* Steve Huntley has a bit of news today about the GOP gubernatorial primary race. Andy McKenna may keep spending on TV ads throughout the holidays…
A February primary usually means a timeout in campaigning while voters are preoccupied with the holidays. But McKenna is exploring using his money advantage to press his message in December.
* Congressman Luis Gutierrez has endorsed Pat Quinn. From a press release…
Pointing to Pat Quinn’s decades-long fight for “kitchen table” issues and reforms that really matter to working families, U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) today announced his endorsement of Governor Quinn.
“Pat Quinn is a champion for consumers, for senior citizens, for veterans, for Latinos and for all of the people of our state,” Gutierrez said at a news conference at Caballeros De San Juan (Credit Union 1) in Chicago. “Governor Quinn understands that every day in Illinois, families are sitting at their kitchen tables making tough decisions about how to make ends meet. Pat Quinn is the person I want in the Governor’s office helping those families.”
* Dan Hynes got off a pretty good zinger in his first ever head-to-head with Gov. Pat Quinn…
“All of a sudden [Hynes] says he’s for a graduated income tax, but it was on the ballot in 2004, he voted against it,” Quinn said. […]
“If the competition is who was for raising taxes first, I guess you win,” [Hynes] told Quinn.
Heh.
The two met at a Rock Island County Democratic “town hall” last night. Quinn appeared to be a bit testy at times. For instance, when asked if they would support whomever won the Democratic primary, Hynes said he would…
Quinn said Hynes’ answer couldn’t be trusted, but didn’t answer the question directly himself, only saying, “I’m a Democrat. I always have been.”
* Dock Walls slammed Gov. Quinn yesterday for challenging his nominating petitions…
Walls is the only African American running for governor. He says Quinn is trying to knock him off the ballot to improve his own chances of getting most of the black vote in the primary election.
“it’s racially based challenge of petitions of a candidate who’s qualified to be on the ballot for a nefarious purpose,” said Walls.
A Quinn spokesman says Walls has experience on both sides of the petition challenge process. The spokesman says Walls once failed to get on the ballot for city clerk because he didn’t have enough legitimate signatures and another time unsuccessfully challenged Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s nominating petitions.
* The Illinois State Board of Elections held its ballot placement lottery yesterday…
Topping ballots in Feb. 2 primaries for governor will be William “Dock” Walls of Chicago for the Democrats and state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale for the Republicans.
In the races for nomination for U.S. Senate, the lottery showed that Robert Marshall of Burr Ridge will be on top in the Democratic contest, while Don Lowery of Golconda is to lead the GOP ballot.
Ballot placement is far more important for down-ballot races…
In the field of six Republicans and six Democrats seeking the post of lieutenant governor, attorney and family businessman Don Tracy of Springfield finished first in the GOP while state Rep. Art Turner of Chicago won the top spot among Democrats. Turner’s petitions face a challenge.
In the race among three Democrats and three Republicans for the state comptroller nomination, Democratic state Rep. David Miller of Lynwood got the first ballot position while former state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka won the GOP’s top placement for the office.
* Democratic US Senate candidate Jacob Meister is trying to get a bit of traction by attacking his opponents…
Meister called state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias a “career politician” and made note of Cheryle Jackson’s work as a one-time spokeswoman for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“Cheryle Jackson comes right out of the inner sanctum of the Blagojevich administration,” Meister said. […]
Meister criticized former Chicago inspector general David Hoffman for trying to make the race about ethics.
“Hoffman is playing the slick game of trying to make this election about corruption and his plan for fighting corruption,” Meister said.
He has a very long row to hoe, to say the least. Trying to get your name known before Feb. 2nd is pretty near impossible without a multi-million dollar warchest.
* Related…
* ICIRR says ILGOP descending into “anti-Muslim hysteria”
* State Sen. Cronin will top ballot in DuPage chairman’s race: If conventional wisdom holds true, state Sen. Dan Cronin picked up an extra 5 percent of the Republican votes Tuesday in his bid for the DuPage County Board Chairman’s seat.
* Ethics complaint filed against Lake County’s Linda Pedersen: The complaint was filed by Eighth District Democratic Central Committeewoman Nancy Shepherdson on Thursday with the Office of the Legislative Inspector General in Springfield. It says that Pedersen used Republican State Rep. JoAnn Osmond’s office phone to accept RSVPs for a fundraiser for County Board Chairwoman and Republican state Senate candidate Suzi Schmidt. Pedersen is a legislative aide for Osmond and works in her Antioch office.
* House GOP Leader endorses McKenna for governor
* Andrzejewski would repeal new video gambling law
* CFL passes on Cook prez endorsement
* Tea Party looking to crash Lipinski’s meeting