THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...LaSalle...Bond rating...Latino influence grows...Will County Dem dissention
May 9, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
In honor of Mother’s Day yesterday, Governor Pritzker posted a photo from the archives with his young kids and wife, MK. It’s a sweet photo, of course, probably from around 2007.
What caught my eye? The future Governor’s shirt. A Carhartt pocket tee costs about $16.99 today, so it would have been even a few bucks cheaper 15 years ago. Billionaires…just like us.
If you didn’t catch my latest column in Shaw Media newspapers Friday, I feel like I’m the only person not named Darren Bailey or Jesse Sullivan raising alarms about the campaign of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.
Richard Irvin, the Aurora mayor and Republican running for governor with an infinitesimal record as an actual Republican, may think we’re dumb. If he doesn’t, his well-funded campaign with highly paid professional political operatives probably thinks we are.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Pritzker on Defense on LaSalle Veterans' Home Report (The Illinoize)
Governor JB Pritzker appeared to deflect blame following a report last week criticizing his administration’s reaction to the fatal 2020 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
Speaking moments after a 154-page report from the Auditor General was released Thursday, Pritzker said the outbreak that killed 36 people came in from a community that was lax with COVID.
“Everyone agreed. COVID came into LaSalle because it was spreading rampantly in the surrounding community,” Pritzker said. “At the time, IDPH was not visiting nursing homes in person because the threat of unintentionally spreading COVID was significantly greater than the potential benefit of a visit.”
Pritzker has often cited the local cases for the increase at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home, but statistics showed infection rates at the Manteno Veterans’ Home or the Quincy Veterans’ Home were higher than LaSalle at the time of the outbreak. Both homes had significantly fewer deaths than LaSalle.
Pritzker was pressed on if he takes responsibility for the state’s response to the outbreak and the deaths that ensued.
“Look, I’m the Governor of the state of Illinois. So, I understand that these agencies are my responsibility, my appointments to lead those agencies are my responsibility,” he said. “The policies and procedures are done by the agencies themselves. The management of the individuals who work at a particular Veterans’ Home are handled by people at those homes.“
Related: Opinion: Bungling of virus outbreak at veterans home went deeper than first reported (Champaign News-Gazette)
Illinois' bond rating gets another upgrade (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Standard & Poor’s Global upgraded Illinois’ bond rating by two notches, the third ratings agency to take positive action on the state’s credit after the budget enactment last month.
The news was trumpeted by the Pritzker administration, which said the upgrades were the result of four balanced budgets since he took office. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is up for re-election this year.
“After more than 20 years without receiving a credit upgrade, the rating agencies are taking notice of our tremendous progress,” Pritzker said in a release.
Better credit ratings lower the cost of borrowing for state government, which is particularly important now that the Federal Reserve is hiking interest rates in response to inflation levels at 40-year highs.
It’s worth noting, Illinois still has the worst bond ratings of any state in America.
Latinos Rising (Chicago Magazine)
When the General Assembly redrew the congressional map after the 2020 census, it fashioned a second Latino-influence district to reflect the area’s growing population of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans, and Cubans. Latinos have surpassed African Americans as Chicago’s second-largest ethnic group. The 3rd District encompasses Northwest Side neighborhoods and west suburbs with predominantly Latino populations, including Belmont Cragin and Logan Square in the city and Hanover Park, Addison, and West Chicago outside it.
Vying for the seat in the June 28 Democratic primary are state representative Delia Ramirez, who has U.S. representative Jesús “Chuy” García’s endorsement, and Alderman Gilbert Villegas. Latinos in elected office are a rarity nationally. (A 2018 study by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials found Latinos make up only 1 percent of such positions.) That is less the case in Chicago, but seeing two Latino leaders go head to head is a rare opportunity to witness the depth of the Latino diaspora.
“This is the first big step you’re seeing in the redistricting,” says Jorge Neri, an expert on Latino politics and former campaign manager to 2019 mayoral hopeful Bill Daley. “Two top Latinos running for this open seat is very unique and progress we should applaud.”
Voters in the 3rd District are largely first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants. “This is a Democratic, working-class district,” Neri says. “[Latinos] want good jobs, quality education for their kids, a safe environment to raise their family, retire, and have a good life. They want the American dream, and they’ll vote for the person with the best plan to represent them and get things done.”
Related: Oberheim joins congressional candidate for law enforcement roundtable (Decatur Herald & Review)
Two GOP candidates in 11th District support federal abortion ban; one says let states decide (Daily Herald)
Democrats appoint candidate Eric Mattson new 43rd District state senator (Shaw Media)
Democratic Party leaders on Friday made Eric Mattson the new state senator two months before a primary election in which he faces a challenge for the same office.
Mattson was appointed one week after former state Sen. John Connor announced his immediate resignation.
Mattson’s opponent in the 43rd District Senate race said the party maneuvered to give him the advantages of incumbency ahead of the June 28 primary.
“I think every mailer he sends out will say reelect your Sen. Mattson,” said Rachel Ventura, a Will County Board member who is the only other candidate in Democratic primary. “I think that’s the advantage they’re going for. They’re going to spin it like he has the experience.”
Ventura did not apply for the Senate vacancy, saying last week that she believed the party should put someone in the temporary position who was not a candidate in the upcoming election. She also said she suspected the selection process would favor Mattson.
“I think it’s important that the district have a fair election,” she said. “I think it’s unfortunate that the party chose to put its thumb on the scale by selecting Eric.”
Mattson did not return a call for comment.
Will County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Burke Schuster said Ventura should have applied for the position along with Mattson.
Related: Democratic Party chairman and the newly appointed state senator are fellow Joliet firefighters, union officers (Shaw Media)
Intrigue grows as Dems fill vacant state Senate seat (Shaw Media)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
Auditor General Report Slams Response to Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak at LaSalle Veteran's Home
New Poll Shows Irvin with 12-point Lead in GOP Primary for Governor
Rabine Meets with Trump in Hopes of Long-Shot Endorsement
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