THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All....Irvin pulls downstate TV...A testy Senate primary in Joliet...Congressional primary battles may give us big races in the fall
June 9, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
So, Illinois is officially stoned.
Well, it’s more like an official rock.
No public events announced for today from the Governor’s official office or campaign or any of the GOP candidates for Governor. There are 19 days to the primary election.
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Let’s get to it.
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Irvin campaign pulling downstate TV ads next week (The Illinoize)
Sources confirm the campaign of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who is running for the GOP nomination for Governor, has pulled all broadcast TV ads in downstate Illinois beginning next week.
Some GOP insiders tell us the move likely indicates one of two things: either they’re changing their message at the last minute or billionaire Ken Griffin won’t be coming through with additional money before the primary.
“They’re admitting Bailey is surging in the polls,” a longtime GOP operative said of the move. “So, they have to believe they need to change up their marketing for the final stretch.”
The operative says to expect a more conservative message for the final two weeks.
“They’ll focus on red meat that doesn’t hurt them in the general,” the operative said. “Inflation is the number one issue right now and it has overtaken crime, so they’d be smart to talk about that.”
Irvin and team have made crime the top issue of their campaign along with attacks on conservative downstate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, trying to argue the two are actually Democrats. Irvin, though, is the candidate that has voted Democrat in 5 of the last 6 primary elections.
“I think a lot of people [down here] are just turned off to [Irvin] because of all of the blatant lies he’s been telling,” one uncommitted downstate lawmaker said.
A different Republican operative says if Irvin is pulling back, it could spell bad news for the GOP in November.
“Once again, Republicans are engaging in a circular firing squad to kill off their only chance to beat Pritzker and finance down ticket races. Now the wave will skip Illinois," the GOP insider said. “Bailey is delusional and not enough Republicans will call him out on it. There’s still time to save this, but there are only a few seconds left on the clock.”
Related: Already steeped in controversy, Irvin and city of Aurora revokes permit for Pride Parade saying there’s not enough law enforcement to provide security (Aurora Beacon News)
Illinois’ race for governor is once again clouded by deaths at veterans’ homes (WBEZ)
Pritzker struts fiscal progress in chamber speech, but leaves out a few things (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Can Schimpf's call for unity be heard above noise? (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Jim Nowlan: What does Ken Griffin want from politics? (Shaw Media)
Republican attorney general candidate: 'Where they do not enforce the law, we will enforce it' (Daily Herald)
GOP candidates talk about issues in race for Illinois attorney general (Rockford Register Star)
Democratic 43rd state Senate candidates have different priorities (Daily Herald)
Democrats Eric Mattson and Rachel Ventura have similar viewpoints on issues facing residents in the 43rd state Senate District, but they'll prioritize the issues differently should they win the upcoming election.
Mattson, who is longtime Joliet firefighter, said his top focus would be mental health. Ventura, a Will County Board member, is targeting climate change for the district that represents Woodridge, Naperville, Bolingbrook, Romeoville and other communities.
In recent years, the 43rd state Senate seat has been held by a Democrat, including by John Connor, who was reelected in 2020 but stepped down last month to care for a family member. Mattson was appointed to fill the seat until the June primary.
While Ventura believes the process to fill the seat was unfair, she said can win the primary because of her stance on issues important to the region, such as climate change.
"I think a lot of people, when they hear climate they think just environment," Ventura said. "We do need to have an environmental cleanup, especially in the 43rd District, but we also need job transition.
Mattson, while recognizing the importance of climate change, said his primary issue will be mental health. He said it's more important than ever in the wake of recent shootings in Texas and elsewhere, an opinion shared by Ventura.
Related: Donald Debolt takes on Sen. Steve McClure in GOP primary for Illinois 54th Senate District (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Steve McClure, candidate for Illinois 54th Senate District (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Don Debolt, candidate for Illinois 54th Senate District (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Joe Hackler, Republican candidate for state representative, 112th District in Illinois (Belleville News-Democrat)
Survey: Jennifer Korte, Republican candidate for state representative, 112th District in Illinois (Belleville News-Democrat)
Fiscal responsibility, tax relief are priorities for Illinois House 96th district candidates (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Prescott Paulin, 96th House District GOP candidate for Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Lisa Smith Roth, 96th District candidate for the Illinois House (State Journal-Register)
GOP candidates line up for chance to challenge Underwood, Foster in two closely watched congressional districts (Chicago Tribune)
Republican candidates for Congress are trying to stand out from the pack in primary races this month for a chance to take on incumbent Democrats in two closely watched Chicago-area districts, following a remap that’s changed the political landscape.
Some congressional districts have been moved to largely new areas of the state. Democrats drew the new lines to favor their own candidates, but some suburban and rural districts — particularly Rep. Lauren Underwood’s 14th and Rep. Bill Foster’s 11th — are likely to remain highly contested come November.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report predicted that both districts are likely to go Democratic, though Cook’s House editor David Wasserman said a Republican wave could put those seats into play. But the Republican candidates in the 14th were beset by a lack of funds, he said, and in the 11th, one prominent candidate’s connections with former President Donald Trump may help in the primary but hurt in the general election.
Related: Fresh vs. familiar? Danny Davis touts commitment to 7th Congressional District, but primary rivals want new voices and vision (Chicago Sun-Times)
A young Chicago progressive is challenging an established liberal for Congress in a race that reflects Democratic Party divisions (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Kathy Salvi for the Republican primary for Tammy Duckworth’s U.S. Senate seat (Chicago Tribune)
Survey: Meet Matthew 'Matt' Dubiel, candidate for U.S. senator from Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Peggy Hubbard, candidate for U.S. senator from Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Bill Redpath, candidate for U.S. senator from Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Survey: Meet Robert 'Bobby' Piton, candidate for U.S. senator from Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Editorial: Grasso in GOP primary for Congress from Dist. 6 (Daily Herald)
4 of 6 GOP candidates in 6th House race understate deadly Capitol riot (Daily Herald)
Editorial: Dargis for 8th U.S. House in Republican primary (Daily Herald)
Where 8th Congressional District GOP hopefuls stand on violent crime, gun control (Daily Herald)
Survey: Chris Dargis: 2022 candidate for 8th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Survey: Karen Kolodziej: 2022 candidate for 8th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Survey: Peter Kopsaftis: 2022 candidate for 8th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Police were 'coached' to make Jan. 6 Capitol incursion look like a siege, candidate says (Daily Herald)
13th Congressional District hopefuls meet in candidate forum. Here's what they said (State Journal-Register)
Illinois' 17th Congressional District has many candidates to choose from for June primary election (Quad City Times)
Survey: Robert Cruz: 2022 candidate for U.S. House 6th District (Daily Herald)
Survey: Scott Kaspar: 2022 candidate for U.S. House 6th District (Daily Herald)
How it happened: Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s path to the Jan. 6 committee (Chicago Sun-Times)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger started his congressional career in 2011 pretty much as a party line GOP conservative from a district outside of Chicago rarely in the big city news.
Kinzinger, 44, will end it in January — he’s not running again — known nationally as a crusader against extremism. He is one of only two Republicans — along with Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming —willing to serve on the Democratic-led committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Donald Trump’s role in trying to overturn the election and prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power.
That Kinzinger landed on the panel is part of the story of his evolution — not only in his battles against Trump’s election denialism and attacks on our democratic institutions — but in his voting record, emerging in his last year in office as, according to a Chicago Sun-Times roll call analysis, the rare Republican with a stream of cross aisle votes.
By May 2020, Kinzinger was troubled over how conspiracy theories had taken hold in his party. Unlike most other Republicans, Kinzinger, a military pilot, did not fear then-President Trump, so he did something about it — posting a videotitled “Unplug the Rage Machine,” where he warned people of baseless claims peddled by conspiracy theorists.
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