September 26, 2018
ROSKAM, 6TH DISTRICT ARE BELLWETHER FOR REPULICAN U.S. HOUSE CONTROL
As goes America on Nov. 6, so goes Illinois' 6th congressional district. An anti-Trump wave will drown incumbent Peter Roskam (R), who faces the quandary of every Republican congressman: What message do you send? Experience means nothing. Voters want new people in Washington. How about the tax cut? Democrats deride it as a boon or the "wealthy." Money is plentiful, but how do you spend it? Nov. 6 looms as a party-line election, and it's all about who turns out. Roskam faces Sean Casten (D), a fresh new face, and polls show a tight race in the DuPage County district. Also in play in Illinois are contests in the 12th, 13th and 14th districts. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to make Nancy Pelosi speaker. They will likely gain two of them in Illinois. Full Article...
September 19, 2018
GRAVITAS, NOTORIETY DRIVE 2019 CHICAGO MAYORAL CAMPAIGN
Who's got the gravitas? Or, maybe more aptly, who's got the better social media presence? With 15 announced candidates for Chicago mayor, and another 19 pondering a campaign, the contest is all about who will finish 1-2 and make the April 2019 runoff. That will take just 15-20%. So who can best solidify their racial, gender, ethnic and/or geographic base? If Daley, Preckwinkle, Mendoza, Garcia and/or McCarthy are in the race, they will be bunched at the top. Full Article...
September 12, 2018
EMANUEL'S CHOICE WAS EITHER TO GET OUT OR TO GET BEAT
Call it crunch time, or a reality check. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is a smart guy, but on Sept. 4 he acknowledged that he had only two choices for 2019: Either get out or get beat. He got out. Over the past century Chicago mayors have faced similar predicaments. Thompson (1923), Kelly (1947) and Daley II (2011) got out before they got beat. Dever (1927), Thompson (1931), Kennelly (1955), Bilandic (1979) and Byrne (1983) got beat because they didn't get out, having estranged voters with their governance. Emanuel was the proverbial recipient of the can kicked down the road by Daley II, and his tax hikes to fund underfunded city pensions, the murder epidemic, and the Laquan McDonald fiasco (and trial) rendered him unelectable. He has $9 million, would have raised another $15 million, and his opponents were not overly formidable, but one of them would have beaten him in the April 2019 runoff. Full Article...
September 5, 2018
LAURINO DYNASTY ENDING IN 39TH WARD -- BUT MAYBE NOT
Baseball legend Yogi Berra once famously said that "it ain't over until it's over." With the retirement of Ald.Marge Laurino in Chicago's northwest side 39th Ward after 24 years, the presumption is that the Laurino Dynasty, which extends back to 1965, is over, The next alderman will not be named Laurino -- but it could be John D'Amico, who is the alderman's nephew and grandson of Tony Laurino, alderman from 1965-94. D'Amico is a 14-year state representative and has $368,848 on-hand, dwarfing the totals of announced candidates Robert Murphy, Samantha Nugent, Casey Smagala and Jeff LaPorte. Here is an early SCOUTING REPORT on the developing field. Full Article...
Previous Articles