THE ILLINOIZE: Post-primary special edition...Bailey...Pritzker...Rodney Davis...Zalewski, Welter, Luft, Mattson out, Willis and Stoneback trail
June 29, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
First, thanks to the incredible team at WGN-TV for having me with them last night. Anchors Ray Cortopassi and Micah Materre, political guys Tahman Bradley and Paul Lisnek, Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, and producer extraordinaire Jordan Muck are an incredible group. I’m glad they allowed me to spend the evening with them. I had a blast.
Thanks to those of you that texted, called, and e-mailed with nice comments. You’re too kind.
I’ll be making a few more appearances today:
My old friend Abdul-Hakim Shabazz will be filling in this morning on WVON Radio in Chicago. I’ll join him a little after 8. You can listen live here. I’ll be breaking down results on WDWS in Champaign with my friend Brian Barnhart a little after 9. You can listen live here. And, finally, I’ll join Jim Leach on WMAY in Springfield around 4:40. You can listen to that one here. Hopefully there will be a nap somewhere in between. But that won’t be public.
Special thanks to Ben Garbarek and Rebecca Holland who kept the live blog and social media feeds up and running last night while I was busy running to the TV lights like a moth outside my back door.
Thanks to all of you that became free subscribers over the past couple of days. Welcome. We are so glad you’re here. We put out a big weekly newsletter out on Tuesdays as well as a combined news and comment e-mail we call the “Free for All” on Mondays and Thursdays. Paid subscribers get exclusive newsletters on Wednesdays and Fridays along with breaking news alerts and story previews throughout the week. It’s just $9.99 per month to give it a try. It’s our main source of revenue to keep this little effort up and running, and we’d truly appreciate your support.
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I’d love to hear your thoughts or surprises from primary day. Drop me a note at patrick@theillinoize.com.
Let’s get to it.
Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) completed a takeover of the Illinois Republican Party Tuesday night. The small town farmer from around 30 miles south of Effingham who served two years in the Illinois House and has served 18 months in the Illinois Senate became the GOP nominee for Governor scoring nearly 60% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.
Bailey led his nearest competitor, Springfield-area venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan with around 440,000 votes to around 120,000 votes with around 84% of votes reported early Wednesday morning.
“Tonight, our movement sent a clear message to the establishment and the political elites: we will not be ignored,” Bailey said to cheers at his victory party in Effingham.
Bailey’s insurgent campaign bucked the traditional party establishment, which fell in line behind Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who received $50 million from billionaire Ken Griffin but finished a disappointing third in the race.
Irvin, meanwhile, blamed his performance on a barrage of negative ads funded by the Pritzker campaign and the Democratic Governor’s Association.
“Tonight, JB Pritzker won the Republican primary for governor here in Illinois,” Irvin said during his concession speech around 8:30 Tuesday evening. “He spent a historic amount of money to choose his own Republican opponent in the general election.”
Irvin said he “wishes Darren Bailey well” but stopped short of an endorsement.
Kicking off his own fall election campaign Tuesday night, Governor JB Pritzker gave a fiery speech taking direct aim at Bailey and playing to a potential national audience as he reportedly eyes a run for the White House in 2024.
Pritzker criticized Bailey’s appearance with former President Donald Trump last weekend, an appearance where Trump endorsed Bailey after polling had made it clear Bailey was in position to win the primary.
“Let me be clear, someone who seeks out and accepts the endorsement of a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic, twice impeached former president does not deserve to come anywhere near this state’s highest office,” Pritzker said. “Darren Bailey cannot side with the insurrectionists at the Capitol, assert that the 2020 election was stolen, and say that women and their doctors should be jailed for having an abortion even in cases of rape and incest and expect to be handed the keys to the Governor’s Office.”
Bailey took aim at Pritzker, too, starting what is likely to be a war of words in the fall campaign.
“Here’s a tip and some advice for JB Pritzker: start packin’, friend,” Bailey said. “Because on November 8th, you’re fired.”
In a result hardly any political observers expected when Democrats redrew congressional maps earlier this year, Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Oakland) has ousted five-term Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) in the new 15th Congressional District.
With around 95% of expected votes in, Miller, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, leads Davis, a close friend to top House leaders in line for a committee chairmanship if the GOP retakes the House, by around 16,000 votes. Miller has around 64,000 votes to around 48,000 votes, a total of around 57%-43%.
In a statement late Tuesday night, Davis was clear why he believes he lost.
“I’d like to congratulate Congresswoman Miller and President Trump on their victory tonight,” Davis said.
“I’ve lived in the real world, I understand the issues that impact real people,” Miller said in a campaign video Tuesday. She said she has Trump’s endorsement because she is “pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, and pro-family.”
Trump visited Quincy in support of Miller last weekend, and Miller had alligned herself closely with GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey as soon as Bailey’s poll numbers took off.
The 15th is heavily Republican and she will likely face just nominal Democratic opposition in the fall.
RAMIREZ, CASTEN, SORENSEN WIN DEM CONGRESSIONAL RACES
via our Rebecca Holland:
3RD DISTRICT
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago) handily won Tuesday’s Democratic Primary in Illinois’ newly created 3rd Congressional District. With her win, Illinois added another Latino legislator to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Ramirez becomes the first Latina congresswoman from the Midwest.
Ramirez was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2018, and previously served in leadership positions for numerous organizations, including the Latin United Community Housing Association. She took a strong lead over Ald. Gilbert “Gil” Villegas (36th), her main competitor over the past few weeks.
As of early Wednesday morning, Ramirez led Villegas 66%-24% with 95% of the expected vote in.
Ramirez ran on a progressive platform and was endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (who currently represents a portion of the district), the Chicago Teachers Union, and the Working Families Party, among others.
She will represent the new 124.5 square mile district that runs from Western Avenue in the city and stretches west toward Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Albany Park, Portage Park, and into the suburbs out to Elmwood Park, Schiller Park, Bensenville, Elk Grove Village, Rosemont, Addison, Wheaton, Winfield, Bartlett and West Chicago.
Justin Brau was uncontested in the Republican primary. About 44% of the voting age population in the district is Latino, and President Biden won it by 41 points.
6TH DISTRICT
In a contentious race that pitted incumbents against each other, Congressman Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) took the Democratic nomination for Illinois’ 6th Congressional District.
Casten, who has held the seat since 2018, faced Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-LaGrange), who currently represents the 3rd district but was drawn out of her seat during redistricting after the 2020 census.
As of early Wednesday morning Casten had pulled in 68% of the vote, while Newman was at 29% with 95% of the expected vote in.
Prior to his election, Casten co-founded and led Recycled Energy Development, which focused on recycling wasted energy and converting energy facilities to cleaner, more economic uses. He has also served as president and CEO of Turbosteam Corporation.
Casten had suspended his campaign after his 17-year-old daughter died in her sleep earlier this month.
Biden won the district by 11 points in 2020, and Gov. Pritzker won it by 5 points in 2018. Casten will face Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in the November election.
17TH DISTRICT
Eric Sorenson won the Democratic primary in the 17th Congressional district and is expected to face Republican Esther Joy King.
Six Democrats and two Republicans ran for the seat being vacated by Rep. Cheri Bustos. The 6th district includes much of northwest Illinois, including part of the Quad Cities, Peoria and Rockford. Barack Obama won the district both in 2008 and 2012, and Donald Trump won it in both 2016 and 2020.
Sorensen, who lives in the Quad Cities, previously worked as a meteorologist for WQAD News 8 and as chief meteorologist at WREX. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, has served on the boards of Clock, Inc. and The Project of the Quad Cities, where he has helped connect people to health services. He also started Project Tornado, which brings meteorologists into schools to help kids feel safe during severe weather.
King practices law in East Moline and previously served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve where she spent time in Afghanistan, where she says she worked on women’s rights. During the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan she said she helped dozens of young girls she previously taught to escape the Taliban.
A LEGISLATIVE BLOODBATH
As the sun comes up Wednesday morning, no fewer than four incumbent state lawmakers have been defeated in primaries overnight and a handful of others are perilously close to defeat as we wait for final votes to be counted.
In one of the most shocking results of the night, Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside), who was potentially in line to take over as House Majority Leader next year, was defeated by left-leaning challenger Abdelnasser Rashid.
With 95% of the expected vote in, Rashid leads by 255 votes, but Zalewski conceded Tuesday night.
“I loved this job, gave my all for the people of the district and the state, and did it the best I could,” Zalewski wrote on Facebook last night. “The voters of the district made their voices heard, and that’s democracy.”
Two House Republicans were also defeated Tuesday. Rep. David Welter (R-Morris) lost to Bailey-backed challenger Jed Davis. Davis led Welter by more than 1,000 votes early Wednesday morning. Rep. Mark Luft (R-Pekin) was also defeated by Travis Weaver, the son of former Sen. Chuck Weaver. With about 95% of the expected vote in, Weaver led Luft by a total of around 7,400 to around 4,200 votes.
Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) trails Norma Hernandez by 204 votes with 95% of the expected vote in early Wednesday, meaning the race could be decided by late arriving absentee ballots.
Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback (D-Skokie) trails Kevin Olickal by around 400 votes this morning. Appointed Rep. Mike Kelly (D-Chicago) leads progressive Michael Rabbitt by around 600 votes with 95% of the expected vote in. The same luck doesn’t apply to appointed Sen. Eric Mattson (D-Joliet), who appears to be headed out after being appointed to the Senate just a few weeks ago. Will County Board Member Rachel Ventura leads with around 7,200 to around 5,100 votes with 95% of expected votes in.
So, so much more to get to. I’ll have a subscriber edition a little later talking about what Republicans need to do to get serious about winning elections in the state and looking at a shocker Supreme Court result.
For now, I’m going to bed.