THE ILLINOIZE: Bailey 'election integrity' staffer who attended Jan. 6 rally "not denying" 2020 result....Is Sims being targeted?...Kinzinger "done" with elected office...House Dems start spending
August 9, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
I filled in on WMAY in Springfield yesterday and spent a lot of time on the status of the Republican party. How it got where it is and how it can be saved (or even if it should.) I had four great guests on the topic and WMAY was gracious enough to post the podcasts of all four.
Rick Tyler, former Ted Cruz and Newt Gingrich spokesman
Former Congressman John Shimkus
Mark McKinnon, former George W. Bush and John McCain advisor, now on Showtime’s “The Circus”
I’ll be back in the saddle one more day this week on WMAY, tomorrow. Tentative guests include Rep. Sandy Hamilton (R-Springfield) and Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark.
We’ll be doing another Livestream/Podcast at noon Wednesday on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. We're scheduled to be joined by Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield), who may have one of the most competitive races in the state this fall. We'll also talk to Lee Enterprises (that's the Herald & Review, Pantagraph, and others) Capitol Reporter Brenden Moore. I hope you'll join us.
It is 91 days to the General Election. Governor JB Pritzker is in Washington for a bill signing with the President. Sen. Darren Bailey has not released a public schedule.
The Illinois State Fair kicks off Thursday. In honor of the first State Fair in 1853, we’re knocking $18.53 off the price of a yearly paid subscription to The Illinoize. Paid subscribers, as you know, get breaking news alerts, previews, and two exclusive newsletters for them each week. Now is the time to save a few bucks and support the work we’re doing here.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, angry criticisms, or high praise, send me a note at patrick@theillinoize.com. Maybe not the criticism.
Let’s get to it.
BAILEY ‘ELECTION INTEGRITY’ LEAD “NOT DENYING” 2020 RESULT
A downstate radio host who has been hired to run an “election integrity” program for GOP gubernatorial nominee Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), attended Donald Trump’s speech and marched to the Capitol prior to the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. But David Paul Blumenshine says he and a group of listeners of his conservative radio station did not enter the Capitol grounds, and were eating at a Cracker Barrel restaurant outside D.C. while the majority of violence occurred at the Capitol.
Blumenshine, who has previously run twice for State Representative and for Normal Town Council says he “doesn’t deny” the result of the 2020 election as he tries to put together a statewide team of election judges for 2022.
Blumenshine said they saw the situation go downhill, but none of those who attended the radio station-sponsored bus trip entered the Capitol building. Though, Blumenshine implied some of the rioters may have been bussed in. No evidence of bussed in rioters has been reported.
“I’d go again. In a heartbeat,” Blumenshine said. “It was not the day they depict it to be.”
While both Bailey and Blumenshine were strong Trump supporters, Blumenshine says he accepts the results of the 2020 election.
“You don’t hear me saying ‘let’s audit the vote of 2020.’ You don’t hear me saying we’re backing up the bus,” Blumenshine said. “In 2022, for the first time, we’re coordinating an effort to guarantee free and fair elections.
He said 2020 was marred by changes to election laws during the pandemic.
“Election rules and laws should not change inconsistent with what the state legislature has already put together. We know that happened across the board,” Blumenshine said. “I’m not denying what took place, because it’s passed. What we’re trying to do is assure that we have election integrity going forward.”
But there is certainly doubt.
“Do I believe Joe Biden got 81 million votes? It’s really hard to believe that,” Blumenshine said.
The Bailey campaign previously tried to distance itself from supporter Lawrence Ligas, who was arrested and charged for taking part in the January 6 riot.
Bailey hired Blumenshine to coordinate groups like the Illinois Conservative Union and FreedomWorks to recruit election judges and poll watchers to keep a close eye on every ballot counted.
“We realize there’s a need for election judges and there’s a need for poll watchers,” Blumenshine said. “We know that, unequivocally, in order to have free and fair elections, you have to have eyeballs on every ballot. I think everybody, Republican or Democrat, wants election integrity. Or, at least, I hope they do.”
Though, it appears Blumenshine and the Bailey campaign will be willing to accept the result of the gubernatorial election. They just want to ensure it is done correctly.
“If a Democrat wins based on a free and fair election, a Democrat wins. If a Democrat loses in a free and fair election, a Democrat loses,” he said. “If a Republican wins, a Republican wins. If a Republican loses a Republican loses. That’s all we’re doing.”
SIMS ATTORNEY CONFIRMS FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
An attorney for Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) confirmed the powerful author of a major criminal reform bill, is under federal investigation.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Illinois state Sen. Elgie Sims was approached in the spring by federal authorities investigating potential influence peddling involving a police body-camera manufacturer that hired the law firm where Sims works as a lobbyist, sources have told the Tribune.
The ongoing probe involves Axon Enterprise Inc., an Arizona law-enforcement technology company that hired law firm Foley & Lardner LLP to lobby the legislature in Springfield and Chicago, according to the sources. Sims is an “of-counsel” attorney at Foley, specializing in government affairs and public policy.
Investigators are looking into whether Axon — either directly or through other lobbying entities — improperly tried to influence Sims in his official duties as a member of the Illinois legislature working on the criminal justice legislation, which, among a slew of other reforms, requires every police officer in the state to wear a body camera by 2025, according to the sources.
Sims’ connections to Axon go back to at least 2020, when he listed the firm as one of his clients in a 2020 lobbyist disclosure form with the Chicago Board of Ethics, records show. On the form, when asked if he had received or anticipated receiving compensation for lobbying for Axon, Sims replied “yes,” though he later clarified in a letter to the board that he was only providing legal services.
The criminal justice reform bill requires all police in the state to wear body cameras over the next decade.
In a statement to The Illinoize Monday night, Sims’ attorney, Thomas Durkin, said an opponent is trying to “baselessly smear” Sims.
“There is a good reason federal investigations are required by law to be secret. It is to protect people who have not committed crimes. Senator Sims has committed no crime, and has not been charged with any crime. Obviously someone not happy with this historic and long overdue crime reform bill, and many in law enforcement are unhappy, is baselessly attempting to smear Senator Sims’ good name and hard work by leaking this investigation.”
Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) resigned earlier this year before pleading guilty to bilking a union in a no-show job. Former House Speaker Michael Madigan is also under indictment for his alleged role in arranging jobs for political allies.
No charges have been filed.
KINZINGER ‘DONE’ WITH ELECTED OFFICE “FOR NOW”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon), once a golden boy of Republican politics turned black sheep of his party, says he is “done” with seeking elected office for the time being.
Kinzinger is one of only 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He has earned the ire of millions of Trump supporters and is one of only two Republicans to sit on the special January 6th Commission investigating Trump’s role in the riot.
Kinzinger was drawn out of his current 16th Congressional district and into a potential primary with Congressman Darin LaHood (R-Peoria). Kinzinger chose not to seek re-election instead.
I spoke with Kinzinger Monday on WMAY Radio in Springfield. He said he’s pessimistic about the future of the GOP.
“The GOP has become, lately, a very angry party,” he said. “A party focused on grievance, division, and I think a party that is very spoiled to an extent. We have a lot going on for us as a nation, but instead we go and peddle fear.”
But, Kinzinger says, there’s no doubt in his mind speaking out against Trump and the failures of his own party were the right thing to do.
“I have no regrets about speaking out because somebody's got to. It's not necessarily courageous, I just think it's rare, unfortunately.”
The January 6th commission continues its work investigating Trump’s role in the riot at the Capitol. Kinzinger says he didn’t expect the commission to have as much impact as it is.
“I’m surprised at how much of a difference we’re making,” Kinzinger said. “The impact isn’t going to be in the angry viewers of angry media, it’s going to be in their kids. I truly believe that in five or ten years, you’re not going to find anybody who will admit to having supported Donald Trump. Ever.”
Kinzinger said more proof will come out that Trump tried to go to the Capitol on January 6th, though he wouldn’t elaborate.
Kinzinger says he will devote his time to his Country First PAC so he can try to help find a way to return Republicans to their traditional beliefs.
“I’m done for now,” he said. “I need a break. I look forward to being involved without the same day-to-day congressional fights, but there’s no way I’m done with my activism and I certainly would keep open the possibility of running for office again in the future. It really just depends on doing what’s right at the right time and that’s kind of where I’m at right now.”
Read more here.
HOUSE DEMS START SPENDING
At least four endangered suburban House Democrats and another Democrat competing for an open seat are the first legislative candidates to hit TV for the fall campaign.
According to our television sources, Rep. Mark Walker (D-Arlington Heights), Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-Naperville), Rep. Maura Hirschauer (D-Batavia), and Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) (above) all began airing cable TV ads yesterday.
Each buy runs for two weeks. Walker is spending around $19,000, Stava-Murray is spending around $48,000, Yang Rohr, who does not currently have a Republican opponent, is dropping around $51,000, and Hirschauer is spending around $53,000.
Democrats also appear to be spending on direct mail pieces, too. They have vastly more resources than Republicans and will hoping by flexing muscles in key races they can knock out GOP candidates before they get off the ground.
Read more here.
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