THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Pritzker and Bailey...Takeaways from the debate...Suburban congressional races...
October 10, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
There are 29 days to the November 8 General Election. Darren Bailey has yet to air a television ad. He has not released a public schedule (and hasn’t since Sept. 19). The Governor has nothing on his public schedule.
If you missed the first debate between the two men last Thursday, congratulations. We discussed it with Steve Cochran on WLS Radio Friday morning.
Let me know what’s on your mind. Questions or comments…we’ll share some in our Wednesday Livestream and Podcast.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Pritzker, Bailey head in opposite directions on budgets, business and taxes (Daily Herald)
While crime has dominated debate in the gubernatorial election, there's plenty to parse in the economic policies of Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Both have financial bona fides. Chicagoan Pritzker is an heir to the Hyatt hotel chain, and a former entrepreneur and businessman. Bailey runs a farm in downstate Xenia along with a trucking and excavation business.
"Wealthy people should pay a higher rate than people who are nurses or police officers or who are working at local pharmacies and small businesses," Pritzker said at an Illinois Associated Press Media Editors forum Sept. 30.
Republicans including Bailey and anti-tax organizations opposed the concept arguing it was a ploy to expand state government.
"It discourages the government to rein in spending," Bailey said in 2020. "Rather than continue to grow government, we need to live and spend within our means."
This year amid soaring gas prices and inflation, Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers suspended the state's 1% sales tax on groceries through June 30, 2023, and delayed an increase in the motor fuel tax through January 2023.
In a Daily Herald interview in June, Bailey called suspending the grocery tax an "election-year gimmick. Why not just make the 1% tax go away?" he asked. The senator also noted, "a lot of people don't realize gas is double-taxed.
"You have the price of gas, and the gas tax and then you have the sales tax (on gas). Let's cut the sales tax in half, even for a time, and that would give absolute immediate relief."
Related: Three takeaways from Thursday's big gubernatorial debate (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and GOP challenger Darren Bailey trade insults and interrupt each other in first televised debate (Chicago Tribune)
After debate, more clarity needed on candidates’ non-answers (Capitol News Illinois)
At debate watch party, Illinois State students see chance to engage with governor's race (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Democrats look to hold on to House seats in Chicago’s far western and southwestern suburbs (WBEZ)
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster thinks he has a good chance of convincing conservative women in Illinois’ reshaped 11th congressional district to vote blue this year.
“I think there are many — it’s fair to say — Republican-leaning women, who were willing to vote Republican because they didn’t believe that Roe versus Wade would ever come under serious threat,” he told WBEZ.
“Now that everyone understands this is Donald Trump’s Supreme Court, they also understand that the only protection against this is Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate.”
Foster is one of many hoping that divisive national issues, such as access to reproductive healthcare, will galvanize voters at the local level this November to vote for Democrats like him. And his race is one of a handful in Illinois that state and national party operatives on both sides of the aisle have identified as a route toward flipping the U.S. House to Republican control.
The real battleground in Illinois for flipping the U.S. House is in the rural or downstate races of the 17th and 13th districts, according to one political analyst. But state and national GOP leadership also have their eyes on two races in the collar counties of Chicago — Foster’s 11th district and the 14th district represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood — as a way of bolstering chances for a Republican majority.
Underwood faces a challenge from Scott Gryder, a three-term Kendall County Commissioner who also serves as the board’s chairman. In an interview, Gryder pointed to what he called “free money” flowing from Washington and the need to reel in what Republicans see as “reckless” spending of the Biden Administration. Underwood, though, has a significant financial advantage over Gryder — raking in $5 million to his $156,088 through June of this year.
In the neighboring 11th district, Foster faces a challenge from Republican Catalina Lauf, a former Trump Administration appointee who worked under U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The daughter of a Central American immigrant, Lauf’s priorities include “enforcing law and order and securing the border.” Her campaign website also states she’d aim to “get Critical Race Theory out” of school curriculums. Lauf has gained some momentum financially, with $1.4 million, to Foster’s $2.3 million.
Related: 'A very dangerous lie': Rep. Quigley blasts rival Hanson for denying 2020 election results (Daily Herald)
Congressional candidate says he'll leave GOP if elected, then pulls online prank (Daily Herald)
Budzinski, Deering both oppose Biden student loan forgiveness plan (State Journal-Register)
Abortion and COVID-19 are among the many dividing lines for 13th Congressional candidates (Illinois Public Media)
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Opinion: [Worker’s Rights] Amendment acts on basic protections (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Republican Kathy Salvi seeks unlikely upset over US Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Chicago Tribune)
Syed, Bos disagree over state law addressing climate change (Daily Herald)
Moeller, Nowak share views on abortion access, lack of parental notification requirement (Daily Herald)
Opinion: State Supreme Court races could lead to a rollback of abortion rights in Illinois (Chicago Tribune) note: this op-ed continues to perpetrate the lie that Justice Michael Burke said he supported the Dobbs decision. Which we’ve covered here.
US Rep. Sean Casten says his daughter died of sudden cardiac arrhythmia (Chicago Tribune)
Comptroller Susana Mendoza tells her story during the Renewing Illinois Summit (The Southern Illinoisan)
Opinion: Retiree tax issue gets deep under Treasurer Frerichs' skin (Champaign News-Gazette)
Newspaper giant Gannett is now printing Dan Proft's controversial faux newspapers (Crain’s Chicago Business)
The rise and fall of another Chicago political dynasty — the 34th Ward Democrats (Chicago Sun-Times)
For Asian Americans, their moment in Illinois politics was a ‘long, long time’ coming (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: State's long-term financial picture looks pretty bleak (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: SAFE-T Act provides a necessary reform to criminal justice system (Rockford Register Star)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
Allegations and Insults Lobbed, but Little New Ground Broken in First Gubernatorial Debate
Supreme Court Justice Burke Calls O'Brien Abortion Ad "Fabricated" and "Unethical"
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