THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All
October 18, 2021
Good morning.
Maybe it wouldn’t sting so much if it weren’t so true.
Lots to get to this morning and this week as we kick off veto session in Springfield.
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Behold, your Monday Free for All.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Democratic Congresswoman Marie Newman slams new Democratic Illinois congressional map (Chicago Sun-Times)
The draft Illinois congressional map unveiled Friday – and drawn by state Democrats to create 14 Democratic districts and three Republican – was blasted by freshman Rep. Marie Newman because it leaves her extremely vulnerable to primary and general election challenges.
Democrat Newman was outraged, given the power of the state Democratic mapmakers – Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside – to draw more favorable lines.
The 17 crazy-shaped districts zigzagging around Illinois were gerrymandered to maximize Democratic voting power.
Nationally, Democrats have been raging against GOP states gerrymandering mainly because there are so few states where Democrats have the sole congressional mapmaking power.
At present, Illinois sends 13 Democrats and 5 Republicans to Congress. Illinois drops to 17 seats because of reapportionment following the 2020 Census. There will continue to be one Hispanic and three Black districts, all on Democratic turf.
Democrats pushed Newman’s district west so it sweeps in Kinzinger’s home in Channahon. Kinzinger has a soaring national profile because of his crusade to break former President Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican party. As a target of pro-Trump forces, Kinzinger will face a primary battle no matter when he runs.
Wrote [Dave] Wasserman [of the Cook Political Report], “Considering that the southwest Chicago suburbs are, if anything, trending right, this seat would be a toss up in a favorable midterm climate for the GOP.”
In the new 3rd District, Newman, a progressive from LaGrange, sheds city of Chicago precincts she depended on while pushing her far west.
With more conservative Democratic turf, former Rep. Dan Lipinski, who Newman defeated in a 2020 Democratic primary, told Crain’s Chicago Business he’s mulling a 2022 comeback bid.
Newman said in a statement, the proposed map “is not only retrogressive but substantially diminishes the diverse and progressive voices of Chicago’s Southwest Side and suburbs.”
“I know that IL-03’s constituents will ensure their voices are heard loud and clear at these public hearings over the coming days.”
Related: Our Friday story on the remap. (The Illinoize)
New congressional maps put Adam Kinzinger in a left-leaning district with Marie Newman (Chicago Tribune)
Lipinski bombshell: He may try to reclaim his old seat from Newman (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Proposed state congressional map places Davis, GOP peers in new arenas (Champaign News-Gazette)
Lawsuit alleges new IL legislative map undermines Black voters in East St. Louis (AP/Belleville News Democrat)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker spends $7 million in ads in early reelection push as GOP rivals try to stockpile cash (Chicago Tribune)
Since announcing his reelection bid in July, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has spent nearly $7 million in advertising, a sign of what confronts the four announced prospective Republican challengers seeking to take on the billionaire incumbent in next year’s election.
Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, spent more than $8.2 million from July through September, campaign finance reports showed. The first-term Democrat, who spent $171 million of his own money to defeat one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018, is again self-funding his campaign and had nearly $24.7 million available in his campaign fund at the start of October.
Among the announced Republicans, campaign finance reports for the third quarter of this year show political newcomer Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg with the most cash available to start October, $10 million. But he has not received any substantial funding since announcing his run for the Republican nomination last month with nearly $10.8 million in contributions, largely from out-of-state donors.
State Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, a leading statehouse opponent of Pritzker’s pandemic mitigation policies who announced his candidacy in February, raised $894,244 during the quarter and had $1 million to start October.
Bailey’s largest donors during the three-month period included $200,000 from Alex Melvin, the CEO of Mattoon-based Rural King, a chain of farm and home stores, $100,000 from Gerald Forsythe, the chairman and CEO of the Wheeling-based INDECK Cos., and $100,000 from Kaskaskia Organics LLC.
Related: Our campaign finance story (The Illinoize)
A North Side state lawmaker reports spending legal fees on Michael Madigan investigation (WBEZ)
Who is GOP governor candidate Jesse Sullivan? His tax-exempt charity was funded largely by cryptocurrency. His career as a venture capitalist is more recent. (Chicago Tribune)
Gov. Pritzker and wife report earning $2.2 million in taxable income last year, paying $760,000 in state, federal taxes (Chicago Sun-Times)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois first lady M.K. Pritzker reported earning a little over $5.1 million in adjusted gross income last year — but after deductions only about $2.2 million of it was taxable.
That’s according to partial 2020 state and federal tax returns released Friday by the first-term governor’s campaign staff.
A billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, the governor and his wife reported $5,143,972 in adjusted gross income last year. Of that, $2,201,946 of it was taxable. On their Illinois tax returns, the Pritzkers listed their total income after accounting for federally tax-exempt interest and other additions as $5,190,528.
The Pritzkers paid nearly $760,000 in taxes in 2020 — $230,643 to Illinois and $529,104 in federal taxes, according to documents released by Pritzker’s campaign.
The governor’s net worth is $3.6 billion, according to Forbes. As of Friday, the business magazine ranked Pritzker number 318 on its list of 400 wealthiest Americans for 2021.
Pritzker’s campaign said trusts benefiting Pritzker paid $16.3 million in Illinois taxes and $69.6 million in federal taxes in 2020. The governor and his wife reported making $2.8 million in personal charitable donations last year, his campaign said.
Pritzker’s personal taxable income has dropped since he’s entered public life, largely because of those trusts.
In 2017, Pritzker reported nearly $34.5 million in taxable income and paid $15.6 million in taxes — $14.8 million to the federal government and $811,816 to the state — at a rate of 36.2%.
The following year, Pritzker pumped $171 million of his fortune into his 2018 bid to oust then Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, a battle that went down as one of the most expensive gubernatorial races in American history.
Just before taking office, Pritzker placed the bulk of his investments into a “blind trust,” meaning he would still make money off the investments, but he would be removed from decision making and from managing his personal assets.
'This is what has to be done": From the picket line, striking Deere workers, local business, express worry, resolve (Rock Island Dispatch-Argus)
UAW men and women spent all day Thursday walking picket lines at Deere facilities in Davenport, East Moline and Milan. It was the first major strike by Deere workers since 1986 — that one lasted 163 days.
No Place Special is roughly a mile down East 90th Street from the Davenport Works plant where Deere construction and forestry equipment are produced.
"This is a UAW bar. And a Local 281 bar. And most of all it's a bar for all employees of John Deere's Davenport Works," Patterson said. As she spoke, Patterson stepped to one side and pointed to a long row of union insignia hanging behind the bar.
"We literally serve thousands of Deere employees in here. We are known for the coldest cans, but we also have great tenderloins and fresh-cut fries," Patterson continued. "Every day Deere workers are in here for lunch. It's a big part of our business.
"And I'm just thinking of them out on that picket line all night. It just seems like the whole world is struggling right now."
"I'm really worried about the holidays — what will happen if this strike goes on and families need help because of the strike? Plenty of Deere employees are living paycheck to paycheck," she said. "I fear people will have to dig into savings. I'm afraid of what people will have to give up."
Related: IL Governor JB Pritzker delays COVID vaccine deadline for some state workers (AP/ABC 7)
SOME OF OUR TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
GOP Candidate Bailey, Democrat Leaders Winners in Campaign Finance Report
Democrat-drawn Congressional Map Targets Kinzinger, Davis, Miller, Larger Dem Majority
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