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The turmoil in 6th Congressional District Democrat Christine Cegelis’ campaign continued Tuesday as she parted ways with her campaign manager and media consultant.
The departures of top campaign team members come a day after Cegelis reported having less than $40,000 on hand for the primary’s stretch run — less than half of what opponents Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran from Hoffman Estates, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott had.
A Cegelis spokeswoman denied the campaign was in a state of upheaval, however.
“It’s not in free fall,†spokeswoman Camaro Elliott Powers said. “The split was amicable and completely planned.†[…]
Cegelis, a Rolling Meadows technology consultant, is bringing in Kevin Spidel of the Progressive Democrats of America to run the campaign.
According to his Web log, “Ramblings of a Progressive Mind,†Spidel is the group’s national deputy director, a one-time organizer for Amnesty International, and a state coordinator for Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 Democratic presidential campaign. Powers said numerous volunteers from the group also will be coming.
Cegelis reported having less than $40,000 left as of Jan. 1 after raising $228,000 since 2005. Duckworth, who has national party backing, raised $120,000 in two weeks. Scott raised $101,000 so far, $60,000 from his own pocket.
Meanwhile, in the 8th District, Teresa Bartels has dropped out of the Republican primary to face Democratic incumbent freshman Melissa Bean. Here are the numbers for the rest of the candidates. I took down the Chicago Sun-Times’ campaign contribution report numbers because they were questioned as possibly inaccurate. I’ll have numbers from another source later.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 4:47 am
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Tell me more about Scott. Who’s funding him? What kind of hispanic vote can he bring?
I’m not surprized by Cegelis. I am surprized by Scott.
Comment by Bill Baar Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 7:43 am
I heard recently that a large chunk of Scott’s $ came from Pennslyvania; is that true?
My next question is this: with just about a million in the bank, is it reasonable to expect anyone to beat Roskum? Is it not possible that the 44% Cegelis got was also a symptom of Hyde’s contracting Phil Craneitis and that Kerry’s 47 was more indicative of Illinois voters turning away from an increasingly rightist President? If this was the case, does anyone else think that Rahm is making a huge mistake?
Comment by Hard Times Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 8:15 am
Spidel was a state campaign coordinator for Krazy Kucinich? Good luck with that Christine.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:19 am
Ouch.
Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:25 am
Although I would come to the same conclusion as you, Anon 10:19, that tossing out her old manager and bringing in a Kucinich state director is like tossing the seive you’ve been bailing out your sinking ship with in favor of a bucket - better, but likely with the same result.
Having said that - I will take exception to the “Krazy” label. Dennis Kucinich is very far to the political left, no doubt. But he has true ideological purity. And a remarkable story - from a poor family to mayor of a major city to the House. He’s what Dean supporters always hoped, wished, and thought Dean was. Not crazy.
Just not viable.
Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:43 am
Most of the Scott money is Scott money.
Comment by nobodysent Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:49 am
Bill-
Scott raised $29K and loaned himself the rest. He has a good following in and around Wheaton College and is doing a good job. But he also has no campaign office, staff or organization in place.
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:04 am
Anyone know anything about Christine’s old manager? Anyone know how long these discussions had been in th works?
Comment by Back for More Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:48 am
How does Kucinich remain ideological purity by switching from being Pro-Life to pro-choice once he began a campaign for President?
Comment by No Comment Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 1:04 pm
Kucinich suggested Bush was wrong about WMD’s in Iraq months before the war started. Yep, certifiably crazy.
Kevin Spidel had a bigger role than state director near the end of the Kucinich campaign.
Comment by Will Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 2:49 pm
NC, you do expose Kucinich’s political opportunism. But put in the context of his peers, and certainly beyond that flip-flop, the guy is reliably lefty.
And hey, the brigade of suburban moms, recent -college grads and tech-heads who comprised the core of Howard Dean’s support were obviously willing to overlook his routine A ratings with the NRA.
Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:35 pm
If nothing else, credit Cegelis with having a spokesperson named Camaro. Rock on!
Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 4:08 pm
Christine- Time to pull the plug on this venture! You were forced to withdraw for lack of funds. At this point you loose nothing.
Comment by Stone Hack Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 6:54 pm
44% while admirable, it is still less than the 47% that the Kerry got- meaning voters switched tickets
So the real question is- did they vote for Cegalis or against a Republican ticket?
It is too bad, she has worked that district hard.
Comment by inish Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:04 pm
Scott has raised a valid question in all of the recent debates: Who has the best chance of winning against Roskam in November, especially in light of the fact that we won’t have Obama’s coattails this time. Christine has worked hard but she will be portrayed as far left Democrat who cannot bring swing voters into the Democratic camp. She would be lucky to get the same 44%. Duckworth would be questioned as to her roots in the district, and worse, her being tied to Rahm and the Chicago machine. She has celebrity status but that wears off against Roskam’s money. Scott would have the solid vote of the Democrats, strong support by Latinos and other immigrants, moderate religious folk, and he could therefore win over a majority of the swing voters. Is there something wrong with this logic? He seems to me like the Dem with the best chance of beating Roskam.
Comment by NancyZ Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:27 pm
Cegelis meltdown may have been brewing a while. I’ve a friend who worked on the campaign a few months ago but got disgusted by the manager’s ineptitude. No clear plan, no written strategy, etc. Gotta agree with Hard Times on this one: Is Rahm kidding himself in this district?
Comment by Not Tellin Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:48 pm
BTW — about the 8th. Bartels endorses Kathy Salvi. Completely unsubstantiated rumor has it the race is a three-way between Salvi, spend-a-thon banker David McSweeney and Rep. Bob Churchill. Bartels had no traction running fourth and would rather see a woman face Bean in the fall.
Comment by Not Tellin Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:53 pm
Camaro - thanks for that quote of the week, and for burning an image of Cegelis in free fall into all of our memory banks.
Not Tellin - When a campaign suffers the chronic problems that the Cegelis campaign is suffering, the source of the problem is always the same: the Candidate.
It is candidates who are always changing the campaign’s message, strategy and tactics. Candidates who run from a written campaign plan like a three year-old running from a bath — because signing off on the campaign plan means giving up control. And it is candidates who refuse to pick up the phone and call the people closest to them and ask them to make a significant contribution to their campaign.
Look at Cegelis’s campaign filings, and I’ll bet you’ll see very few people with the last name Cegelis. I bet you’ll see very few who maxxed out their giving. Remember, this is not a poor district, and Cegelis lives well enough to loan her campaign $40K — she knows plenty of people who can write a check for $2100 if they are asked and they believe. Either Cegelis is unwilling to ask, or the people who know her best don’t believe in her candidacy, which is telling.
IF the campaign staff can be faulted for anything, it is for failing to recognize the harsh reality that Sens. Durbin, Obama, Lt. Gov. Quinn, Cong. Emanuel et al. were going to be fully backing another candidate, or failing to convince their candidate to accept this harsh reality.
Despite the rumors of Duckworth’s candidacy that had been circulating since October all over Illinois, Cegelis continued to chart a course for victory that depended on scores of endorsements from labor, national progressive groups like NOW, Planned Parenthood and EMILY’s List, and fundraising from big progressive donors. Those groups will most likely be with Duckworth now, something most of us could have predicted two months ago.
The definition of insanity, they say, is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. If Cegelis wants to change the course of the election, she doesn’t need to change staff — she needs to change herself.
P.S. Cegelis’s campaign manager was poised to quit once already, and he and Adelstein-Liston were leaving one way or another (with the money all gone), so this has been a long time coming. It was generous of them to allow Cegelis to put out the story that they were let go — Cegelis’s remaining supporters should return that generosity by NOT TAKING POT-SHOTS AT THEM IN THE BACK.
Comment by Buckit Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:32 pm
There’s a shift in the momentum in the 6th District. Perhaps it is due to the shake-up in the Cegelis’ team, but she did not even get the DFI endorsement. Scott made a great showing at the League of Women Voters Debate and at the Milton Township meeting. If Christine doesn’t make a better showing at the “Love your Candidate” forum on Tuesday, many more undecided locals will join the Scott campaign. They don’t want to split the grassroots vote and they believe he has the best chance of beating Roskam
Comment by NancyZ Saturday, Feb 11, 06 @ 9:50 pm