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Rep. Costa Howard running a new sort of Democratic campaign

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Illinois

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

After Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan appeared in all but actual name in ComEd’s deferred federal prosecution agreement, Terra Costa Howard was among the first Democratic state representatives to call on him to resign without adding “if he did it.”

And the freshman legislator from Glen Ellyn has been breaking pretty much all precedent in the last month by putting significant campaign money where her mouth is.

Madigan’s political operation has continued to back Costa Howard against former Rep. Peter Breen, a Republican from Lombard. Costa Howard, though, has received nowhere near the amount of money that most other Democratic incumbents in difficult reelection battles have received, perhaps because she won her last race by 7 percentage points.

Madigan’s support, though limited, ostensibly cost Costa Howard the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune editorial board, but she has been sending out mailers under the media’s radar screen blasting Madigan.

“For decades, Speaker Mike Madigan has ruled the Illinois House of Representatives with an iron fist,” boomed the first such mailer, which landed in late September. “But when ComEd admitted to bribing Madigan associates for years, with money they got from your electric bills, Terra Costa Howard refused to keep silent. In the face of threats and intimidation from fellow Democrats, State Representative Terra Costa Howard did the right thing: She stood up and called on Madigan to step down, now.”

The second mailer, which hit the boxes around the first of the month, was titled “Why I called for Speaker Madigan to resign.”

“As a mom, I’ve heard the classic ‘Everyone else is doing it!’” the mailer explains. “But as a legislator it was the opposite ‘No one is doing it!’ I couldn’t believe it. As a mom, this was my chance to show my daughters what it means to do what’s right.”

The third mailer landed a week later and focused on legislative redistricting, a process that Madigan has perfected. “Corrupt politicians draw maps that take away the power of your vote,” the reader is informed. “Terra Costa Howard wants to give the power back to us!”

The fourth mailer landed a few days ago.

“Since 1971 Mike Madigan has had Illinois on the same path,” read the headline. “Speaker Mike Madigan is implicated in yet another Illinois corruption and bribery scandal. This time, ComEd officials have admitted that they bribed some of Madigan’s closest allies to get a rate hike that’s costing Illinois customers millions of dollars. Madigan’s failed leadership damages our state’s reputation, hampers economic growth, and discourages people from investing in Illinois. It’s time to set a new course.”

Yikes.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Illinois declined comment but said the mailers were not a surprise. Whatever works, I suppose. Costa Howard won’t be voting for Madigan’s reelection, but not many Democrats want to see a return of the ultra-conservative Breen, who is a nationally prominent anti-abortion attorney and was the House Republican floor leader until he lost reelection two years ago.

Whatever the case, a campaign like this is unprecedented in Illinois. No incumbent House Democrat has ever been so openly hostile to Madigan in sustained paid advertising. Ever. I mean, the Senate Democrats caught tremendous heat from unions when they ran TV ads calling for leadership term limits two years ago; they had to pull the ads down or face retaliation.

In other news, Costa Howard’s campaign is behind a formal complaint filed with the Illinois Board of Elections. The complaint alleges the Illinois Republican Party has made in-kind contributions of 10 mailings on behalf of Breen’s campaign going back to early August, but at least six of those in-kind contributions have yet to be disclosed by Breen. The Breen campaign denied all wrongdoing and noted that some mailers were reported last week.

Breen’s mailers, unsurprisingly, have tried to weld Costa Howard to Madigan. In one, recipients were told that Costa Howard “lied to you about her ties to Madigan and corruption,” adding that she “is still taking Madigan’s money.”

“According to recently uncovered FBI files,” another mailer claimed, “top Madigan lieutenant Mike McClain raised money for Terra as part of a pay-for-play ‘secret project.’” The footnote points to a Tribune story about McClain raising money for unnamed House Democratic candidates. “Terra’s money man McClain rewarded another Madigan operative for covering up a rape in Champaign, Illinois.”

It’s not hard to see why Costa Howard is taking the anti-Madigan route.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 2:32 am

Comments

What is hard to see is why other House Democrats and JB are not

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 9:35 am
=== What is hard to see is why other House Democrats …are not===

Not that difficult, the HDems are, again, poised to pick up more seats… why have an intra-party struggle plastered in their own mail or ads if they are going to win without it?

The real question is first if Costa Howard is going to win, the second question is can Madigan get 60 votes, the third question is who can get 60 from the HDem caucus to take the gavel AND continue to marginalize the super-minority Raunerites.

The HDems wanna ride the *national* Dem wave that’s polling well here, why divide in races they can hold or win to disparage?

The Governor? The Governor finally got it right, it’s up to HDems and the Illinois House to figure out the governing, unlike Rauner, HDems specifically are getting monies thru other means… thru the pass-thru of MJM/State Party… it’s not like all the monies in this cycle are Raunerbucks on the Dem side.

And I’ll stop you, right now;

Since July 18th, I’ve said, repeatedly, unwaveringly… Madigan should resign… not from Speaker, not from the House, not from the Dem Party Chair… I’ve said I think Madigan should resign, and leave it all behind… so I’ll stop ya there. Try again.

To the post.

Costa Howard, she thought before she’d been sworn in the Illinois House she was going to take on Durbin, has shown she will see things to the anti-party side, and frankly this run is Costa Howard being who she is and what she believes… but in also a warped sense of being a hero and champion… of one.

Rich, again showing why his insight and writing is unmatched to the bigger picture, highlights… Costa Howard is fighting… “everyone”… Madigan, Dems, Republicans, Breen, odds are, if you’re not careful, she’ll be fighting you, that kinda “one” thinker of political thinking.

Governing, and here the politics, is about addition, not subtraction. Yeah, being anti-Madigan as a Dem, is huge to how HDem races are run, but Costa Howard is in of herself… a party of one… she may still be alone after the election, win or lose.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:03 am
==Costa Howard, she thought before she’d been sworn in the Illinois House she was going to take on Durbin,==

Wasn’t that actually Anne Stava-Murray? Only a few days prior to taking office.

https://capitolfax.com/2019/01/07/stava-murray-says-she-will-file-complaints-run-against-durbin/

Comment by Chatham Resident Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:16 am
- Chatham Resident -

Yep. You’re right. I am wrong here, marrying the two thoughts, two different people, to the “one” thinking.

On me. My bad. Thanks.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:17 am
OW — yeah, TCH is NOT ASM.

Comment by Soccermom Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:20 am
- Soccermom -

lol, yeah, I was going with the “one” thinking and then apparently decided this was “one” person instead of knowing better.

I made a mistake. It’s Monday. I know why at least, so I feel better.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:24 am
TCH is going to roll Breen - mostly because of the sales job she is doing on her independence from Madigan.

How that shakes out next year after election, who knows? But she’s tough and smart and has the support of her district - which is largely anti-Madigan, despite now being a largely center left community.

I wouldn’t count TCH out on fighting back mightily against Madigan and winning if it comes to that.

Comment by DuPage Moderate Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:31 am
DuPage Moderate — Calling TCH’s independence a “sales job” is kind of insulting. She’s had to take a LOT of grief from other Dems about her principled stand, and her campaign has paid a real price. Yeah, she’s using paid ads to let her constituents know she’s standing up for them. Otherwise Breen’s flat-out lies about her record and her policy stances might be a problem. But it’s not a “sales job” to do what’s right.

Comment by Soccermom Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:40 am
If TCH wins it is a big step for HD’s in that she did it without Madigan overwhelming and crushing her opponent with cash. That will be a problem for Madigan if folks can leave the tent and be successful without him.

Comment by Frank talks Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 12:40 pm
TCH is not as progressive as I would like, but I’d prefer her to almost any other IL Dem. Kudos to her.

Comment by Disgruntled IL Democrat Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 3:24 pm
Whether or not Madigan was directly involved is irrelevant. This occurred in his office. Either he’s complicit or clueless. Either way, time for him to go. Democrats have to understand if he’s not gone as Speaker and Head of IL Democratic Party within months, he will damage the Governor and the party in 2021 and the 2022 election, possibly seriously.

Comment by VerySmallRocks Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 3:29 pm
Let’s try this again, this time with all synapses working.

(Yikes)

“To the post”,

Right now, it’s those taking on Madigan, forcefully, are seemingly like a party of “one”, Costa Howard, Kifowit, Stava-Murray. You have three, going about trying to be the anti-Madigan, but what they have in common is a singularity to a common thought, and here we have Costa Howard running as “one”, and apparently no one sees the benefit she sees.

Rich, again showing why his insight and writing is unmatched to the bigger picture, highlights… Costa Howard is fighting… “everyone”… Madigan, Dems, Republicans, Breen, odds are, if you’re not careful, she’ll be fighting you, that kinda “one” thinker of political thinking.

That’s the challenge by running as Costa Howard is, is it independence or that “one” lone wolf thinking that has 2 others also singular to thought.

Governing, and here the politics, is about addition, not subtraction. Yeah, being anti-Madigan as a Dem, is huge to how HDem races are run, but Costa Howard is in of herself… a party of one… she may still be alone after the election, win or lose. There’s no guarantee Costa Howard would support Kifowit, and if Costa Howard wins, will that be enough, after all the money and support of MJM for others to vote to give the gavel to another.

It’s interesting to see the thinking. The difference isn’t rubbing away from Madigan, it’s being hostile, as Rich says.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 4:42 pm