THE ILLINOIZE: Rep. Amy Grant's self-inflicted no-good, very bad day...Is she toast?...Both sides of the graduated income tax amendment...Wise words from a former congressman

September 22, 2020

6 WEEKS TO ELECTION DAY

Some Republicans think Democrats are raising a stink to deflect the pressure from House Speaker Michael Madigan, but no matter how you shake it, the revelation of racist and bigoted comments by State Representative Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) caused quite a stir yesterday.

Two Black House Democrats, Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood) and Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago), who is gay, played recorded snippets of a fundraising call Grant made to an unknown caller. The clips played over Zoom yesterday were a little garbled to hear perfectly in my headphones, but it did appear the caller told Grant he was recording the call.

She proceeds to say her Democratic opponent, a Black and gay financial professional named Ken Mejia-Beal from Lisle, would be “another member of the black caucus. That’s all we need is another person in the black caucus,” she says in the call. “I think he’s afraid to come into the district, the heart of the district anyhow. [He’s] afraid of the reaction people might give him because of the way he talks, all LGBTQ.”

Yeah, not good.

Even though it appeared Davis, Harris, and Welch were all appearing from their state-paid district offices, the event had far more political flair than legislative substance.

“Her hatred toward African Americans and toward gay individuals is pretty clear,” said Davis.

That said, none of the House Democrats on the Zoom called on Grant to resign.

THERE IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE

Obviously, House Democrats are trying to give Mejia-Beal a boost over the final six weeks of the campaign. Democrats have surely seen something in this race (they paid for $31,000 in polling on September 12) and have dropped at least three mail pieces into the district since August 25.

This isn’t a super-swingy district, for goodness sake, Jeanne Ives held the seat.

Bruce Rauner won the district by 5.8% in 2018, by a ton in 2014, and Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama in the district by 8.2% in 2012.

But here’s the kicker, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in that district by 9.9%. But Mark Kirk won the same area by 6.4%. That’s a lot of ticket splitting that Democrats think they can take advantage of.

WERE DEMS COVERING FOR MADIGAN?

You don’t even have to be half as cynical as me to think it’s a possibility. Welch chairs the Special Investigative Committee looking into the septuagenarian Speaker’s role in a giant bribery scheme by utility giant Commonwealth Edison.

Welch and Davis repeatedly called out suburban Republicans during the news conference, but two were most notable: Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) and Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst). They both sit on the committee and one couldn’t notice the repeated mentions of them, even though they are in competitive races, too.

Democrats, of course, said they were totally different issues, but that’s what one would expect them to say.

CAN GOP SALVAGE THE RACE?

Republicans are telling me nothing about how they’re handling the situation. That means one of two things: 1) they have no idea how to fix it yet or 2) Grant is on her own.

That said, Grant is already being vastly outspent. The House GOP has put at least one mail piece into the district compared to at least three for Mejia-Bell. It doesn’t appear yet that either candidate is up on TV.

Grant wasn’t flush with cash to begin with. She had around $10,000 on hand to start the quarter, and has raised a few thousand dollars, but Democrats quickly moved past her. Madigan and his committees have Scrooge McDuck-level piles of money, so if they put Mejia-Beal on TV, it may be game over.

Republicans are already trying to preserve Wehrli and Mazzochi, who we mentioned earlier, as well as Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont), Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva), Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park), and Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield). That’s just in the suburbs. They’re stretched thin.

It appears the GOP is already leaving Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) to fend for himself, and Grant may soon be joining him.

TALKING TAXES

You want a deep dive into the tax amendment on the ballot this fall?

Well, you’ve come to the right place.

We spent time with Quentin Fulks, chairman of the “Vote Yes for Fairness” committee and with former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger, who is a co-founder of the “Vote No on the Progressive Tax” coalition. Here’s the video of our conversations.

Interestingly enough, Rauschenberger, a long time budget expert in the Senate and fiscal conservative, admits the Governor and legislators can’t cut their way out of the mess, but need to cut something before raising taxes.

Fulks also admits though, that there’s nothing binding lawmakers to their messaging that 97% would see their income tax stay level or decrease.

One way or another, we have to trust politicians to do the right thing.

Don’t color me super optimistic.

GET WELL SOON

Best wishes to Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake), who announced yesterday he has tested positive for COVID-19.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

A happy 71st birthday today to former Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard and former one-term Congressman Bill Enyart. He’s doing a podcast callled “Reflections from the River.” You can download it now at www.billenyart.com or on your Apple device or Google Play machine.

We asked Rep. Enyart for some thoughts on his birthday. He brought it:

“Unfortunately, today too many people allow political partisanship and its accompanying gamesmanship to override those words. Politicians openly lie in an attempt to gain political advantage. Cable news media distorts, manipulates and disregards facts to influence voters. Social media in the pursuit of profits allows, indeed encourages, dissemination of rumor, innuendo and conspiracies.

The vast majority of us in the middle are disregarded by the far right and far left of the political discourse. Our founding fathers disdained political parties. Disdained them for good reason. Political parties cause people to focus on the team, not the issues.”

You can read all of the Congressman’s comments on the website.

THANKS

Just a quick thank you to all of you who have been so engaged over the first three weeks of our new venture. Your comments, texts, and messages have helped us make this newsletter and the content better.

But at the beginning of just our fourth week, we know we have a long way to go. Please email me whenever you have some thoughts or a tip: patrick@theillinoize.com. I can also provide you a secure email if you want to protect your anonymity.

For now, we ask that you keep sharing the newsletter with your friends and colleagues. We’d also appreciate a like and a follow Facebook and Twitter.

And, before we go, a big congratulations to our friend Hannah Meisel, who has taken a role with NPR Illinois.

Have a wonderful day.