THE ILLINOIZE: Pritzker's poll numbers...Wallace talks more like a moderate...Ambiguous dollars in Infrastructure bill
November 16, 2021
Good morning.
We have a new poll out this morning. Story below, but a couple of things of note:
40% of respondents identify as liberal, 37% are conservative, and 23% identify as moderate
50% of voters say they’ll vote on Election Day next year while 32% say they’ll vote early. 18% say they’ll vote by mail. So, voting trends may be getting back to normal.
The approval rate of the state’s COVID-19 response is 71% in the city of Chicago, but still 55% in southern Illinois. It’s pretty wild if you break that down.
Subscribers got the poll first yesterday and they’ll get more analysis throughout the week in subscriber only e-mails. Join us as a paid subscriber to help support our efforts and keep our independent venture up and running. Just click below and join now.
Let’s get to it.
POLL: PRITZKER AT 50% IN JOB APPROVAL, RE-ELECT NUMBERS
In an exclusive statewide poll, conducted on behalf of The Illinoize, Democratic Governor JB Pritzker appears in strong position to win re-election with about one year before the 2022 general election.
The automated poll was conducted last Monday through Wednesday by McHenry-based firm Victory Geek. It contained around 800 responses adequately representing population, age, and political preferences of residents across all regions of the state.
Here is the pdf file of the poll.
Pritzker, who is seeking re-election next year, has a job approval of 50%, according to the survey. 45% disapprove of the job he is doing. 5% of those surveyed are undecided.
When surveyed against a generic Republican candidate in the 2022 general election, 49% of voters chose Pritzker, 41% chose a Republican, and around 10% (due to rounding) are undecided.
“50% approval, 40% disapproval when Democrats are polling at historically low numbers is pretty, pretty good for JB,” said one Democratic operative who reviewed the poll results. “He gets re-elected with these poll numbers.”
Another Democratic operative agreed.
“[The Governor is in] a strong position a year out,” the operative said.
Pritzker’s job approval actually decreased from this time last year. In a similar poll conducted by The Illinoize late last October, Pritzker had a 64% job approval rating.
Some Republicans say that shows Prtizker’s support is “soft.”
“Pritzker can be beaten and is not invincible, but someone is going to have to step up and do it,” said one longtime GOP operative. “The current field of candidates won’t.”
While Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a stir in many parts of the state, voters generally support the state’s response to COVID concerns.
61% of voters polled responded they approved of the state’s response to COVID-19. 37% disapproved, while 2% remain undecided. Even in central and southern Illinois, where much of the backlash to mask mandates and business closures has been centered, greater than 50% of voters polled in each area of the state approve of the state’s handling of the pandemic.
But it wasn’t all good news for Illinois Democrats. 51% of respondents believe Illinois is on the “wrong track,” while 35% say the state is headed in the “right direction.” 14% of respondents were unsure.
67% of respondents say they disapprove of the way the state is handling crime issues. 27% approve of the job the state is doing to address crime.
60% of voters disapprove of the way state government handles tax issues. 31% approve of handling of tax issues.
In the same poll last year, 55% of respondents said they would vote to re-elect Pritzker. A year later, that number has fallen to 49%.
Republicans know their only chance against an incumbent with nearly unlimited resources is to drive Pritzker’s approval rating down.
The question is: will any of them have the resources to do it?
LITESA WALLACE’S CONGRESSIONAL COMEBACK HOPES
In more than two terms in the Illinois House, Democrat Litesa Wallace made her mark as a progressive Democrat who could get things done. Now she’s running for Congress.
Wallace doesn’t hide her progressive bona fides, but in a district separated by just 4 percentage points in 2020 that will likely command time and attention from national players, she knows how important it is to find common ground.
“One thing about me is that, before that 2018 cycle [running for Lt. Governor], I had never labeled myself on the political spectrum,” she said. “But I think there is an appetite for things that maybe a few years ago had been considered very leftist. Now, and particularly during the pandemic, we know that there are ways that our government can and should step up to help families and communities. I think that labels will fall away a little bit as time goes on.”
Wallace says she would have voted for the $1 trillion infrastructure package President Joe Biden signed into law Monday. A group of progressive lawmakers had threatened to sink the bill without last minute concessions.
Here’s the video of our conversation.
CHICAGO FOP PRESIDENT TO RETIRE IN LIEU OF FIRED, RUN FOR MAYOR
This guy is basically a comedy of errors. And whether Lori Lightfoot runs for re-election or not, John Catanzara isn’t going to be Mayor.
More from the Chicago Tribune:
The controversial head of Chicago’s largest police union said Monday he will retire from the Chicago Police Department — an announcement that came just after he took the stand in a disciplinary hearing that could have ended with his firing.
John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, also declared that he will run for mayor in 2023, alluding multiple times to his combative relationship with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and said he felt the outcome of the proceedings against him was predetermined.
“It was pretty evident very early on that this cake was already baked,” Catanzara said, “I am going to be at human resources first thing in the morning, and I am going to be retiring. I will no longer be a Chicago police officer. … No one will be able to touch me.”
When asked how he can expect to lead a police union after stepping down as an officer, Catanzara said, “What’s different? … The city has to deal with me. That’s been the point I’ve always made. The mayor can hate me all she wants. I really don’t give a damn. I’m still the elected member and leader of this union.”
Police Superintendent David Brown filed charges in January to fire Catanzara, citing a long list of alleged infractions that brought discredit to the department and impeded its mission.
Tim Grace, Catanzara’s attorney, acknowledged his client’s comments on Facebook were “vulgar” but argued that speech not be curtailed.
“More speech is always better speech,” Grace said. “Either you believe in free speech or you don’t.”
What a swell guy.
WHAT’S IN THE FED INFRASTRUCTURE BILL? AMBIGUOUS MILLIONS.
Roads, trains, bridges, and more. But how much is actually in that big federal infrastructure bill, and where in Illinois it will be spent.
More from the Daily Herald:
What we do know is the five-year Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is an ambitious plan of more than $1 trillion with $550 billion in new spending.
Over 50% is targeted for transportation, with roads and bridges getting the lion's share. Untraditional priorities include safe drinking water, broadband expansion and electric vehicle charging stations.
In comparison, the last surface transportation bill, spanning 2016 through 2020, was $305 billion.
Illinois' share includes an estimated $9.8 billion to fix highways and roads with $1.4 billion slated for bridges, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning projects a 32% increase in surface transportation funding alone.
Earmarks aren’t always bad.
By the way, Governor JB Pritzker was there, so was Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. There was also an Illinois Republican in attendance: Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris). She was even taking selfies in front of the lectern. She was there representing the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL).
KOOLIDGE OFFICIALLY IN
We told you about this first last week and he made it official last night. Former conservative talk show host Michael Koolidge is running for Congress against Democrat Lauren Underwood in the new 14th district stretching from Joliet, Naperville, and Oswego west to Ottawa and LaSalle-Peru, north to DeKalb.
Much of the district is south of Underwood’s current 14th, but has been drawn to be more Democratic. She defeated Republican Jim Oberweis by around 5,000 votes of more than 400,000 cast last year.
Koolidge, an Army veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, has hosted a radio show based on Rockford’s WROK-AM for 14 years. He announced last week he would end his show last Friday and announced his campaign for congress in Sycamore last night.
More from our friend Rick Pearson at the Chicago Tribune.
By the way, here’s his branding:
That, um, looks familiar.
(Disclosure: I appeared a few times on Koolidge’s radio show and consider him a friend. He did not tell me about his plans, did not return my message, and will still get the same treatment as anyone else from this newsletter.)
CONGRATULATIONS
Best wishes to Colleen Smith, formerly of the Illinois Environmental Council, who is joining Invenergy as their Director of Government Affairs.
CONDOLONCES
Our thoughts are with the family of longtime statehouse denizen Len Lieberman, who passed away last week at the age of 74.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS
Thursday: Former Attorney General Ty Fahner, WDWS host and voice of the Illini Brian Barnhart
Saturday: ICC Spokesstar Vicki Crawford, formerly of House Republicans
Sunday: Senator Dick Durbin
Monday: Former Senator Pam Althoff
THAT’S ALL FOR NOW…
Back tomorrow for subscribers.