THE ILLINOIZE: The Madigan nightmare...GOP committeeman Porter for Gov?...Rep. Chris Miller anti-government milita symbol...The job Kinzinger's challenger doesn't want to talk about...Welch nuggets
February 26, 2021
Good morning.
It’s going to be 53° this weekend in the Chicago area, 58° in Champaign, and 61° in Carbondale, so, get outside and enjoy the fresh air. And budget time to give your dog a bath after they are covered in mud.
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Lots to get to this morning, so let’s get into it.
MADIGAN’S NEW NEW REPLACEMENT
Former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s exit from the General Assembly could be considered anything but…well…graceful.
Madigan resigned last Thursday, moving up his departure after issuing a statement earlier in the day that he would resign at the end of the month. Sunday, he orchestrated the appointment for his seat to 26-year-old Edward Guerra Kodatt, an aide in the 13th Ward office of Madigan associate Alderman Marty Quinn.
Tuesday, Madigan resigned as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, setting up a proxy battle between Governor JB Pritzker and Senator Dick Durbin for control of the state party.
Tuesday night, Madigan and Quinn released a statement calling on Kodatt to resign after “learning of alleged questionable conduct.” By Wednesday morning, Kodatt was gone.
We still don’t know what the questionable conduct is, and nobody is talking. There’s no paper trail, so Kodatt wasn’t arrested in Cook County and there hasn’t been any court action. Obviously, we’re not in the business of speculating, but this must be something serious, because people in politics don’t stay this tight lipped about anything.
Thursday, Madigan endorsed the candidate originally embraced by Alderwoman Silvana Tabares, 39-year-old Angie Guerrero-Cuellar, for the seat.
Her reaction to the events of the prior 48 hours made me laugh.
“I’m still processing. This is a lot that’s happened in the last 48 hours,” she told reporters after she was selected Thursday. “At least with pregnancy you have nine months to prepare, and this is not something I was really prepared for.”
Here’s our story on Guerrero-Cuellar, who will now be representing the Hispanic-majority district that Madigan has controlled for decades.
PORTER FOR GOVERNOR?
Richard Porter, a high-powered suburban attorney and the Illinois National Committeeman on the Republican National Committee, told me last night he’s “thinking about” a run for Governor next year.
Porter has been Illinois’ national committeeman since 2013. He’s probably a name that isn’t well known outside of super-political circles around the state, but maybe he should be.
My only interaction with him previously was all business, but we spoke for about 30 minutes last night, and for a guy without any sort of elected experience, he is quite sharp on policy. (He did work in President George H.W. Bush’s policy shop in the early 90’s.)
We had a discussion about pension reform. Imagine a candidate for Governor who talks about pension reform?
Though, that may show that he’s a little green in the political sphere. My guess is, as a former campaign operative, someone on his campaign staff would shut him down if he started to go down that road with a political writer.
I don’t know if he’ll get in, but he may be able to be a suburban candidate who is conservative enough to play downstate without scaring away suburban moderates.
Here’s our little reset on the GOP primary: former Sen. Paul Schimpf is in, so is Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia). Businessman Gary Rabine says he’s probably doing so in the next couple of weeks. Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) says he’s focused on session and will “go from there,” but confirms he’s thinking about it. There are also possible wild cards depending on the way congressional seats are drawn that could lead to Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) or Congressman Darrin LaHood (R-Dunlap) to run.
As always, stay tuned.
REP. CHRIS MILLER'S PICKUP DUST UP
I’ll start with a disclosure. Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) and I have a history. I worked on a primary campaign opposing his wife for Congress last year and he and I had a slightly, uh, physical, confrontation as I was recording her at an event. That said, I hope you’ll find this story has no bias and I’ll try to leave any personal thoughts out of the following.
Twitter was buzzing last night as a pickup truck with Illinois lawmaker plates was identified by a page dedicated to identifying people involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January. The Secretary of State’s office confirmed to me last night that the truck does belong to Rep. Miller.
It’s not a huge deal that a pickup truck belonging to a member of Congress (or their spouse) was outside the Capitol that day, but what raised eyebrows was the sticker on the back windshield over the passenger seat.
The three pillars surrounded by thirteen stars is the symbol of a militia group called the “Three percenters.”
The Anti-Defamation League calls the Three percenters “anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement.”
The ADL also says “Three Percenters believe that, just as a small revolutionary vanguard overthrew the tyrannical British rule in America, a dedicated group of modern patriots could rid the United States of today’s alleged tyranny.”
We asked Miller, through a spokesman, if he associated himself with the Three percenters. Here is his unedited statement:
“I have never been a member of the 3 percenters. My son received the sticker that was on my truck from a family friend who said that it represented patriotism and love of country. The original group, which has disbanded, was not a violent anti-government group. They were not involved in the Jan. 6th riots. They have issued a statement distancing themselves from the extremists who have copied their name. I have since removed the sticker. My intention was to display what I thought was a patriotic statement. I love our country and consider myself a patriot. My intention was not to hurt or offend anyone but simply to express what I thought was a statement of patriotism. God bless America.”
The truck was parked near the spot where Congresswoman Miller gave her now infamous “Hitler was right” speech the same day of the insurrection.
LAUF DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT RAUNER
I’ll admit, I didn’t follow Catalina Lauf’s campaign in the 14th District last spring. I was working another Congressional primary in the state. I knew she was trying to be the most “Trumpy” candidate in that race, I knew she was a darling of that crowd, and I knew other candidates were probably splitting votes, helping then-Senator Jim Oberweis win the primary.
When Lauf announced this week that she plans to challenge anti-Trump Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Channahon) in whatever district he may wind up in after redistricting next year, my phone started buzzing. I have a bunch of friends who worked in the Rauner administration or on either his 2014 or 2018 campaign (and most of them still talk to me after I criticized the former Governor…a lot.)
Apparently, Lauf was hired as a “Field Director” for Rauner’s 2018 campaign, though she doesn’t list it in campaign materials or on her personal LinkedIn page.
Is it because she doesn’t want to be associated with a guy who got beat (I mean, she still associates with Trump?) Or is it because she signed on after Rauner signed the controversial HB40 abortion bill and she doesn’t want pro-life voters to know that?
I asked her via text last night, but she did not respond.
WELCH’S ROUNDS
House Speaker Chris Welch did an hourlong session this week with the Economic Club of Chicago (moderated by my talented and lovely friend Amanda Vinicky of WTTW.) Here are a couple of nuggets from that presentation (you can view the whole thing here):
says he doesn’t know anything about the allegations that caused Madigan successor Ed Kodatt to resign.
he’s not picking sides in the open race for Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman (to replace Madigan, of course.)
called Gov. Pritzker’s budget proposal a “good start,” and offers his support for eliminating some “corporate loopholes.”
This got a little coverage: “If we were to take another shot at the progressive tax, I do think we should tie it to something…allow us to do this and the dollars we generate from this will help us pay off our pension obligations.”
“If we don’t change that flat tax structure, we’re gonna be talking about [a graduated tax] again in five years, we’re gonna be talking about it again in ten years, in 15 years. We know what the problem is and Illinois needs to create new revenue…It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that is one of the structural changes that we need.”
On ethics reform: “many of us already know that the Statement of Economic Interest is a worthless piece of document. It confuses us, so imagine what it does to the layperson?”
Also suggested looking at a revolving door provision, banning legislators from resigning and going straight to lobbying.
On redistricting: “I think a fair map is a map that reflects the diversity of our state.” Says its too early to discuss the process.
“What I [attribute] the polarization in American politics today to is social media and the partisan media outlets…What we really have to do is get back to a politics that is more compassionate and civil, where Democrats and Republicans work together, we don’t hate each other. That’s not good for anyone.”
He’s also doing Q&A with the bipartisan Lincoln Forum over the lunch hour today. You can register for free here.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Happy birthday today to former State Rep. Suzi Bassi.
Congressman Adam Kinzinger turns 43 tomorrow. Former State Rep. Coy Pugh also celebrates tomorrow. Sen. Rob Martwick turns 55 Sunday.
On Monday, former Congressman Randy Hultgren and former Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson celebrate birthdays. So does former State Senator Karen McConnaughay.
BEFORE WE GO
Always feel free to send me your tips, thoughts, comments, high and illustrious praise, and frustrations about what’s going on in this little newsletter and in this big state. E-mail me anytime at patrick@theillinoize.com.
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Have a great weekend.