THE ILLINOIZE: Reviewing petition filings...State spending $700k on NASCAR race...New lawsuit over LaSalle Veterans Home
March 15, 2022
Good morning.
It’s 24 days until the legislature is scheduled to adjourn. The primary is in 105 days and the general election is in 238 days. Tick tock.
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Let’s get to it.
SORTING THROUGH CANDIDATE FILINGS
Some 740 candidates had filed nominating petitions at the Illinois State Board of Elections by the time the weeklong filing period closed yesterday. Here’s our page tracking the filings of big races.
Obviously, it’s going to take a few days to dig through everything, but I wanted to get you some initial notes:
Eight Republicans filed for Governor, though I’ve heard there are a couple that won’t qualify for the ballot. Jesse Sullivan was the last major candidate to file. An interesting one was the filing of Emily Johnson of Wheaton, who appears to be running on a QAnon slate.
Eight Republicans filed for U.S. Senate. Kathy Salvi was among those filing yesterday and she’s likely the frontrunner to take on incumbent Tammy Duckworth in November.
Tom DeVore, the southern Illinois attorney who has filed dozens of suits against Governor JB Pritzker questioning his emergency powers during the pandemic, filed for Attorney General yesterday. 2010 GOP candidate for AG Steve Kim, part of the Griffin slate, is also running.
20 Democrats filed to replace retiring Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Chicago). The most notable are Sen. Jacqui Collins (D-Chicago), Ald. Pat Dowell, and Jonathan Jackson, the son of Rev. Jesse Jackson. Interestingly, five Republicans filed in this district, which Joe Biden won by 42 percentage points in 2020.
Both Congressman Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) and Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-LaGrange) filed in the 6th District. Firebrand Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau is probably the best known of the six Republicans who filed.
Seven Republicans filed to challenge Congressman Bill Foster (D-Naperville), including both Trumper Catalina Lauf and Cassandra Tanner Miller, who I told you about a few weeks ago.
Six Democrats and two Republicans filed to replace Cheri Bustos in the new 17th. Republican Esther Joy King is the favorite in her primary. The Democratic primary could be a complete free for all. Former Rep. Litesa Wallace has major campaign experience. Rockford councilman Jonathan Logemann is highly regarded. And Eric Sorensen is a former TV weatherman in both Rockford and the Quad Cities. Name ID matters.
I’ll do some more legislative stuff for you throughout the week, but here are a few. Former Rep. Dennis Reboletti filed to challenge Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs).
No Democrat filed in the 24th (which is where recently resigned Sen. Tom Cullerton lived). Former Rep. Diane Pappas was appointed, and I assume she’ll be slated this summer. That would lead to a rematch with Rep. Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett), who defeated Pappas in 2020.
Both Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) and former Rep. Mary Edly-Allen filed in the 31st District, which is being vacated by Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake).
Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) gets a challenge from Winnebago County GOP Chair Eli Nicolosi (R-Rockford).
Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria) is being challenged by Dixon insurance salesman Brett Nicklaus.
Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) is being challenged by CPA Don DeBolt of Stewardson.
I don’t have enough room for all of the House races this morning, but I’ll get in to them in the next few days, but here’s what really stuck with me. Republicans put up candidates in at least 50 districts held or drawn for Democrats. Some of them are clearly kamikaze missions and some are to help with party building. I don’t know, though, what role the House GOP had in recruiting candidates in districts they can’t possibly win. The House GOP campaign arm was pretty reluctant to talk about it yesterday.
Lots more to come, including some Supreme Court primaries.
GOP SENATOR CRITICAL OF $700k NASCAR SPONSORSHIP
Governor JB Pritzker stood on a windy stage in the middle of the front stretch of the Worldwide Technology Raceway in Madison Monday and proclaimed himself as the state’s top marketer.
Pritzker announced $700,000 of state funds will be used to become the named sponsor of a NASCAR race at the Metro East track in June. Pritzker argued the race and the sponsorship will be positives for Illinois.
“I promised to be our state’s best Chief Marketing Officer, and with the return of NASCAR to Illinois, visitors from around the nation have yet another reason to come explore all that Metro East has to offer,” Pritzker said. “This is an incredible opportunity to showcase Illinois and we look forward to welcoming NASCAR fans to our great state.”
But Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), the top Republican budget negotiator, says Pritzker should be using state funds to roll back the state motor fuel tax or the gasoline sales tax to provide consumers relief as gas prices continue to tick near $5 per gallon.
“This guy won’t give families more than two cents back per gallon, and only temporarily, while the state sales tax is gouging people at the pump,” Rose said. “They say there isn’t money for it, but then he does this. It’s unreal.”
More here.
MORE SUITS FILED OVER LaSALLE
This situation has fallen from the headlines for many months, but it still just grinds my gears. Via our friend Rick Pearson of the Chicago Tribune:
Richard Cieski for years received care at the veterans home in downstate LaSalle that his family recalled as “amazing.” The 89-year-old decorated Korean War Army veteran schmoozed with friends, participated in an array of activities and excelled in an environment even as he coped with escalating dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
“They had church. They had animals that came in. They had coffee and conversation. They had haircuts. Physical therapy. Everything. He was clean. His hair was combed. He had his room and it was clean,” a granddaughter, Lindsay Lamb of Lockport, said. “He was thriving in there until it happened.”
That was in November 2020, when the COVID-19 coronavirus began to sweep through the state-run, long-term-care facility for veterans. As the coronavirus ran its deadly course through the LaSalle veterans home, the outbreak led to the deaths of Cieski and 35 other veterans.
The deaths have prompted a series of individual lawsuits against the state on behalf of the families of 26 veterans who died of COVID-19 or coronavirus-related illnesses. The lawsuits, which began being filed last week in LaSalle County, allege negligence and wrongful death and could cost the state millions of dollars.
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