THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Pritzker does Florida...Rolling back COVID restrictions...Jesse White (not THAT Jesse White) is running for Secretary of State
July 18, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
It’s been frustrating at times as we’ve tried to make this newsletter a place where people can find details about state government and politics, but the pettiness has been a bit over the top during the last few months.
I want to let you in on a little secret: everyone who writes or talks about Illinois politics has a bias. It doesn’t matter if they write a newsletter and flak for one side or if they use a billionaire’s dollars to amplify their message on a low-rated radio station.
Newspapers, bloggers, radio, TV, etc. Everyone has an opinion. I’m just the only one who is willing to admit to those biases. And while my opinion content (I write columns here and in Shaw Media newspapers as well as opine on radio and TV when asked) skews conservative, it is not “Republican.” My Illinois Republican membership card was pretty much revoked after speaking up about the disaster of the Rauner administration and condemning the cult of Trumpism.
I ruffled a few feathers in the primary on the GOP side. I had some run-ins with the Richard Irvin campaign and made more than a few people angry about it. That campaign iced me out beginning if February, and the Illinois Republican Party removed me from all of their media lists around the same time. Congressman Rodney Davis’ communications guy, who happens to be married to Irvin’s then-running mate, took me off of their lists, too.
Petty.
Seemingly, though, some Democrats continue to treat me like I’m some GOP plant out to “get” them. The Governor’s official office has refused to acknowledge my existence for more than a year and the Governor has even taken some shots at me in public. I will say, though, his campaign has been far better to deal with.
Unlike Alexi Giannoulias, who I covered as a cub reporter when he ran for, and became State Treasurer in 2006 and spoken with dozens of times over the years. Instead, his campaign has iced us out. Even getting some congressional candidates to return a call is like pulling teeth.
I’ve covered then worked dozens of campaigns in my 17 years floating around politics in this state, and this sort of response to legitimate media questions is completely unlike anything I’ve seen or dealt with.
While I admit to being salty over these frustrations, I hope all of these folks know I don’t care about anything but the truth. And I’m going to keep digging for it whether you play ball or not. I will be not be any politician’s PR guy. And, you know what…I’m not going anywhere. People deserve the truth, and we’ll keep fighting for it.
Join us in that effort, would you?
Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets)
Pritzker in Florida: GOP is “naked and afraid” (FloridaPolitics.com)
Republicans are “naked and afraid,” Illinois J.B. Pritzker said, and that’s what’s driving their policies of fear, he told Florida Democrats at their annual Leadership Blue Gala.
Dems gathered in Tampa showing every bit the energy and motivation it will take if they want to upend the conventional wisdom this year that sees wins for Republicans up and down the ballot.
Pritzker, a man who knows something about beating incumbent Republicans by knocking out then-Gov. Bruce Rauner by nearly 16 points in 2018, spoke to motivate Democrats and to center their purpose.
Pritzker, a billionaire businessman who also owns a residence in Florida…said he decided to speak to Florida Dems as part of his other efforts in life to fight hate and discrimination.
“What I worry about most is the dangerous complacency that we’ve fallen into that’s wrapped its poisonous arms around our political conversations, and tried to trick us into believing that calling out the truth is some sort of incivility,” Pritzker said.
The strategy for the GOP, he said, is division.
“The Republican game plan is to divide Democrats and to divide America,” Pritzker said. “They want to task obvious solutions to everyday problems as something ‘exotic’ or ‘woke.’ They’re hoping, as the old story goes, that no one is willing to say that their emperor has no clothes. Well Florida, I’m here to tell you that the GOP is naked and afraid.”
That’s speeches in New Hampshire and Florida in the past few weeks after an election night speech that sounded like an audition for a potential 2024 run for President. I said on TV on election night that it was the Governor’s unofficial kickoff for President, which his campaign flatly denied.
But, they sure look like they’re running for re-election and for President (assuming President Biden doesn’t run, which looks more likely each day) at the same time.
(No word, by the way, if the Governor visited his $12 million horse farm in Florida while in the state.)
Related: 'Get back home': Gov. Pritzker criticized by GOP rival over recent trips raising national profile (WLS-TV)
As Gov. JB Pritzker takes center stage in Florida, speculation of a presidential run increases (WBEZ)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker won’t rule out 2024 presidential run at NGA in Maine (Bangor Daily News)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker ends COVID vaccine mandates at colleges as he tweaks many statewide pandemic restrictions (Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is ending Illinois’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate for college students and faculty and easing some testing requirements for unvaccinated health care workers, changes that come despite growing concerns about new coronavirus variants that appear more able to evade immunity.
Federal health officials this week unveiled a strategy for attempting to manage the highly transmissible omicron subvariants that now make up the majority of cases nationally and doctors have urged a renewed sense of vigilance.
The Pritzker administration billed the changes, which come amid the governor’s bid for a second term, as part of its plan to “carefully unwind” his COVID-19 mandates, which have been in effect for more than two years.
“As we continue to move toward living with this virus, my administration will relax some requirements while continuing to protect the most vulnerable and ensuring we can get every federal dollar our residents are eligible to receive,” Pritzker said Wednesday in a statement.
Related: ‘Relentless’ roller coaster: COVID-19 subvariants put Chicago area at high risk level — again (Chicago Sun-Times)
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster tests positive for COVID-19, has mild symptoms (Daily Herald)
Libertarian secretary of state candidate is the name you think you know (Champaign News-Gazette)
Jesse White is not running for Illinois Secretary of State. Jesse White is running for Illinois secretary of state.
Can’t the guy make up his mind?
Actually, he has. Or has he?
That’s the question voters may be asking themselves in November.
Why?
While White, the very popular and longtime Democratic secretary of state, has decided to retire at age 88 and after six terms in office, another Jesse White is running for the office as part of the Libertarian Party ticket.
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Bloomington Republican Dan Brady are the standard-bearers for their parties. But given voters’ unfortunate lack of familiarity with their elected officials, White’s presence on the ballot could pose a problem for his opponents.
It remains to be seen if White and his Libertarian colleagues can survive a petition challenge. If they do, Giannoulias and Brady will have to work extra hard to let voters know who White is and, more important, who he is not.
Related: Illinois Libertarians file statewide candidate petitions, push for better ballot access laws (WIFR-TV)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
New Supreme Court Justice Holder-White: Politics "Irrelevant" to Court Decisions
"Growing Dissatisfaction" with House GOP Leader Durkin May Lead to Leadership Fight
During Renovation, Harmon Moves McConchie from ADA Compliant Office
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I have said it before and I'll say it again - you are a breath of fresh air during a time when I don't recognize myself in either party. I am old enough to know you as one of the few journalists that have the "old time" integrity. You don't need my approval, but thank you for what you do.