THE ILLINOIZE: What the "star witness" in ComEd trial said...More wiretaps...Why Vallas will win Chicago Mayor race
March 28, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
Happy Tuesday.
There are 52 days before the scheduled May 19 adjournment date, 357 days to the 2024 primary, and 588 days to the 2024 general election. Just in case you’re keeping track.
The House and Senate return today at noon. There is nothing on the Governor’s public schedule.
If you haven’t yet become a paid subscriber yet, now is the time. Scoops galore come to subscribers on Wednesdays and Fridays. In fact, I’m working on one for tomorrow. Click here to join us.
Let’s get to it.
COMED’S MARQUEZ TESTIFIES IN CORRUPTION TRIAL
Fidel Marquez, a former Commonwealth Edison executive , who pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy, testified in the trial of the so-called “ComEd Four”
Some more details from Tina Sfondeles from the Chicago Sun-Times:
The government’s star witness took the stand at the ComEd bribery trial on Monday as prosecutors presented FBI recordings and internal ComEd documents showing the money went to people who allegedly did no work for the utility company.
“She wanted to make sure that we did everything possible to make sure that Michael Madigan had a favorable disposition toward the company,” Marquez testified, referring to former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore.
Marquez agreed to cooperate with investigators in 2019 and secretly recorded his colleagues who are now on trial: Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain and Jay Doherty, onetime City Club of Chicago president.
The four are accused of arranging for jobs, contracts and money for Madigan’s associates while legislation crucial to ComEd moved through Springfield.
t the heart of Monday’s testimony was government evidence that Madigan associates were paid as subcontractors through Doherty’s firm but did no legitimate work for ComEd.
Exhibits included a 2017 contract in which Doherty’s consulting firm was paid $429,400, with $108,000 of that contract going to former 13th Ward precinct captain Ed Moody and former Chicago Ald. Frank Olivo, according to Marquez. Pramaggiore’s signature is on the January 23, 2017 contract.
In a May 16, 2018 call recorded by the FBI, jurors heard McClain explain to Marquez why Ray Nice should be paid $5,000 a month through Doherty’s ComEd contract. While the transcript of the call had previously been noted in pretrial filings with redactions, it was the first time the audio was released.
"Let me just tell you about each guy as you go through them, " McClain said.
“Ray Nice, he’s one of the top three precinct captains and he also trained people how to go door to door. And so, just to give you an idea of how important the guy is.”
The list also included former State Rep. Eddie Acevedo, who was later dropped after McClain told Marquez in 2018, “You can get rid of him.
It was the first step from the government to show the dealings between Madigan, McClain, and ComEd were criminal instead of just political horse trading.
“I know that they were brought on as a favor to Michael Madigan,” Marquez testified. “For Madigan to see ComEd positively. So that he could perhaps be helpful for our legislative agenda in Springfield.” (according to the Tribune)
One of the wiretaps played yesterday was between McClain and Pramaggiore as Pramaggiore was about the be promoted to Exelon CEO in 2018, and she credited McClain and Madigan for successes of the utility.
There were also conversations where lobbyists were trying to benefit ComEd in opposition to Madigan. In 2018, McClain and ComEd lobbyist John Hooker discussed trying to kill an electric grid bill pushed by Madigan’s daughter, then-Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Marquez is due back on the stand today.
OPINION: WHY VALLAS WILL WIN THE MAYOR’S RACE
A new poll from our friends at WGN-TV released a new poll in the Chicago Mayor’s race yesterday showing centrist Democrat Paul Vallas leading progressive Democrat Brandon Johnson by about five points with just a week to go before Chicago’s runoff election.
The five point lead itself isn’t indicative of the belief I have that Vallas will win, they’re running two different campaigns that show up differently in the polls. (GOP operative Collin Corbett puts it well: Vallas is running a persuasion campaign and Johnson is running a turnout campaign.)
But, if you dig into some of the questions WGN and Emerson College asked voters, you see why Vallas is the decided favorite down the stretch.
According to WGN’s poll, Vallas is receiving 60% of the white vote and 57% of the Hispanic vote. (Latino voters, by the way, are almost even with African Americans in Chicago’s population.) That’s a coalition that is hard to beat, even if Johnson cleans house among African American voters. Johnson has 55% of African American support, and Vallas has made end roads with top Black leaders, earning endorsements from former Secretary of State Jesse White, former Congressman Bobby Rush, businessman Willie Wilson, and at least seven current or former Black Aldermen.
But what benefits a moderate candidate with a crime message like Vallas are the questions voters responded to on issues.
The poll showed 52% of voters listed crime as their number one issue (which is obvious to most of us paying attention to things in the city right now, but apparently not to people that think a “defund the police” candidate is the answer). 61% of respondents say they believe there is more crime in Chicago today than a year ago. 54% say they trust Vallas more to handle crime in Chicago.
Vallas has done enough to quell concerns about his silly unforced errors cozying up a little too closely to some right wing weirdos like Awake Illinois and the gadfly hosts of a marginal Chicago talk radio station. Dick Durbin isn’t endorsing a Trumper, guys.
While he probably should have put this race away by now, with his establishment support and gobs of money, Vallas is still in the catbird’s seat with seven days to go.
Obviously, the Johnson people are hoping to excite young and super-progressive turnout. That didn’t so much work in the first round in 2019, where there wasn’t a high quality progressive candidate, and everyone sort of coalesced around Lori Lightfoot in the runoff.
While its certainly possible the Johnson campaign has tens of thousands of young progressive voters out there that aren’t showing up in polls and models, but there isn’t really a track record of that in citywide races in recent years. (Chuy Garcia’s 2015 run against Rahm Emanuel is the most successful in a runoff in some time and he only got up to 44%.)
In the end, this is a race between practicality and pipe dreams. Vallas is running on the two things that really matter: crime and city finances. Johnson is trying to run on a progressive utopia, but all people are seeing is the constant backtracking on the “defund the police” statements he has previously associated with.
Vallas has the message, Vallas has the money, Vallas has the establishment support, Vallas has the momentum.
Advantage, Vallas.
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