THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free For All...⏲️Five days left⏲️...Man arrested for threatening Bailey...Early vote spike...SAFE-T Act lawsuits consolidated
November 3, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
There are five days to the November 8 General Election. Governor Pritzker campaigns on the south side of Chicago at 10:45 this morning with Alderman Stephanie Coleman and at 1:30 in southwest suburban Hodgkins with Senate candidate Mike Porfirio and House candidate Abdelnasser Rashid. Darren Bailey will vote early at the Clay County Courthouse in Louisville at 1pm and will hold a 6pm rally in downtown Effingham.
If you missed our Livestream and podcast yesterday with U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Salvi and Dan Petrella of the Chicago Tribune, you can see it here or listen to the podcast here.
I’ll be on a live election preview with sharp young reporter Ben Szalinski of The Daily Line at noon. You can sign up to watch it here.
I’m also coming out of the bullpen again today on WMAY in Springfield. I’ll be in for Jim Leach from 4pm-6pm. You can listen online at www.wmay.com.
I’ll also be on WGN-TV all night Tuesday as election results come in. More on that Monday (and Tuesday). Our friend Ben Garbarek will man the Election Night live blog on the website while I’m basking in the alluring glow of TV lights.
Yesterday, paid subscribers got exclusive stories on a Democratic House candidate having a “Kaepernick” moment and the GOP pitch to donors in the last week. It’s the kind of stuff we give exclusively to our paid subscribers twice each week. It’s just $9.99 per month and $99 for a full year, and we’ll love you and cherish you forever for your support. Just click below to join us.
Let’s get to it.
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North Side man charged with sending GOP gov hopeful Darren Bailey voicemail death threat: ‘I know where his kids sleep’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
Prosecutors say anger over a political television ad at a bar led a Chicago man to send Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey a voicemail threatening to mutilate and kill him and his family — a threat that also prompted a lockdown of schools associated with the state senator and his family.
Scott Lennox, 21, is charged with one felony count each of threatening a public official, telephone harassment and harassment by electronic communications, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
The voicemail in question followed a fight Lennox had at a Chicago bar after a political ad appeared on the bar’s television. The ad — and repeated ads he had seen during the campaign — made Lennox “angry,” prosecutors said, and a “heated argument” began between Lennox and his friends, leading him to send a voicemail to Bailey’s Springfield office, prosecutors said.
“I’m going to skin Darren Bailey alive, making sure he is still alive, and I’m going to feed his f——— family to him as he is alive and screaming in f——— pain,” prosecutors say Lennox said in the voicemail. He also made statements about abortion in his message.
“He is a piece of white a— racist s—-, and honestly if he doesn’t kill himself, I will. You know what? I know where he lives. I know where he sleeps. I know where his kids sleep. And I know the f——— school he works at,”
Lennox also said he didn’t like Gov. J.B. Pritzker but stated he didn’t like Bailey “even more.”
The escalation of political rhetoric is a huge problem. We need to tone this down.
Related: Avalanche of mail hitting Illinois voters, but funding behind partisan ‘newspapers’ not disclosed (Chicago Sun-Times)
Partisan publication hits 'Chambana' mailboxes (Champaign News-Gazette)
How anti-Pritzker PAC is trying to suppress the Black vote in Chicago (Chicago Sun-Times)
Billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker uses trust to skirt contribution limits in Illinois Supreme Court races (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker moves to make abortion more accessible to people in prisons (WBEZ)
What drives Pritzker, Bailey on transportation issues? (Daily Herald)
Popularity of mail ballots continues increasing as voter turnout looks to match 2018 midterms (Chicago Tribune)
The number of voters casting their ballots before Election Day in Chicago and some surrounding counties is closely tracking the voter turnout in the 2018 midterm election, according to several election officials.
Through Monday, 131,165 Chicago voters had cast early votes or returned mail ballots, compared with 132,065 at the same point four years earlier, the last time Illinois had a race for governor and other statewide offices. Election officials in Chicago said pre-Election Day turnout has increased in recent weeks after turnout about a month ago had seemed low.
One week ahead of Election Day, Nov. 8, voters are increasingly using mail ballots to make their selections, a trend experts say could point to permanent changes.
58 SAFE-T Act lawsuits against Pritzker consolidated to Kankakee County (Joliet Herald-News)
Lawsuits from prosecutors in 58 of 102 counties in Illinois challenging a criminal justice reform law have been consolidated into one case in Kankakee County, which will lead the case on behalf of plaintiffs.
The Illinois Supreme Court entered an order filed Monday to consolidate the 58 cases challenging the SAFE-T Act to one Kankakee County case that will be heard by Thomas Cunningham, chief judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit, which covers Kankakee and Iroquois counties.
On Sept. 16, [Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim] Rowe, along with Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, filed lawsuits to challenge the SAFE-T Act.
Related: Opinion: With election days away, Pritzker changes stance on SAFE-T Act (Champaign News-Gazette)
Candidates spar over SAFE-T Act at Decatur forum (Herald & Review)
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Illinois: What to expect on election night (Associated Press)
Biden in Illinois Friday to rally Democrats ahead of Tuesday vote; Harris in city Sunday (Chicago Sun-Times)
What To Know About: The Amendment to Make Illinois Union Friendlier (Chicago Magazine)
Opinion: Amendment 1 represents labor's push for political panacea (Champaign News-Gazette)
A look at the statewide races as election enters its final week (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois treasurer candidates differ on role of treasurer, amount of campaign money (Peoria Journal Star)
Uihlein-funded super PAC dumping cash into suburban congressional races (Daily Herald)
In campaign that has raised social issues, US Rep. Sean Casten looks to cement power against Keith Pekau (Chicago Tribune)
GOP House leader McCarthy coming to Oak Brook this week for Pekau fundraiser (Daily Herald)
State Sen. Michael Hastings’ campaign denies attempt to mislead with letter from sister who shares his ex-wife’s name (Daily Southtown)
State 24th District Senate candidates differ on how to improve the business climate in Illinois (Daily Herald)
Murphy and Raspanti praise parts of the SAFE-T Act -- and see room for improvement (Daily Herald)
Rockford man challenges Stadelman's bid for 4th term in Senate (Rockford Register Star)
Koehler, Anderson contest 46th Illinois Senate District race (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Editorial: For Illinois House: Jeffery Coleman, Patricia Bonk, Mary Flowers, Carl Kunz, Marcus Evans Jr., Fran Hurley, Tom Toolis, Anthony Curran, Janet Yang Rohr, Stefanie Hood, Anna Moeller (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: For Illinois House: Crespo, Mazzochi, Stevens, Grant, Nizamuddin, Wallace, Bos, McLaughlin, Vrett, Canty, Lupo, Litney, Carroll, Morgan, Didech (Chicago Tribune)
Education, taxes at the forefront for candidates vying for Sosnowski’s House seat (Rockford Register Star)
Newcomers from Bloomington, Normal face in 91st Illinois House District (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Plainfield roots figure prominently in 97th House race (Daily Herald)
Republicans turn up the heat in state Supreme Court races (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Election Day forecast: Illinois statehouse reporter Brenden Moore's predictions (Bloomington Pantagraph)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM THE WEEK SO FAR
Video Appears to Show Suburban House Candidate Kneeling During National Anthem
Former Congresswoman, Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard Stumps for Bailey in Suburbs
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