THE ILLINOIZE: Kinzinger on, Davis off January 6 commission...Two more Illinoisans indicted...Does Giannoulias know what he's running for?...Rabine misinformation...SGOP/McCombie
July 27, 2021
Good morning.
My friend and I snuck into a Wrigleyville bar right before Saturday’s rain delay of the Cubs/Diamondbacks game. The bar had the Olympics on and a JB Pritzker ad popped up during one of the breaks.
A guy down the bar had an exasperated sound when he said “political ads already?”
Get used to it, pal. Pritzker was up some 473 days before the General Election and he has millions and millions more where that came from. My guess is Pritzker probably runs positive spots through the end of November sweeps (right around Thanksgiving), then takes a break for the holidays. We’ll see how quickly he starts up after the new year, and that may depend on what the competition looks like.
Speaking of which, Pritzker has hired Mike Ollen as campaign manager. Ollen comes to Illinois from the failed Senate campaign of Sara Gideon in Maine and the Beto O’Rourke presidential campaign. Remember, Pritzker’s last campaign manager, Anne Caprara, came from out of state, too.
It also appears the campaign will have Ronja Abel on board as Communications Director. Abel was most recently Communications Director for then-Montana Governor Steve Bullock. Bullock was term limited and lost a U.S. Senate race last fall.
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Alright, let’s get to it.
KINZINGER ON, DAVIS OFF JANUARY 6 COMMISSION
As you’ve likely seen, Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) was appointed to a special commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection and riot at the Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vetoed two vehemently pro-Trump Republicans. In response, the GOP pulled all its nominees from the committee, including Davis.
This weekend, Pelosi appointed Trump critic Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon) to the panel. Kinzinger, a longtime reliably conservative vote, fell out of favor with Republicans when he began criticizing Trump’s “big lie” and voted for impeachment after the January 6 breach.
(Disclosure: I was Davis’ Communications Director on his first race in 2012.)
After McCarthy pulled Davis and the remaining GOP members from the committee, they spoke to media. Davis’ comments here.
It was a relatively disturbing 25 minute news conference where Republicans, including Davis, tried to make the narrative about why the Capitol Police (run by the Speaker, of course) weren’t ready for an attack without wanting to get to the source of why the attack ever happened (because how dare you say Trump’s name in vain?).
Then there’s a political angle to all of this. My friend Tom Kacich at the News-Gazette in Champaign, who has always had a beef with Davis for some reason, wrote a column this weekend predicting there was no way Davis would run for Governor after his statements and a weird red meat fundraising e-mail that went out last week, too.
Spokespersons for Davis and Kinzinger did not make the members available to The Illinoize Monday and neither returned a text message.
Davis, of course, is considering running for Governor if he gets drawn out of his current House district. It’s always a possibility he runs to the right of someone like barmy Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Oakland), but I don’t think this has anything to do with a statewide race. This has everything to do with staying on message in the DC echo chamber.
Being on the committee certainly can’t hurt Kinzinger any more than he’s been hurt with Republicans already. But, if he runs for re-election or runs for Senate, this will be a lot of valuable TV time to impress moderates over the next few weeks.
Speaking of the January 6 insurrection and riot…
TWO MORE ILLINOISANS INDICTED
Will County residents John and Amy Schubert are the latest Illinois residents to face federal charges in the January 6 insurrection and riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Via Jon Seidel at the Chicago Sun-Times:
The Schuberts are at least the 12th and 13th individuals from Illinois to face federal charges as a result of the breach. They were arrested around 6:40 a.m. Monday and later ordered released. Their attorneys did not comment when contacted by the Chicago Sun-Times.
An anonymous tip to the FBI on March 2 about a YouTube video led the feds to the Schuberts, according to a criminal complaint filed against them. Titled “The Insurrection of The United States Capitol,” it purportedly shows a woman wearing a black jacket with the text “Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 422 Joliet IL.”
Using data already gathered through search warrants, the feds said they found six Google accounts associated with Joliet’s area code near the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Two of them were connected to female subscribers, and one of them was for “Amy Schubert,” according to the complaint.
That led the feds to Amy Schubert’s Facebook page and Illinois Secretary of State records for her and her husband, according to the complaint. The feds also sought a search warrant in March for Amy Schubert’s Gmail account, it said.
It’s time for Republicans to stop playing down what happened that day. Had this been a rabid band of Birkenstock wearers from Portland, Madison, Berkley, and Urbana, the GOP wouldn’t have shut up about it over the past six months.
WHAT DOES THE JOB I’M RUNNING FOR DO?
Does former State Treasurer turned U.S. Senate candidate turned Secretary of State candidate know what the job he’s running for does?
From the Twitters yesterday:
It’s a perfect tweet to rile up the base in a state where Secretary of State oversees or administers elections.
Illinois is not one of those states.
Outside of motor voter, where you can register to vote at driver’s services facilities, all election administration is handled by the Illinois State Board of Elections and local election authorities, like a county clerk. (By the way, since I never worked in the SoS office, a spokesman confirmed those details for me yesterday).
Giannoulias’ campaign did not respond to my request for comment and he did not respond to a text message yesterday afternoon, so the Giannoulias team did not take the opportunity to clarify the tweet (which is still posted as I write this).
So, what did Giannoulias mean? Either he doesn’t know what the Secretary of State’s office does or he is intentionally misleading Democratic voters with inaccurate information in an attempt to confuse voters.
While Trumpism has made the idea of misleading statements and outright lies a problem that looks like it belongs to solely to Republicans, clearly Democrats are capable of those tactics too. Former House Speaker Michael Madigan was notorious for sending mail pieces into districts, especially suburban districts, where it highlighted federal issues (“XXX will protect Social Security!” for instance).
Is it the crime of the century for Giannoulias to mislead voters 11 months before a primary…on twitter…without attacking his opponent…when most people aren’t paying attention? Probably not. But is it ethical?
I’ll let you decide.
RABINE’S TRUTH PROBLEM
GOP gubernatorial candidate and suburban Chicago businessman Gary Rabine stepped in it a little this weekend. More from our guy Rick Pearson at the Chicago Tribune:
A Republican candidate for Illinois governor said in a weekend TV interview that he would not encourage people to get a COVID-19 vaccination, incorrectly saying the shots were not FDA-approved and had caused thousands of deaths.
Gary Rabine, a Bull Valley businessman and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and conservative causes, said he was not an “anti-vaxxer by any stretch.” But he criticized private businesses and public institutions mandating “these vaccines that are not FDA-approved, it’s crazy.”
Vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson all have received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and experts expect the vaccines will gain full FDA approval in coming weeks after research on their use among millions of people is completed.
Rabine made the comments in an interview Sunday on Nexstar Media Group’s “Capitol Connection.” Host Mark Maxwell had to correct the candidate on several occasions and clarify Rabine’s misstatements for viewers.
I spoke to Rabine in March right before he launched his campaign for Governor. He said at the time because he had contracted COVID-19 that he had no plans to get vaccinated.
By the way, Democrats sent a thwack at Rabine last night. From state party Executive Director Abby Witt: “Gary Rabine is putting Illinoisans in harm’s way just as the pandemic experiences another surge, and the Illinois GOP is standing by as it happens. Gary Rabine should stick to his day job and the Illinois GOP should condemn this dangerous rhetoric.”
I liked Rabine when I spoke to him and he seemed like a much more authentic human than Bruce Rauner ever did. But if you’re running a campaign to the farthest Trumpdrunk right, you’re never going to win in November. If I were advising Rabine (which I’m not), I’d let other candidates battle for the far right in central and southern Illinois and start moderating his message for the suburbs (where there are more voters than downstate).
It likely shows the current GOP field for Governor will never win in November, even if Governor JB Pritzker’s positivity numbers slip to 40% or below. And a GOP poll last month had him at 54% positive. So yeah, it’s probably a haul with a great candidate.
SGOP LEANING ON McCOMBIE
Senate Republicans are really leaning on Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savana) to stay out of a potential primary with Sen. Win Stoller (R-Peoria) under the current legislative map.
We told subscribers Friday about the push, but Stoller even brought Senate GOP Leader Dan McConchie to Whiteside County’s GOP meeting last night to give Stoller his full throated endorsement. Whiteside County is in McCombie’s current district and likely where she’ll move under the new map.
McConchie told the group a primary “…will spend needless resources in a primary that should be reserved for the general election. I call on her to avail herself of numerous other opportunities to serve before her that will not create a Republican Senate primary. That is what will help us gain seats and a larger voice for Illinoisans."
Rep. McCombie responded to Leader McConchie’s comments in a statement last night.
“As a supporter of fair maps, I believe in the value of competitive elections in Illinois,” she said. “Voters benefit when they have a choice at the ballot box. I continue to explore a run for state senate and am enjoying talking with voters throughout the district.”
One Republican operative tells me McCombie is a threat to Stoller because she “works her a** off.”
It would potentially be a moot point if Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) chooses to run statewide instead of for re-election to the House, but Senate Republicans are clearly coming out strong for their incumbent.
BEST WISHES
Congratulations to my longtime friend Rachel Torbert, who resigned earlier this month as Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. She had some personal tragedy earlier this year and is taking a job which will keep her closer to her home in Clinton.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS
Wednesday: State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, former Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, former Rep. Darlene Senger, Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, IEMA Spokesperson Becky Clark
Friday: Former Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Rep. Dan Swanson, former Rep. Mike Tryon, and former Rep. and former Chicago Alderwoman Deb Mell.
Saturday: Former House GOP Leader Tom Cross, Rep. Mary Flowers
Sunday: American Institute of Architects Illinois EVP Stacey Pfingsten (my cousin)
Monday: Former Rep. Karen May
BEFORE WE GO…
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Have a great week.