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Jim Nowlan’s column on hiatus until “at least” after the election

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Two former Illinois politicians have formed a bipartisan campaign committee to urge residents to vote against Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride’s retention.

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary and Congressman Ray LaHood joined former state lawmaker and political commentator Jim Nowlan to discuss their goals for “Citizens for Judicial Fairness.”

They feel Kilbride has been a “puppet” for House Speaker Mike Madigan over the last 20 years. The group claims he received more than $4 million from Madigan political committees during his first two campaigns.

* Jim Dey…

“Madigan is the issue, and I can tell you he is detested in downstate Illinois. People hate him,” said Jim Nowlan, a former University of Illinois faculty member who is leading the charge against Kilbride.

Labeling Kilbride as a “puppet” of Madigan, Nowlan likes to ask members of his audiences if they would like to vote against the 78-year-old Chicago politician.

“They come out of their seats,” said Nowlan, a former Republican state legislator who’s worked in the administrations of what he describes as three “unindicted” Illinois governors.

If they want to vote against Madigan, Nowlan says, they can vote against Kilbride’s retention.

* Capitol News Illinois has been distributing Nowlan’s column, so I reached out to CNI editor Jeff Rogers to see if that would continue…

After receiving requests from a number of editors, Capitol News Illinois agreed last year to distribute Jim Nowlan’s columns to Illinois newspapers. Jim has been writing those columns free of charge, and he is not an employee of Capitol News Illinois. After his Aug. 21 commentary, Jim voluntarily suspended the writing and distribution of his commentaries until at least after the Nov. 3 election.

Rogers is also the director of the Illinois Press Foundation, which is the “nonprofit, charitable arm of the Illinois Press Association.” The IPA is an association of newspaper publishers and lobbies in Springfield.

…Adding… Nowlan’s last column for CNI was about how the Republican Party needs a new Jim Thompson. One of Thompson’s last acts before he died was to endorse Kilbride.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 10:37 am

Comments

Sad choice for IL voters - puppet of Madigan or puppet of Griffin, Uihlein, Rauner and other wealthy benefactors of the GOP. The latter puppeteers has never acted in my interests.

Comment by Norseman Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 10:59 am
After his Aug. 21 commentary, Jim voluntarily suspended

Still Mr. Clean & Good Gov

If they want to vote against Madigan, Nowlan says, they can vote against Kilbride’s retention.

And apparently Mr. Good Campaign Slogan, too. It will be interesting to see.

Comment by Fav Human Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 11:06 am
Still looking for that Aug. 21 announcement of column suspension…by IPA or Nowlan…BTW how about his response on writing the LaHood and Edgar anti trump ad?

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 11:21 am
March 2019, Nowlan hangs up his column, publicly saying, “I feel my writing is becoming stale, and that I am losing touch with a world I haven’t been involved with professionally for years.”

The editors with the Illinois Press Association see that as a marketing push and snatch him up to keep writing stale, out-of-touch columns.

And newspapers wonder why they are dying.

Comment by Leigh John-Ella Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 12:42 pm
== Nowlan’s last column for CNI was about how the Republican Party needs a new Jim Thompson.==

Ironically, in Thompson’s final reelection in ‘86, Stevenson actually carried of all places Stark County, which is Nowlan’s home county and a longtime GOP bastion. (Most likely due to the farm crisis of the 80s).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Illinois_gubernatorial_election

Comment by Chatham Resident Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 12:45 pm
I have had the honor of meeting Nolan, he is very important in Stark County (Pop. 600). His articles creep into local papers sometimes and I would guess 20% of readers look at them, because they are so dry and long. Justice Kilbride is a good man and important to the Court, Nolan needs to stay in Stark County and hush up.

Comment by Uncle Ernie Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 4:28 pm
So it appears his cardinal sin is that he was elected with the support of Democrats. Aren’t these retention elections supposed to be non-partisan?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 4:49 pm
==I have had the honor of meeting Nolan, he is very important in Stark County (Pop. 600).==

Stark County is not quite that small. It’s about 6000 instead (actually 5,994 per 2010 census).

Comment by Chatham Resident Tuesday, Oct 6, 20 @ 5:49 am