THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Statewide GOP polling...Legislative races...Remembering Jim Ryan...More on Madigan indictment
June 13, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
It’s 15 days to election day and the primary has been turned on its head with reports that Richard Irvin’s gubernatorial campaign has essentially imploded. And it appears all three races in a slate funded by billionaire Ken Griffin is in trouble, with polling showing Secretary of State candidate John Milhiser and Attorney General candidate Steve Kim both losing their races (more on that below). It’s going to be a wild two weeks. Buckle up.
Governor Pritzker will be attending the groundbreaking of the new Ferrero North America plant in Bloomington at 10:30 and making a “childcare investment expansion” announcement on the south side at 1:30. No GOP candidates have published public events at the time I’m writing this.
My Shaw newspapers column at the end of last week dealt with the Republican candidates running in congressional seats in the suburbs, exurbs, and in other parts of the state. My argument is that Republican primary voters need to nominate candidates who reject some of the wackiest conspiracy theories of the right. They need to nominate candidates willing to say out loud that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, COVID is real, and that the January 6 riot at the Capitol was wrong and perpetrators should be punished. If you don’t buy into the crazy, the GOP could conceivably turn around four congressional seats this fall.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Ken Griffin, Michael Flynn not swaying many GOP voters in races for U.S. Senate, two other top offices (Chicago Sun-Times)
A dozen Republicans are running in contested primary races for Illinois attorney general, secretary of state and one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats — but just weeks before Election Day, GOP voters’ top choice in all three contests is “undecided.”
Not even the financial might of the state’s richest person has helped sway voters to rally behind two of the Republican Party establishment’s chosen candidates.
That’s what’s suggested by a Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ Poll of likely Republican voters — most of whom still aren’t sure who they want to send to the general election in the Senate race at the very top of the ballot and the two other contests a bit farther down.
By comparison, only about a quarter of those same voters remain undecided about the six-way Republican gubernatorial primary race.
The survey by Public Policy Polling of 677 residents statewide — about half in the Chicago area and half downstate — was conducted last Monday and Tuesday.
In the seven-way Republican race for a chance to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November, only two candidates cracked double digits in the poll — just barely, at 10% each.
Not that the rest of the field is out of it. A a whopping 66% of respondents said they’re not sure who will get their vote in the June 28 primary.
Minds were only slightly more made up about the secretary of state and attorney general races, where respondents were undecided at rates of 58% and 59%, respectively.
For the Senate race, the numbers at least partially reflect the difficulty for any Republican to gain traction or name recognition in a bid to take on Duckworth.
Here’s your breakdown of the polling:
Sources tell me the Sun-Times poll lines up with Brady’s internal polling.
This is specifically bad news for Kim, as DeVore has raised nearly no money and hasn’t gone on the air.
Salvi will likely far outpace the field over the last two weeks.
Related: Richard Irvin launches new message in battle for GOP governor nomination: A vote for Bailey is a vote for Pritzker (Chicago Tribune)
Downstate farmer beating the crop out of GOP establishment in gov race — by nearly 2-1 ratio (Chicago Sun-Times)
Democratic race for secretary of state has one candidate trying to resurrect his political career and two trying to take their next step (Chicago Tribune)
Incumbents Rodney Davis, Mary Miller battle it out in 15th Congressional District GOP primary (Herald & Review)
Miller faces ethics complaint over misuse of House resources for campaigning (Washington Examiner)
National Guard training will pull Rockford-area congressional candidate off campaign trail (Rockford Register Star)
Endorsement: The Tribune endorses Villegas in 3rd District US House Dem primary (Chicago Tribune)
Endorsement: Tanner Miller in 11th Congressional Republican primary (Daily Herald)
Survey: Jerry Evans: 2022 candidate for 11th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Survey: Catalina Lauf: 2022 candidate for 11th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Survey: Cassandra Tanner Miller: 2022 candidate for 11th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Endorsement: Dargis for 8th U.S. House in Republican primary (Daily Herald)
Partisan balance of state’s top court in play in races shaped by three R’s — retirement, retention, redistricting (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois' 72nd District state representative race features three well-known faces from Rock Island County (Quad City Times)
Illinois' 72nd District for state Representative will feature a showdown between three well-known members of the community in the June 28 primary election.
Democrats Thurgood Brooks, Jeff Deppe and Gregg Johnson will be on the ballot; no Republican candidates filed.
Current state Rep. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, is running for 36th District state Senate.
This may be the most intriguing non-incumbent primary to watch on June 28.
Related: Meet the two Illinois Republicans on the ballot for the 37th District state Senate seat (Peoria Journal-Star)
Kent Gray challenges Rep. Tim Butler in newly redrawn 95th House District in Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Tim Butler, Republican 95th District candidate for Illinois House (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Kent Gray, a Republican 95th District candidate for Illinois House (State Journal-Register)
Meet the four Republicans on the primary ballot for the 105th House District seat (Peoria Journal-Star)
Daily Herald legislative endorsements:
Bill Robertson (27th Senate)
Mary Edly-Allen (31st Senate)
Rachel Ventura & Diane Harris (43rd Senate)
James Lawson (49th Senate)
Chelsea Laliberte-Barnes (51st House)
Laura Faver Dias (62nd House)
Connie Cain (66th House)
Rep. Kathleen Willis (77th House)
Arad Boxenbaum (83rd House)
‘We’ve gotta kill it. Period.’ New details on ComEd bribery probe emerge in latest unsealed search warrants (Chicago Tribune)
“We got — we’ve gotta kill it. Period,” Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain allegedly told ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore in a recorded call in May 2018. “The problem is, any day now, the budget is gonna suck all the oxygen out of the building ... and the members won’t be paying any attention to our lobbyists ... and Lisa Madigan’s gonna walk in and say, ‘This is my legacy legislation, please vote for me.’ "
Meanwhile, the redacted version of the 94-page affidavit, unsealed in U.S. District Court late Thursday, provided the greatest detail yet about one of the most intriguing chapters of the federal indictment filed against Madigan and McClain in March.
According to the charges, Madigan quietly greenlighted efforts to kill his own daughter’s legislation as he pressed ComEd to give jobs to two political allies, including a coveted position on the utility’s board of directors.
Related: Opinion: Mike Madigan has left the building — but the former House speaker’s shadow clouds the campaign trail (Chicago Sun-Times)
Jim Ryan, former Illinois attorney general who made 2 unsuccessful bids for governor, dies at 76 (Chicago Tribune)
Former Illinois attorney general Jim Ryan had success in politics despite never really being comfortable with the glad-handing that goes with it.
A stoic politician whose life was beset by personal tragedies, Ryan rose from DuPage County state’s attorney to serve two terms as Illinois attorney general, but was twice defeated bids for governor.
Ryan 76, died at his home Sunday “after several lengthy illnesses,” according to a statement from Dan Curry, a family spokesman.
Related: 'Tireless and incorruptible': Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan dies at 76 (Daily Herald)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
Sources: Irvin campaign in "chaos" amid new poll showing him down 15 points
Kathy Salvi's Senate Campaign Emerges, Begins Hitting Mailboxes
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