THE ILLINOIZE: Supreme Court cash...House Republican gives money to Senate Dems...Brady says Giannoulias' Bright Start losses "disqualifying"
October 25, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
The world is crazy. The Bears won at New England last night. Illinois football is up to #17 in the latest polls. And I’m getting legitimately optimistic texts from Republicans. It’s like we’re living in the Upside Down.
The two week countdown is on. That’s exactly 14 days if you haven’t been counting. Governor JB Pritzker will break ground on the 75th Street rail corridor improvements at 10:30 and will be in Rock Island this afternoon for a press conference with congressional candidate Eric Sorensen. The Bailey campaign has not released a public schedule.
I was on WGN-TV Friday evening discussing the race for governor and election deniers. You can watch it here.
We’ll also get both sides of the debate on Amendment 1, the so-called “Worker’s Rights Amendment,” on our weekly livestream and podcast tomorrow. You can watch at noon on our YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter pages. The podcast will be posted later on Apple, Google, Spotify, or Amazon.
Lots happening over the next two weeks, which makes now the perfect time for you to become a paid subscriber. It’s just $99 for a year or $9.99 per month. You’ll get two exclusive newsletters each week and a lot of goodies into your inbox as well. Click below to join us!
Let’s get to it.
MORE BIG SPENDING COMING TO SUPREME COURT RACES
A federal Super PAC run by a former U.S. Senate candidate is dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars into the two hotly contested Illinois Supreme Court cases, and there could be more than $1 million in additional spending in the works.
Fair Courts America PAC, run by businessman and 2014 Senate candidate Doug Truax of Downers Grove, is placing TV ads into the 2nd and 3rd Supreme Court district races.
Incumbent Justice Michael Burke, who was redistricted into the new 3rd district, composes of DuPage, Will, Kankakee, Iroquois, LaSalle, and Bureau counties, faces former Democratic State Representative and Appellate Justice Mary K. O’Brien. Both sides have been airing aggressive attack ads, with O’Brien even making baseless claims about Burke’s abortion position.
In the new 2nd district, Democratic Lake County judge Elizabeth Rochford faces Republican former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran. The redrawn district includes Lake, McHenry, Kane, Kendall, and DeKalb counties.
Both O’Brien and Rochford have been boosted by union money, trial lawyers, donations from Governor JB Pritzker, and outside spending from a PAC run by a former aide of Senate President Don Harmon.
Citizens for Judicial Fairness, which led the campaign to defeat Justice Tom Kilbride’s retention in 2020, has used millions from billionaire Ken Griffin to prop up Burke while attacking O’Brien and Rochford.
Enter Truax.
His new ads target Rochford and support Burke. Financial disclosures have not been filed, but industry sources say the total buy is somewhere near $400,000 for the week. The PAC has already been spending money on digital ads supporting Burke and attacking O’Brien and Rochford.
The sudden influx of money appears to come to the group from billionaire businessman Richard Uihlein. The PAC has not reported a large contribution yet, but sources say Uihlein has given the affiliated “Restoration PAC” an additional $2 million. Uihlein gave Restoration PAC around $6.2 million between January and the end of June.
Pro-abortion rights group Personal PAC is also jumping into the race, with $700,000 slated for television ads supporting O’Brien and opposing Curran.
A Republican source says polling is very close between Burke and O’Brien while a Democratic source says Rochford’s lead over Curran has been “narrowing.”
It could lead to record spending in the two races over the next two weeks.
GOP REP. STEPHENS WRITES CHECK TO HARMON
Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont), who doubles as Mayor of the powerful small Cook County village, raised red flags with a handful of GOP lawmakers after he gave $10,000 to the campaign of Democratic Senate President Don Harmon.
The contribution, which came from Stephens’ mayoral account and not his legislative account, was reported to the State Board of Elections Friday.
Reached Monday, Stephens said he was showing thanks for Harmon’s leadership to benefit Cook County communities.
“Every time [I] needed something for Rosemont before [I] was a legislator, Don Harmon was there,” Stephens said, “My district, if you look at it, is right down the middle. I hold both offices and I need to worry about the community that I came from, too.”
But the donation riled at least one Republican lawmaker we spoke to.
“It’s unconscionable,” said one Republican lawmaker. “We can never gain seats if we’re handing money to the Democrats.”
Stephens said he donated to the fundraiser hosted by the plumber’s union, which he said has been supportive of him, too.
“I believe that sometimes we have to look beyond the party lines,” Stephens said. “I’m sorry that whoever said that said that, but that’s their ideology.”
Stephens is unopposed for a second full term in the House.
BRADY: GIANNOULIAS ETHICAL ISSUES “DISQUALIFYING”
Underdog candidate for Secretary of State, Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), says losses of a college savings program and the failure of his family’s bank make former State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias “unfit” for the job.
Speaking on our The Illinoize Livestream and Podcast, Brady said Giannoulias should be held accountable for $85 million in losses to the Bright Start college savings program in 2008, while he was State Treasurer.
“Under his watch was the mismanagement of the Bright Start program,” Brady said. “Then those families got less in a settlement package than they were supposed to get initially.”
Brady also criticized Giannoulias for loaning $20 million to felons while a senior loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank in Chicago, which was seized by the federal government in 2010, while Giannoulias was a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Brady says the issues make Giannoulias the wrong choice to lead the office, which regulates securities & investments brokers.
The Giannoulias campaign did not respond to a message seeking a response.
ODDS & ENDS
Darren Bailey’s closing TV ad hits this morning. A southerner in front of a corn field. That’ll relate to suburban voters.
House Speaker Chris Welch has transferred around $2.2 million from his personal campaign account to the Democrats for the Illinois House account. That’ll pay for a bunch of mail and TV over the next two weeks. Meanwhile, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) moved $500,000 to the House Republican Majority committee.
Real Clear Politics, the moderate to center-right aggregator, moved the 14th District race between Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) and Kendall County Board Chairman Scott Gryder from “lean Democrat” to “toss up.” Underwood is on broadcast TV while Gryder is on cable, but it appears the race is tightening. The independent Cook Political Report still lists the 14th as “Likely Democrat.”
RCP also lists the 6th District (Casten vs. Pekau) and 13th District (Budzinski vs. Deering) as “toss ups” in November. It lists the 17th District (Sorensen vs. King) as “Lean GOP.” It continues to list the 8th District (Krishnamoorthi vs. Dargis) and 11th District (Foster vs. Lauf) as “Likely Democrat.”
The Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS) IE PAC is sending mail against Rep. Suzanne Ness (D-Crystal Lake), for Rep. Sandy Hamilton (R-Springfield), who is running for Senate, opposing appointed Sen. Kris Tharp (D-Wood River), and opposing Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville). They’re also opposing Matt Hanson, the opponent of Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) and are supporting Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Bourbonnais) and Michele Smith, who is running for the seat being vacated by Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield).
Talk show host Dan Proft’s People Who Play By the Rules PAC, which has been attacking Governor JB Pritzker on television for months, is also sending mail into legislative districts. They’re supporting Connie Cain, who is opposing Rep. Suzanne Ness and Stefanie Hood, who is challenging Rep. Terra Costa-Howard (D-Glen Ellyn). They’re also sending mail for House Republican candidates Michele Hunter, Jennifer Korte, Jonathan Ojeda, Jack Vrett, and Lisa Smith. It is also supporting the opponent of Sen. Patrick Joyce (D-Essex), Philip Nagel.
We’ve posted a bunch of new political TV ads on our YouTube page.
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