THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Pritzker for President?...McClain wants to be tried separately from Madigan...Carbon capture bill signed into law
July 22, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
Quiet weekend, eh?
Obviously, there are a lot of eyes focused on Governor Pritzker’s plans. We may hear something today, I’m told. Keep an eye on your inbox.
Paid subscribers may get a little more information on Pritzker this morning. Isn’t it time you join us?
Gov. Pritzker does not have anything on his public schedule today.
We’re also expecting to make a major announcement tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Biden’s decision to drop out creates big questions for Chicago convention, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s political future (Chicago Tribune)
President Joe Biden’s stunning decision Sunday to drop his reelection bid cast Democrats into unprecedented uncertainty less than a month before they gather in Chicago for their national convention and try to unite around a new nominee to challenge former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s decision also recasts the role of J.B. Pritzker from the convention’s home state governor to a potential candidate. A loyal supporter and surrogate for Biden’s reelection, Pritzker also has a personal interest in the White House and now faces a decision on whether to back the president’s call to support Vice President Kamala Harris for the nomination or seek to join her on the ticket as a candidate for vice president.
One state Democratic source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about internal party conversations, said they were told Pritzker, the billionaire entrepreneur and heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, would issue a statement about his political future on Monday and that they expected the second-term Illinois governor “would be running for something.”
In a statement, Pritzker did not discuss his own ambitions or mention Biden’s call to back Harris, the nation’s first Black and Asian American vice president, as the party’s new nominee. Instead, he hailed Biden’s service and warned that Trump “threatens the fundamental American ideals we hold dear.”
“I will work every day to ensure that he does not win in November,” Pritzker vowed.
Citing a litany of Biden’s accomplishments, Pritzker said that “perhaps most consequentially, President Biden restored dignity to the Oval Office, bringing the statesmanship and honor that have been the hallmarks of his years of service, back to the White House.”
Former Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, a member of the Democratic State Central Committee and a convention delegate, said his “strong desire” is to support a Harris-Pritzker ticket, though he would back a Pritzker bid for the presidential nomination if the governor made that decision.
“Pritzker’s record in five and a half years as governor is fantastic. You can look at it from a centrist point of view on what’ he’s done with the budget, the credit upgrades,” said Cullerton, who served as Senate president from 2009 to 2020.
Illinois delegate and Chicago Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, called on Democrats to “regroup and set their sights on November” with Biden’s support, but when asked, he declined to say whether he supports Harris as the party’s nominee.
But other Democrats, most notably Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, said they were following Biden’s lead and backing his choice of Harris for the nomination.
“It is vital for our entire party to come together and support Vice President Harris,” Johnson wrote in a statement. “Vice President Harris is the visionary leader that we need now to defeat the threat of another Trump presidency.”
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, a convention delegate from Chicago’s West Side, said he believed Harris was in the best position to give Trump “the greatest challenge in such a short time.” He also said he wanted to see Pritzker as her running mate.
“He understands exactly how to be inclusive in government, and he’s also wealthy and he’s from Illinois,” Ford said. “Other than the money, I think that J.B. Pritzker has run Illinois as an inclusive state. He’s been able to do things that’s led the nation. And I think other states look to us as leaders.”
Related: Joe Biden has ended his reelection campaign. What could that mean for JB Pritzker’s political future? (WBEZ)
Not all Illinois Democrats fall in line over Kamala Harris replacing President Biden (Chicago Sun-Times)
State Democratic Party urges local delegates to keep mum for now (Crain’s Chicago Business)
No endorsements from Pritzker, Durbin, Duckworth after Biden drops reelection bid (Capitol News Illinois)
Pritzker, Illinois leaders react to Biden leaving presidential race (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Suburban Democrats hail ‘selfless’ Biden; GOP leader slams ‘years of lies’ (Daily Herald)
Opinion: For Illinois Dems — and perhaps Pritzker — Biden's exit changes the 2024 game (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Michael McClain’s lawyers want him tried separately from ex-House Speaker Madigan (Chicago Sun-Times)
Lawyers for Michael McClain, longtime confidant of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, want McClain’s upcoming corruption trial to be separated from Madigan’s.
In a filing Friday, McClain’s defense lawyers argue that on top of facing federal prosecutors, McClain will also be facing “The Madigan Second Prosecutors,” contending that Madigan’s apparent defense strategy, which is redacted from the filing, involves blaming McClain.
The two are set to be tried together beginning Oct. 8 on similar charges of racketeering, bribery, fraud and attempted extortion.
McClain’s lawyers also assert that lawyers for Madigan won’t have the same legal restraints as federal prosecutors, such as disclosing information to the defense, when presenting evidence.
“Mr. McClain will be in effect prosecuted by ambush by a team of prosecutors who will be able to spring otherwise undisclosed testimony, witnesses, and exhibits against him throughout the trial,” McClain’s lawyers wrote.
McClain, 76, was a lawmaker for 10 years with Madigan before becoming a longtime lobbyist and close ally of Madigan.
McClain is awaiting sentencing in a separate case in which he was found guilty of a nearly decade-long conspiracy to bribe Madigan in favor of legislation beneficial to ComEd. Also awaiting sentencing in that case is former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and onetime City Club President Jay Doherty.
Their sentencing, along with McClain’s and Madigan’s trial, had been on hold pending a Supreme Court ruling in a public corruption case in Indiana. Supreme Court justices ruled last month in the case that a crucial federal bribery law aimed at state and local officials does not criminalize after-the-fact rewards known as “gratuities.”
Madigan’s defense team used that Supreme Court ruling this week to argue that 14 of the 23 counts against him should be tossed out before trial.
Related: Madigan attorneys lay out plan to scrub potential jurors’ social media; feds say jury ‘not a fantasy team’ (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois' new carbon capture law sets 'national standard,' says Pritzker (State Journal-Register)
A result of years of negotiations among environmental groups and labor and business interests, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation creating new regulations on carbon capture and sequestration Thursday.
Senate Bill 1289, also known as the Safe CCS Act, passed in the Illinois General Assembly during the final days of the spring session, 78-29 in the House and 43-12 in the Senate, largely along party lines.
It represents a compromise that even some of its supporters say will likely need to be revisited, but its establishment of a two-year moratorium on the construction of carbon dioxide pipelines and broad array of regulations put forth a foundation for primarily Democratic lawmakers to feel comfortable moving forward.
For Pritzker, the bill he signed into law at Richland Community College represents a potential major economic boon for the state while taking concrete steps at reducing carbon emissions. His office had been particularly involved in putting together the legislation.
"It was not easy, there were times when we didn't think we'd get this done," he said, calling the law a new "national standard" during a press conference. "It took a lot of hard work, a willingness to compromise and bipartisanship — all the things that we ought to expect from our elected officials but sometimes don't get."
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Illinois Republicans close out RNC with energy behind 'more focused, disciplined' Trump (Chicago Sun-Times)
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