THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Welch speaks...Legislative races...Assault weapons ban ruled unconstitutional
November 11, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
You can hear my entire conversation with House Speaker Chris Welch this morning at 7:19 on WMAY in Springfield.
Veto session starts tomorrow. So, buckle up. More on that tomorrow morning.
The Governor speaks at the Chicago Veterans Day ceremony at Soldier Field at 11.
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)
While Dems May Still Gain, Welch Says He's "Proud" to Stay at 78 Seats (The Illinoize)
With four seats in the House of Representatives still too close to call with ballots left to count and mail-in ballots still arriving, the Democratic Speaker of the Illinois House is “proud” of the performance of his candidates in the face of an unexpected Republican wave.
In an interview with The Illinoize Friday, House Speaker Chris Welch said keeping all 78 Democratic seats with a potential pickup or two in late-arriving ballots leaves him “proud” of how things worked out for his party.
While many pundits across the state predicted Welch and House Democrats would pick up as many as four or five seats this week, Welch said Democrats never approached the campaign that way.
“Our goal was always to defend the Democratic majority in a national environment that we knew would be very challenging, going way back to June. Every poll that we had from June forward showed that we were in a very tough environment, but we also knew another fact going into this election cycle that every single time Donald Trump has been on the ballot, Illinois Democrats have lost seats,” Welch said. “Donald Trump, we knew, pulls out people to vote. We did not lose a single seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. We didn't lose any of my record 78. I'm extremely proud of that fact. Every incumbent member of the House Democratic caucus won. And as we talk today, Patrick, three vulnerable Republican incumbents from districts that have been traditionally safe Republican areas are still in races that are too close to call.”
Welch and House Democrats vastly outspent Republicans and had more pickup opportunities, as the GOP was defending seven districts won by President Biden in 2020.
Welch defended Democratic campaign strategies to focus on abortion rights and not on the economy, which polled as the top issue for voters across political lines.
“I don't think you can ever spend too much time talking about people's freedoms,” Welch said. And as you can see when it comes to ‘the great 78,’ we were proud of our work that we did in reproductive freedom. And we talked about it in every single race. And every single Democratic incumbent won reelection and two Democratic candidates and Democratic districts that we currently hold. [Amy] Murri Briel and Marti Deuter held serve for Democrats in those districts where we talked about reproductive freedom.”
After the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget issued a report last week showing a potential $3 billion deficit in the FY26 budget, which would be passed in May and take effect in July, Welch said he’s confident Democrats will balance the budget.
“My record as speaker the last four years has proven that we've been able to balance the budget, and some of those years we had very grim forecasts just like we do now, and we still manage to produce budgets with surpluses,” Welch said. “I fully expect the General Assembly that takes office in January will approach the next budget with the same responsible approach of going line by line, outlining priorities and making smart decisions like we've done in the past. I've really gotten the House in a really good position, and we're just getting better every day. In my conversations with members the last couple of days, many of them were laser focused on the budget and we're rolling up our sleeves and ready to do the work.”
Three Republican-led Legislative Races Tighten As Vote Count Continues (The Illinoize)
Three uncalled House races saw GOP leads narrow Friday as election authorities counted more late-arriving mail ballots.
Here’s an overview:
47th HOUSE
DuPage County added 772 votes to the total late yesterday afternoon in this razor thin House race between Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) and Democrat Jackie Williamson.
Williamson cut Grant’s lead from 500 to 326.
It currently stands at 29,830 (50.3%) for Grant to 29,504 (49.7%) for Williamson.
Some 5,000 mail in votes arrived in DuPage County Friday, we’re told, but we don’t know how many fall in the 47th.
“This is gonna be so close,” one top Republican said Friday.
52nd HOUSE
Lake and Kane Counties added votes to their total late Friday, cutting the lead of Rep. Marty McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) from 969 to 778 over Democrat Maria Peterson.
Peterson gained 231 votes when Lake County tabulated 474 additional votes in the district Friday. Kane County added two ballots, one each for McLaughlin and Peterson.
“I don’t see how there are enough ballots left,” said one top Democrat.
104th HOUSE
Also, there was a new ballot dump in Champaign County Friday morning impacting the too close to call 104th District race. Rep. Brandun Schweizer’s lead dropped from 711 votes to 524 votes.
The Clerk’s office reports about 18,000 ballots have been received and accepted post-election, but it isn’t clear how many yet have to be counted. There are also 145 provisional ballots yet to be resolved. We don’t know how many are in the 104th, but there could certainly still be changes in that race that is getting closer.
Far fewer ballots remain in Vermilion County.
Federal judge strikes down Illinois assault weapons ban, setting up likely appeal (Capitol News Illinois)
A federal judge in East St. Louis on Friday struck down Illinois’ assault weapons ban on the grounds that it violates the Second and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and issued an order barring the state from enforcing it.
That order, however, was stayed for 30 days, giving the state time to file an appeal before it takes effect.
In a 168-page opinion released Friday afternoon, Judge Stephen McGlynn sided with plaintiffs in the case who argued the assault-style weapons banned under the law are commonly used for legal purposes such as self-defense.
“What is particularly disturbing is that the prohibition of weapons that are commonly owned and used by citizens are now banned, depriving citizens of a principal means to defend themselves and their property in situations where a handgun or shotgun alone would not be the citizen’s preferred arm,” McGlynn wrote.
In March, before the case went to trial, McGlynn issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law, saying the plaintiffs challenging the law were likely to prevail on the merits of the case.
But the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, and in July the U.S. Supreme declined to review it – along with several other cases challenging the law – and remanded all the cases back to district courts for full proceedings.
The case before McGlynn was the subject of a week-long trial in September. Two other cases, each with multiple sets of plaintiffs, are pending before district court judges in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
Related: Federal judge strikes down Illinois’ gun ban as unconstitutional; State quickly appeals. (Chicago Tribune)
Federal judge tosses Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, governor pledges swift appeal (Associated Press)
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Illinois’ Democratic leaders vow vigorous defense of personal rights and public policies under a second-term Trump (Chicago Tribune)
JB Pritzker studies Project 2025 and Trump, ponders his own political future (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘You come for my people, you come through me’: Pritzker says state fortified against Trump policies (Daily Herald)
Assessing the Trump risk to Pritzker's economic plans (Crain’s Chicago Business)
In deep blue Illinois, Trump slashes losing margin in half while Pritzker vows to defend state (Bloomington Pantagraph)
How Illinois’ congressional Democrats are preparing for the political battles ahead (Daily Herald)
Labor leaders, Illinois officials fear workers’ rights at risk under Trump, but vow to keep fighting (Chicago Tribune)
7 downstate counties vote to consider seceding from Illinois to form new state (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul condemns racist text messages sent to Black residents (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘They are offended when people ask for favors. Hello?’: Jurors in Madigan trial hear wiretap about pressure in political hires (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois political campaigns have given churches, religious charities $650,000 in the past two years (Chicago Sun-Times)
What’s going on with effort to nix senior road test as veto session approaches? (Daily Herald)
Editorial: Illinois and Donald Trump are no match made in heaven. But they’ll have to work together. (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Again, revenue projections versus spending goals paint less than rosy picture (Shaw Media)
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