THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Salvi meets the media...Pritzker/Bears...Madigan in court
July 18, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
Paid subscribers got our latest podcast yesterday afternoon. Free subscribers get it later this morning. We’ll also have a subscriber-only update a little later this morning on some conversations we had at the RNC yesterday.
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Governor JB Pritzker speaks at a Quantum Technology Summit at 8:30 and signs the carbon capture bill in Decatur at 11:30.
Let’s get to it.
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At RNC, Illinois GOP starts looking to 2026 election (Chicago Tribune)
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was taunting an old Capitol Hill nemesis on the crowded floor of the Republican National Convention when an Illinois Republican Party official with a low profile outside of state GOP circles stepped in.
“Shut up, don’t be an a–hole,” Illinois Republican National Committeeman Richard Porter said to Gaetz, who was interrupting an interview being given by the man he helped oust as House speaker, former California U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
“Dude, I don’t even know who you are, man,” the boisterous congressman said to Porter, who quickly responded, “It doesn’t f—ing matter who I am. Don’t be an a–hole,” before Gaetz walked away.
Video of Tuesday night’s confrontation has since gotten more than a half a million views on the social media platform X, at least temporarily raising Porter’s profile — one online commentator flippantly calling for him to be the next House speaker.
That’s not likely to happen, but Porter may have designs on public office in Illinois. During this week’s convention, Porter has been among a handful of names floated by some Illinois top Republicans as possible GOP candidates for governor in 2026 as the state party looks to reinvent itself with new leadership after years of losing ground to Democrats.
It won’t be easy for Republicans and they know it. Democrats control all three branches of state government. On the federal level, just three of the state’s 17 congressmen are Republican, and both U.S. senators are Democrats.
But reflecting the rah-rah atmosphere of a national political convention, newly elected state Republican Chair Kathy Salvi said, “The Illinois Republican Party apparatus will be out to win in the general election in 2026.”
Illinois delegates and others in Milwaukee agreed that a viable GOP candidate for governor needs to figure out how to unify moderate Republicans from the Chicago area and with increasingly conservative counterparts in rural parts of the state. The party’s struggles have coincided with the ascension of former President Donald Trump, who lost in Illinois twice by 17 percentage points as traditional GOP strongholds in suburban areas of the state turned blue.
Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, of Savanna, said fielding a successful GOP candidate for governor could depend on the state party’s success in the November election in various legislative races. Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, including a 78-40 advantage in the House, where McCombie serves as minority leader.
“We need to have somebody who has a vision, who’s willing to be smart and willing to put forward a plan to talk about taking our assets that we have and building on those to build a better economy for Illinoisans,” McCombie said.
Porter, a retired partner with the Kirkland & Ellis law firm who worked in the White House under former President George H.W. Bush, said a Republican candidate will need a strong personality and cash to compete against a Democrat in the race for governor.
“I think authenticity is very important in this day and age. I think the ability to raise money, to build and connect with people on things they’re concerned about,” he said in an interview during the Illinois GOP delegation’s breakfast on Wednesday.
Porter said he thought about running for governor two years ago with a focus on fiscal policy — he said the state relied too much on billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief money. He said he’s looking at a 2026 run, depending on how the field of candidates shapes up.
If Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker runs for a third term, Porter said a Republican candidate will have to communicate to voters that Pritzker is “pushing ideas that I think really have no place in Illinois.”
Related: ‘I expressed myself’: Suburban GOP official confronts Matt Gaetz at RNC and goes viral (Daily Herald)
MIRA? New Illinois GOP chair Kathy Salvi vows to end ‘blue funk’: ‘We're gonna make Illinois red again’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
New Illinois GOP chair vows to end ‘blue funk’ and heal fractured party (Daily Herald)
Under new leadership, Illinois GOP urged to 'build bridges' within party (Bloomington Pantagraph)
On party infighting, Illinois’ new GOP chair says ‘start calling those people out’ (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois delegates in Milwaukee say JD Vance ‘will bring a lot of energy’ to GOP ticket (Chicago Tribune)
‘Very extremist views’: Pritzker, Durbin rip into VP nominee Vance (Daily Herald)
US Rep. Mary Miller, who at RNC says media has ‘demonized Trump,’ symbolizes rightward shift of Illinois GOP (Chicago Tribune)
Rep. Darin LaHood lifts the curtain for an insider look at the Republican National Convention (Chicago Sun-Times)
After pouring cold water on Bears stadium deal, Pritzker sits down with Warren (Crain’s Chicago Business)
After sacking the Chicago Bears' bid for public funding of a new domed stadium on the lakefront this spring, Gov. J.B. Pritzker met team president Kevin Warren this morning in Chicago.
Pritzker repeatedly deemed the Bears' $4.7 billion lakefront stadium plan a “non-starter” and has kept Warren at arms-length even as Warren made a pitch to state lawmakers, with the endorsement of Mayor Brandon Johnson, to craft a deal during the General Assembly’s spring session.
Pritzker’s office confirmed the two had breakfast this morning while downplaying the significance of the meeting.
“(Pritzker) regularly meets with business leaders and Mr. Warren is the head of an Illinois based business,” spokesman Alex Gough said in a statement.
A Bears spokesperson declined to comment.
While Pritzker has distanced himself from the team's plans, he has not completely shut down the idea that the state could be involved in a deal to keep the team in Chicago as long as it's "good for taxpayers."
A source familiar with the sit-down described it as a chance for the two to get to know one another rather than a serious discussion on the nuts and bolts of the team’s stadium proposal.
But the meeting does mark a shift in Pritzker’s willingness to entertain the Bears' plans. He previously deputized a sit-down with Warren to his chief of staff Anne Caprara and deputy governor for economic development Andy Manar when the team visited Springfield in the spring.
It’s highly unlikely Pritzker will endorse a plan unless the Bears initiate a major overhaul of their current plans, which would see the team receive $900 million from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to build the new stadium just south of Soldier Field. The team is also seeking $1.5 billion in public infrastructure dollars to improve access to the Museum Campus and to all but demolish Soldier Field to make way for 14 acres in green space and potentially a publicly owned hotel.
By the way, Pritzker’s Chief of Staff tweeted the meeting was no big deal.
Madigan lawyers seek dismissal of 14 counts against ex-House speaker, citing Supreme Court ruling (Chicago Sun-Times)
Lawyers for Michael Madigan have asked a federal judge to dismiss 14 criminal counts against the former Illinois House speaker, arguing they have been “upended” by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an Indiana corruption case.
U.S. District Judge John Blakey did not address Madigan’s 73-page motion during a status hearing Tuesday afternoon. The judge requested the revised motion, which largely reflects one filed earlier this year, in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Portage, Indiana Mayor James Snyder.
Madigan attended the hearing but did not speak.
The Supreme Court ruled that a key statute at play in Madigan’s case criminalizes bribery among state and local officials, but not after-the-fact rewards known as “gratuities.” Madigan’s lawyers seized on the ruling to argue that 14 of the indictment’s 23 counts must be dismissed.
“Now that Snyder has held that gratuities are not criminalized by [the federal bribery statute], these and the many other allegations ... cannot stand,” Madigan’s lawyers wrote. “The mismatch between the conduct alleged and the statutes invoked is a fatal defect that precludes this prosecution.”
Madigan, 82, is accused of leading a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade designed to enhance his political power and generate income for his allies and associates. Prosecutors allege the Southwest Side Democrat helped promote favorable legislation for utility companies ComEd and AT&T Illinois in exchange for jobs for his associates. Madigan left office in 2021 and was indicted in March 2022.
Madigan and co-defendant Michael F. McClain are set to go to trial Oct. 8.
In the filing, defense lawyers noted that, in several counts, Madigan’s alleged official acts happened well before any alleged hiring decisions by ComEd for Madigan allies.
“Snyder upends this prosecution,” the lawyers wrote.
A day after the motion was filed, Madigan appeared at a hearing Tuesday as Blakey and attorneys hashed out housekeeping items before jurors are summoned in the coming weeks.
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Illinois lands federal partnership to further develop quantum projects (Chicago Sun-Times)
State Sen. Napoleon Harris' campaign spent $6,600 at high-end department stores, at least partly on clothes (Chicago Sun-Times)
Budzinski, Durbin still backing Biden as more Dems call for him step out (State Journal-Register)
Editorial: The Democrats should let delegates vote in person in Chicago (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Is public transit status quo worth preserving? If so, at what cost? (Shaw Media)
Opinion: Time for Illinois to ban wildlife killing contests (Champaign News-Gazette)
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