTV. This is why I am surprised Mike Frerichs isn’t running. I guess he’s running for statewide office but he would GOTV in Champaign County.

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:14 pm
RRW, turnout declines in off years because of students, not faculty and staff.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:15 pm
Speaking of the pension deal… how soon before she gets asked her thoughts on the constitutionality of it and if former judges like herself should have been excluded? Yeah it really wouldn’t of hurt anything to wait unless she’s not really self funding and needs to be off the bench to raise money stat.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:17 pm
Ann C should NOT let the DC’ers from the DCCC lead her effort. They have a proven track record of screwing up downstate races (e.g., the DCCC’s chosen boy Matt Goetten being defeated by David Gill in last year’s primary in this SAME CD.)
Ann needs to cozy up to the Democratic county chairmen in her CD and labor leaders there ASAP to defeat any primary challengers without spending lots of dough. Goetten and the DCCC geniuses leading his primary campaign didn’t let Goetten do this and, instead, had him spending his time calling all over the country for cash. By contrast, Gill did the cozying and chicken dinner circuit and he won the primary despite the DCCC, Durbin, and the money being with Goetten. With a low turnout primary likely next year having solid support at the grassroots is crucial to winning the primary and it is key to having cash left over to challenge Davis effectively.
Ann should be praying that Lisa runs for Governor. This will increase turnout, especially among women voters, which can only help Ann’s candidacy. If Ann gets out of the primary and faces Davis with Quinn at the top of the ticket her goose will be cooked in the general. I hate to imagine what Quinn’s numbers are in the 13th CD, but they must be horrible. Plus, she will be less able to run as a Democrat not linked to the Gov once Davis and the NRCC use this story to link her to him.

Comment by Hardly Noticed Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:30 pm
Here’s Gill’s quote in the Gazette.

“It’s not a well-defined position in terms of its responsibilities.”

I’m guessing a lot more people had to get moved aside for her first judgeship, but nevertheless this is impressive.

Comment by I Want His Job Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:35 pm
Rich writes that Callis is going to get “fleeced”
The real people that are going to get fleeced are those who answer blindly to gushing DCCC campaign solicitation letters about how they are going to ‘take back the house starting with this seat’ and send in their cash.
I believe that unless Davis is caught up in a big scandal, the money is ceratinly on him winning. The votes weren’t there for a Dem in a presidential year, and they certainly aren’t going to be there in a midterm.

Comment by train111 Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:45 pm
Quinn’s people learned nothing from the Careen Gordon misstep. This is the same easily avoidable mistake by just delaying the start date.

Comment by El tercero Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 1:50 pm
@Rich - I don’t think its just about students in the off years. Macon County did not go up 13000 from 2010 to 2012 based just on milikin students. And students voting does not explain alone the drastic party swing from 60 percent for brady in 2010 and just 49 percent for davis in 2012.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 2:00 pm
The words “Judicial Hell Hole” will conjure up images of the Gordon Maag debacle. But, I’m thinking much of that campaign occurred to the south of Rodney’s district. So, I’m not sure he’ll get the benefit of the messaging that took place to deny Maag a Supreme Court Seat AND took away his Appellate Court Seat.

Comment by Downstate Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 2:14 pm
Gill’s appointment has to go before the Senate. This will give Duffy another opportunity to complain about the ethics of an appointment.

The IDPH Assistant Director is pretty much a duties as assigned position. Gill must make nice if he wants anything important to do.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 2:56 pm
Whatever happened to Matt Goettn? He looked like a promising candidate.

Comment by RFK fan Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 3:33 pm
I actually think the judicial hellhole thing will be tough to pin on Callis since people like Rodney Davis’s former boss John Shimkus gave her lots of credit for cleaning up that area. That doesn’t mean it’s good today, but okay is better than worse.

At the same time, a contested primary will be good for Callis even though it’s against someone who is almost totally unknown right now, UIUC physics professor George Gollin. Gollin’s got an interesting story that includes helping bust a set of diploma mills.

Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 3:52 pm
How many people are going to notice this? And I mean average people, not people who read this blog.

Comment by Chavez-respecting Obamist Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 4:31 pm
Clearly she is going to need some work….

ABC Newschannel 20’s Vince DeMentri asked Callis several times what Davis is doing wrong that’s prompting her to run. It took three runs at the question to get this answer:

“Well, what Rodney Davis has done wrong, which is he’s part of the problem of Washington and not part of the solution. I have a proven record of reaching across the aisle and bipartisanship to get things done. Results-oriented. That’s how I am.”

http://www.wics.com/news/features/raw-news/stories/vid_111.shtml

Comment by Under Influenced Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 6:06 pm
Davis has already showed that he can raise the type of money he needs to fend off a serious challenger but this will be a top race for EMILY’s List and the DCCC. If he keeps up hauling in money like he has then he may be able to pull it off. Callis has a real shot if she digs in for the long haul.

I wouldn’t underestimate the help of other CongressWOMEN in Illinois coming to bat for her (Robin Kelly, Tammy Duckworth, Jan Schakowsky and Cheri Bustos assuming she doesn’t have her own race to worry about) - especially if Lisa Madigan is on the ticket. Regardless of the outcome, it could be a fun race to watch.

Bustos was supposedly “handpicked” by Durbing when he got Koehler to leave the race…but that wasn’t an issue for her (or at least, it never caught on). I don’t think this Quinn thing will be a big deal, especially if he’s not on the ticket.

Comment by B Dylan Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 6:11 pm
If George Golin enters the primary I will support him on the novel grounds that I believe he would be the better Congressional representative. I know this brands me as hopelessly naive and politically unsophisticated but I am so fed up with nonsense from the DCC that I have adopted this radical position of supporting the best available person.

Comment by Jake Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 9:11 pm
If Lisa Madigan is on the ticket for Governor, and that is a big if, I think women’s issues will be in the fore front and they will be empowered more than ever at the ballot box. If my memory is correct, I think women comprise about 52% of the voters too. A little stumble coming out of the block 18 months in advance is in no way fatal. Rodney will have to put his fund raising mechanism on turbo charge to match hers.

Comment by ToughGuy Tuesday, May 7, 13 @ 9:15 pm
After working on a couple recent DCCC campaigns, I am not too impressed with this group. They’re arrogant without the track record to back it up. Madigan staff they’re not!!!

Comment by Louis Howe Wednesday, May 8, 13 @ 7:38 am