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* JB Pritzker spoke to the Evanston chapter of Action for a Better Tomorrow this week and said something for the first time…
During the Q&A portion of the event, Pritzker said he would get rid of gerrymandering and also does not support public financing of statewide campaigns
Pritzker has previously referred to his support for publicly financed judicial races, but never specifically ruled out statewide campaigns until now.
* But that’s not all Pritzker said on the topic. From a tracker video..
I don’t like the bill that I saw that’s in Springfield today.
That would be Sen. Daniel Biss’ bill to set up a publicly funded small donor matching system for all campaigns. That would also be the same Sen. Biss who recently endorsed Pritzker, but first wanted the nominee to come around on this issue.
* Pritzker also said this in Evanston, however…
We’ve got to work on trying to limit campaign contributions across the board, but I worry that since we’re going to have trouble convincing the vast majority of people in the state of Illinois that we should spend millions and millions of dollars on one race, for example, that that’s going to be very hard to do at a statewide level. I think for local races, for judicial races, even for state Rep and state Senate races, I think it’s very practical to do. I just have trouble at the statewide level — think about how much money is going to be spent in this attorney general’s race.
* I asked Biss about Pritzker’s opposition to publicly financed statewide campaigns and he chose to look on the bright side…
I think if we passed a law that was very similar to SB1424’s provisions for the GA that would be a huge step forward.
Look, I support SB1424. I disagree with him about the statewides. But I think what he’s proposing is real and would matter. It’s not window dressing.
Well, Daniel pretty much killed my “mess with JB” post, but whatevs. I guess he really is with Team JB now.
* The questions were pretty interesting, though. Biss may be on board, but some members of the audience clearly weren’t buying in…
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 3:20 pm
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Biss would be in favor of it because he didn’t have enough funding to take on other candidates. I wonder where the “public” funding would come from? Schools? Roads? Where?
Comment by DuPage Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 3:30 pm
==I guess he really is with Team JB now.==
One of the things that made Biss frustrating in the primary is that he’d never really been an anti-establishment bomb-thrower before. He disagreed with party leadership, but wasn’t looking for a fight. So it felt like he was putting on airs in the primary, and I’m glad he’s getting away from that.
To the policy- I agree with Biss that if you’re going to publicly fund some elections, you might as well include the statewide ones, too. But in the near future that’s a pretty heavy lift, both financially and politically (who wants their tax dollars going into a campaign account?).
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 3:34 pm
Small donor matching for state leg. candidates would be a big deal and I hope JB sticks to it. Interesting that he wants to shield the governor’s office from publicly financed competitors though…hm…
Comment by Birdy Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 3:48 pm
Pritzker: “think about how much money is going to be spent in this attorney general’s race.”
Pritzker points to the AG’s race as an example of the amount of money it takes to run statewide? Lol.
Comment by Two-State Solution Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 3:50 pm
If Pritzker were smart he’d embrace this across the board. It would show he was serious about fixing the system when otherwise he’s just a walking talking symbol for how broken it is.
Comment by Blue sky Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:01 pm
@Arsenal
Despite my status as resident Biss shill, I agree with you that he wore the anti-establishment hat pretty uncomfortably, from both a personal and political standpoint. I think one of the most important things a candidate needs to pull of the outsider thing is an aura of authenticity. I think that’s what got Sanders as far as he got, and probably a big part of what got Trump elected. I think Biss was ultimately too much of a wonky math professor to pull it off.
All this to say he’s probably more comfortable as a legislator than a gubernatorial candidate.
Comment by Actual Red Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:07 pm
==All this to say he’s probably more comfortable as a legislator than a gubernatorial candidate.==
Alas, that’s out, for now, too.
He’d be a pretty good agency director.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:10 pm
matching-funds schemes have been found to violate first amendment in a few cases. Did not read Biss’ bill, but it would have to be very carefully crafted
Comment by Dog on Sheffield Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:11 pm
@Arsenal
I actually think he would be a pretty good governor, but you’re probably right on that too.
Comment by Actual Red Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:24 pm
Dog on Sheffield, there are plenty of matching-funds schemes around the country without constitutional problems.
Comment by Birdy Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:26 pm
Great, diplomatic response Sen. Biss. I’ve busted your chops before on a variety of issues, but I’m proud of you for not bad-mouthing JB on this matter. You’re improving. Mazel.
Comment by Yiddishcowboy Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:37 pm
With Rauner as governor, the key is to try to put aside or work through differences and not be disunited because the candidate is not left-wing or progressive enough (or the opposite). I’m glad to see unity building around Pritzker. There are vast differences between the two political parties, as we can see with tax cuts for the wealthy and RtW spreading in GOP-controlled states. What states didn’t expand Medicaid? How many states went RtW since the the GOP wave that started in 2010?
Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 4:47 pm
This is could be baf on JB’s part. The leftists will vote for a third party candidate if they feel provoked. It seems like JB is poking them in the eye a bit in walking back from the statewide races and small dollar matching proposals.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 5:40 pm
Contribution limits are a dead end after Citizens United too. It just seems like JB isn’t saying much here, and he is saying little in an ineffective manner.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, May 23, 18 @ 6:55 pm
Since Rauner has a link to Dick Simpson’s report about corruption on his website, and Simpson’s first recommendation is public funding of elections, is this an issue that Rauner is going to run on that is opposite of Pritzker?
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 6:25 am