THE ILLINOIZE: Police shooting reaction...Kinzinger: "The GOP, frankly, is broken"...Brady for Secretary of State?...House GOP grumbles their bills aren't moving...Fundraising numbers...
April 16, 2021
Nothing cheeky or clever to start things out this morning.
I watched the body camera video of a Chicago Police officer shooting and killing 13-year-old Adam Toledo after it was released yesterday.
The Tribune has more, but I’ve been looking at a blinking cursor for an hour or so now and I just can’t come up with anything clearer than ambivalence on what happened.
Yes, he was holding a gun until right before he turned around. I don’t know that the officer saw him drop the weapon or not. No, there shouldn’t be such easy access to illegal guns that a 13-year-old can be rolling around Little Village with one. But they’re illegal guns we’re talking about, not a legally purchased firearm owned by a licensed owner in a safe.
Adam Toledo had his whole life in front of him. Maybe he had fallen in with a bad crowd, but he still would have had time to get out of there. The officer responded to shots fired, which is a danger to the community he’s charged with protecting. He didn’t know Adam Toledo was 13. Did he see the gun? Did he see it tossed?
State law on use of force and what “should” have happened aren’t always on the same plane.
There’s a kid dead. There’s a cop who has to live with it. There’s a family who has to live without Adam Toledo.
There are no winners here.
KINZINGER THINKS SENATE RUN ‘COULD STILL HAPPEN’
Republican lightning rod Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon) confirms he had been seriously considering a run for either Governor or U.S. Senate in 2022 until the backlash he received following the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol and his subsequent comments and vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
While in February, Kinzinger seemingly ruled out a statewide run last year, he told me yesterday he hasn’t taken the possibility off the table and it could be more likely if Democrats draw congressional districts that leave him without options for re-election.
In our interview, which you can watch here, Kinzinger didn’t pull any punches on the the tribalism of politics, the hypocrisy of politicians, including, even, himself.
He says Washington, and politics in general, need more people who are willing to tell the truth and govern from the middle.
“It shows the importance of centering principles, something that you truly believe in that you advocate for.,” he said. “Yeah, there’s going to be some flex in different administrations, but when you just blatantly violate what you’re saying because it’s your guy in charge, that’s when you lose a lot of moral authority.”
And he says Republicans need to get focused on the policies that have made the party successful for years and move on from the Trump-based chaos of GOP policy since 2016.
“I don’t even know what the principles of the Republican Party are anymore,” he said.
Here’s our story on Kinzinger.
BRADY MAY RUN FOR SECRETARY OF STATE
Bill Brady could be making a comeback.
Sources tell me he’s been having conversations with insiders and supporters about how to get back into the mix in 2022. While it sounds like Brady is mostly focused on running for Secretary of State, I’m told nothing is off the table. That could mean running for Governor a fourth time, a run for U.S. Senate, or even for Congress, depending on how maps are drawn.
Brady, who turns 60 next month, resigned at the end of 2020 after Republican senators removed him as Leader in favor of Dan McConchie.
If you look at the political reality of Brady’s situation, he has a huge advantage running for Secretary of State. He’s already sitting on $800,000 in his campaign account, so he’ll have the immediate advantage over any other Republican. And, only Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) has shown some interest in the SoS job. Running for Governor a fourth time seems less likely and running for Congress or U.S. Senate wouldn’t allow him to transfer cash (for the most part) from his state account to a federal account.
Here’s our story on Brady’s potential plans.
HOUSE GOP GRUMBLES THAT BILLS AREN’T BEING CALLED
House Republicans took to the media yesterday to complain that House Democrats aren’t calling their bills.
It’s been this way for more than a few years now, so I don’t really understand what they expect. If they think the new Speaker is going to call GOP bills out of the kindness of his heart, I want some of what they’re smoking.
Our Ben Garbarek has more from the House Republicans yesterday.
Republicans should be focused on governing instead of trying to get Democrats to jump on board their bill. I look at how Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) got involved in two contentious issues to help make what Republicans viewed as “bad” bills better.
He was at the table on the same sex marriage debate in 2013 and carved out changes for religious conservatives. He was at the table in the legalized marijuana debate, too.
Maybe Republicans should be more interested in literally walking across the aisle and working together on bills instead of shouting from the rooftops that Democrats won’t pass conservative ideals.
FUNDRAISING ROUNDUP
Oh, hey, Michael Madigan hasn’t gone away. Neither have the GOP’s fundraising struggles.
State fundraising reports were due by midnight last night. Among some of the notable things, was that former House Speaker Michael Madigan spent more than $2.5 million out of his campaign on legal fees just this year.
The Sun-Times has more on Madigan’s legal troubles, specifically surrounding the Commonwealth Edison bribery scandal.
New House Speaker Chris Welch raised more than $1.2 million in the first quarter of the year, which is a pretty impressive haul right out of the gates.
House Democrats have $967,000 cash and House Republicans have $196.92. (I double checked to make sure that’s right. The House GOP will also be switching to a new committee, so that may play a role in the low number.)
Senate Democrats have $1.1 million on hand, while Senate Republicans have about $210,000.
The Democratic Party of Illinois has $2.6 million cash. The Illinois Republican Party has $75,000 cash.
REDISTRICTING HISTORY LESSON
If you’re anything like the nerd I am, you’re going to absolutely love this historical look at redistricting in Illinois by Bloomington Pantagraph and Decatur Herald & Review reporter Brenden Moore:
However, the dynamics changed in 1955. Though the city of Chicago was becoming increasingly dominated by Democrats, Republicans had an incentive to redistrict in order to tap into the growing suburbs in Cook and the collar counties.
So a compromise was reached that created a “mini-federal” system allowing for House districts to be constructed based on population and Senate districts based on land area.
It was a middle ground, guaranteeing downstate dominance in the Senate while giving Chicago and surrounding suburbs a stronger voice in the House.
"When they redid the house, the assumption was that the Senate will be forever controlled by rural interests because ... the lines will never change," Wheeler said. "And then the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in with the 'one man, one vote' stuff and told states, Illinois and others, you have to have equal population in your Senate districts, too."
The system was indeed short-lived as the country’s courts system, long-absent from the redistricting debate, intervened in a significant way with a series of landmark rulings in the 1960s.
Among them was Reynolds v. Sims, a 1964 ruling that found that state legislative districts had to be roughly equal in population to one another. Basically, the concept of “one man, one vote.”
At the same time, Democrats and Republicans were tussling over how to reapportion the Illinois House.
Go read the whole thing, it’s really good.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Former House Speaker Michael Madigan turns 79 Monday. Fellow Iroquois County native and lobster Betsey Drilling Evans also celebrates Monday.
(By the way, send over staff, lobster, legislator, etc. birthdays. patrick@theillinoize.com).
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