THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...More drip drip drip for Bailey...FOP Endorsement...Prison health care...and the Butter Cow

Aug 11, 2022

August 11, 2022

Good morning, Illinois. Happy State Fair Day. I spoke to State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark on WMAY yesterday. You can listen to it here.

I’ll be on WLS-AM with Steve Cochran just after 6am this morning talking about Illinois politics. You can listen live here.

We also had our weekly livestream and podcast yesterday. We visited with Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) and Lee Enterprises State Government Reporter Brenden Moore.

Check it out here:

Governor Pritzker will cut the ribbon to open the Illinois State Fair at 3:00 P.M. The Bailey campaign has not released a public schedule for the day.

On the opening day of the Illinois State Fair, we’re offering you a special for a yearly subscription. The first Illinois State Fair was in 1853, so we’re going to knock $18.53 off the cost of a yearlong subscription. Click below!

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Darren Bailey internet posts shine brighter light on candidate's and wife’s cultural views (Crain’s Chicago Business)

A series of internet postings by GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey cast new light on his views of such issues as the validity of the Islamic faith, Chicago Public Schools’ bathroom policies and how transgender people ought to be treated.
The posts, coming after a controversy in which Bailey suggested abortion has had a much bigger impact than the Holocaust, have him agreeing that Islam “is not a religion of peace,” that CPS’ decision to let children use the bathroom that conforms to their sexual identity is “sickness,” and that a young person born as a biological woman who thinks they may actually be as a man needs to accept “reality.”
Other material was posted by Bailey’s wife, Cindy.

Do they not realize how these will play in a general election? I have combed through so many candidate (and spouse) social media pages, in fact, demanded passwords most of the time so I could delete bad photos and posts. Who dropped the ball? Or do they not care how it looks to voters in the suburbs?

Related: Bailey’s campaign, asked for a response and details of his and his wife's current views on such subjects, replied by posting a two-minute YouTube video. (Crain’s)

Pritzker: Bailey owes apology to Holocaust survivors for ‘offensive’ comparison to abortion (Chicago Sun-Times)

Opinion: This is the Darren Bailey Republicans Feared (The Illinoize)

Patrick Pfingsten’s radio monologue on Bailey’s continued missteps (WMAY Radio)

Amid FOP endorsements, Bailey blames crime on Pritzker, who calls him a 'hypocrite' (Daily Herald)

Buoyed by endorsements from two major police unions, Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey pledged Monday to cut crime with measures such as instituting a statewide prosecutor.
The Xenia state senator zeroed in on Democrats Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, calling them "the three musketeers of crime."
After supporting Pritzker in 2018, the Illinois FOP, representing over 34,000 members, backs Bailey. FOP Lodge 7, with about 17,000 Chicago officers, endorsed Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin in the June 28 primary but now aligns with Bailey.
"We thought Richard Irvin had the best chance to beat Pritzker," Lodge 7 President John Catanzara said. "Darren Bailey proved us all wrong."
Pritzker rebutted the criticisms while at an event with Lightfoot in Chicago. Bailey voted against expanding the Illinois State Police forensic science program and new crime labs, the governor said.
Illinois FOP President Chris Southwood said Bailey "supports public safety, law enforcement and sanity, three things that are definitely not priorities for the current administration."

Related: Despite differences, police unions endorse Bailey for governor, because he backs officers ‘unlike any of the politicians in this state’ (Chicago Sun-Times)