THE ILLINOIZE: Syverson gets a primary...More on that Brady poll...State GOP wants to censor dissenters...COVID cases on the rise

July 13, 2021

Good morning. Thanks for your patience while we took a week off last week to recharge with family and sunshine. But we’re getting right back into things.

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Let’s get to it, shall we?

SYVERSON GETS PRIMARY

Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) is no stranger to a primary after a remap. Ten years ago, he was drawn into the same district as then-Sen. Christine Johnson. He defeated her by some 11-points in the 2012 primary.

Now, under a new map, it appears Syverson is getting another challenge.

(Disclosure: I worked with Sen. Syverson while I was on Senate GOP staff in 2013-2014 and we remain friendly.)

Winnebago County GOP Chairman Eli Nicolosi is set to officially announce his entrance to the race next Monday, but he’s already set up a campaign committee and a (slightly buggy) website.

He didn’t confirm his plans to the Rockford Register-Star and he didn’t return my message yesterday, but you get the drift.

There’s a political angle and a personal angle to this.

Even as pro-Trump and far right as Nicolosi may run this race, he’s going to have a hard time defeating Syverson. Syverson, 64, keeps about 65% of his current district under the remap (assuming it holds up in court and Dems don’t make changes later this year). He’s a known commodity, popular, by all accounts, has good relationships with most unions, and was key to bringing the Rockford casino to fruition.

We’re told by some folks in the area that there are a couple of building trades who have a beef with Syverson and have promised Nicolosi cash. It could be Laborer’s Local 32, which gave money to Nicolosi when he ran for county board, so we’ll see if that pans out.

And don’t forget the fact Syverson just filed this week with $301,000 cash on hand. That’s another tough hill to climb starting from zero.

Syverson also has an A+ rating from the NRA, a 100% pro-life voting record, and has been endorsed by the Farm Bureau 10 times. Good luck running to the right of that. Then again, people think Adam Kinzinger is a liberal now, so who knows what kind of distorted world we’re living in.

The personal issues here between the two men are interesting. Syverson’s insurance company has actually used Nicolosi’s web design firm, supported him for Winnebago County Chairman, and supported him during his Winnebago County Board race in 2018. Some thanks.

Don’t be surprised if this one gets ugly.

Syverson told me last night he’s proud of the work he’s done in the Senate.

“I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished over the years in passing key legislation and bringing dollars back home. I’m most proud of our constituent work that we’ve done that has helped thousands of individuals who get caught in the maze of state government, especially this year with unemployment and FOID card issues that have been so bad.”

ABOUT THAT DAN BRADY POLL…

You may have seen a poll released last week showing Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) just five points behind former Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in the race for Secretary of State next year.

Brady, of course, hasn’t announced he’s running for the gig yet and Giannoulias still has to win a primary with his own baggage along for the ride.

So why would Brady poll this early? (By the way, Brady left me a voicemail last week and said the poll was not released by him. He hasn’t returned my calls since to find out if he put the poll in the field.) But, logic tells you Brady put the poll in the field to scare Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) out of the race.

A couple of thoughts about the poll:

• 70% of respondents didn’t know who Dan Brady is, yet 39% support him in the hypothetical general election.

• How many of the 30% of respondents actually believed Brady is actually Bill Brady, the former GOP candidate for Governor?

• The poll showed a 54.4% approval rating for Governor JB Pritzker. That’s obviously bad news for Republicans and I’m not sure why the pollster or candidate would even release it.

• Fewer than 30% of respondents claim to be Republicans. (Trump, by the way, got 40.55% in Illinois last year.)

What am I missing? Drop me a note at patrick@theillinoize.com.

STATE GOP WANTS TO BENCH TALKING HEADS

The Illinois Republican Party is apparently upset that Chicago TV and radio stations are using conservative pundits that aren’t toeing the party line. In a memo to party leaders yesterday, GOP Chairman Don Tracy wrote he wants official GOP surrogates to appear on Chicago TV and radio instead of the pundits they use now. He doesn’t mention any names, but he surely means former State GOP Chairman Pat Brady, former Congressman Joe Walsh, and, I assume to at least a certain extent, me. (I’ve done hits on WGN-TV and often appear on WLS-AM.)

Brady is a longtime defender of former Governor Bruce Rauner and, like me, has bemoaned the extremism we’re seeing in the GOP. Walsh has been a loud dissenter to the Trump takeover of the GOP.

It’s interesting that the preferred GOP surrogates—Kathleen Murphy and Ammie Kessem—are anything but people that toe the party line. Murphy ran former State Rep. Jeanne Ives’ race against Rauner in 2018 and Kessem challenged former GOP Rep. Michael McAuliffe for a Chicago ward commiteeman’s slot in 2020.

By the way, the note says ILGOP staff sent a note to every member of the Chicago media that they should book official surrogates. The executive producer of a top morning show told me last night they haven’t heard anything from the state party.

The Illinois Republican Party…they always have it together.

Tracy’s memo is below:

COVID-19 CASES TICKING UP AGAIN

It’s slightly disturbing, but we’re beginning to see an uptick again in COVID-19 cases across the state. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported an average of fewer than 200 cases per day in mid-June. Over the last week, 5 of those days have reported over 500 cases per day.

In Madison and St. Clair counties in the Metro East, test positivity is up over 5%.

It’s not a crisis yet, but just next door, Missouri is averaging more than 800 cases per day. Missouri, by the way, has a population less than half of Illinois. Things are not trending the right way.

The state hasn’t issued any warnings yet, but Governor Pritzker has been wearing a mask at events the last few weeks, so that should be taken as a sign.

BEFORE WE GO…

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Talk to you Friday.