Primary pickle for progressives

Presented by Capture Jobs Now: Shia Kapos' must-read rundown of political news in the Land of Lincoln

Mar 20, 2024 View in browser   By Shia Kapos Presented by Good Wednesday morning, Illinois. We stayed up so you didn’t have to. TOP TALKER IT’S TOO CLOSE TO CALL in the Cook County state’s attorney race, though Eileen O’Neill Burke has kept a narrow lead over Clayton Harris. Now. they’re waiting for the mail-in ballots. The Sun-Times has results here. The real shocker is the resounding thumping that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum has taken. The ballot measure appears headed to an “embarrassing” defeat, writes the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman. “This is not the result we wanted. We’re gonna have to take a real hard look at what happened and figure out how to move forward from here,” Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa told Spielman. Progressive pickle: Harris and the referendum are both supported by progressive forces in Chicago, including the Chicago Teachers Union. Low turnout and a lack of excitement at the top of the ticket might be to blame for some of the race outcomes Tuesday night. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump swept their races, but they already had enough delegates to win their parties’ presidential nomination so a victory in Illinois wasn’t essential. In the case of Bring Chicago Home, approving a referendum is difficult. This one was challenged in part because of how it was worded on the ballot. Did voters give up when they had to turn the page to keep reading? Turnout was abysmal, according to election officials. Chicago had about 20 percent turnout and suburban Cook County was just more than 15 percent. Some more results: In IL-12, Republican Congressman Mike Bost, who won the coveted endorsement of Trump, appears to have edged out Darren Bailey, who conceded even though the race hasn't been called. With more than 90 percent of the vote in, Bost is up by less than 4 percentage points. More from the race, by St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum. In IL-07: Democratic Congressman Danny Davis won his hotly contested race with 53 percent of the vote, defeating Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin (22 percent) and activist Kina Collins (18 percent). The Block Club’s Melody Mercado has more. In other Democratic contests: Congressman Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (IL-04) beat Ald. Raymond Lopez. Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) defeated Qasim Rashid and now faces Republican Jerry Evans, who won his primary, too. And Congressman Sean Casten thumped two challengers. More on Garcia v. Lopez, by the Tribune’s Dan Petrella. — In IL-13,  Republican Josh Loyd won GOP primary to face Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, by the State Journal-Register’s Patrick Keck — Senate District 20: State Sen. Natalie Toro lost to CTU organizer Graciela Guzman after a multi-million battle between the teachers union and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, who showed members he would stand behind them. The district is as progressive as they come — and Toro, who was appointed to her position, faced an uphill battle from day one. She is the second teacher in the state to serve in the Senate but the first CTU teacher. The Sun-Times’ calls Guzman's victory ‘a test of the Democratic establishment muscle.” Here’s their story. — House District 31: State Rep. Mary Flowers, the longest serving Black legislator in Springfield, was defeated by educator Michael Crawford, with the support of Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. The Sun-Times has more. — House District 36: Attorney Rick Ryan defeated Sonia Anne Khalil in the seat left open by outgoing Democratic state Rep. Kelly Burke. — Cook County Circuit Court clerk: Incumbent Clerk Iris Martinez lost to Mariyana Spryopoulos, a water board commissioner who was backed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Martinez also lost her position as Ward committeeperson of the 34th Ward to Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez. — Spyropoulos had far more campaign cash than Martinez and the backing of the county Democratic Party, by WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch — Joy Virginia Cunningham declares victory in Illinois Supreme Court primary against Jesse Reyes, by the Sun-Times’ Lauren FitzPatrick and Sophie Sherry — Veteran Cook County tax appeals board Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. holds off challenger, by WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos — General Assembly races test clout of Democrat leaders, by the Tribune RELATED — Tuesday’s election shows Trump’s down-ballot power — and his weaknesses, by POLITICO’s Steven Shepard, Madison Fernandez and Zach Montellaro — Trump goes on ‘hamburger offensive’ against JB Pritzker, by the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet If you are Iris Martinez, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email skapos@politico.com   A message from Capture Jobs Now: Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will create thousands of new jobs in Illinois while simultaneously decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. CCS is a key tool for rapid decarbonization. Legislation being considered by the General Assembly (HB569 and SB3311) builds on existing stringent requirements mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and includes landowner protections and environmental considerations. Illinois must act now to capture these new jobs and advance our clean energy goals!   WHERE'S JB At the Peoria Civic Center at 11 a.m. to give remarks at Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism. WHERE's BRANDON At City Hall at 10 a.m. presiding over the Chicago City Council meeting. Where's Toni No official public events. Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (heaven forbid) a complaint? Email  skapos@politico.com   Easily connect with the right N.Y. State influencers and foster the right relationships to champion your policy priorities. POLITICO Pro. Inside New York. Learn more.     SPOTLIGHT SCOOP: Democratic governors see IVF following a familiar post-Dobbs pattern: “Republicans don’t understand the storm that is coming,” Gov. JB Pritzker told your Playbook host in this POLITICO homepage story that also features Democratic and Republican governors and advisers talking about how the issue will affect 2024. In the Senate: Sen. Tammy Duckworth will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today for a hearing chaired by fellow Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin on in vitro fertilization. Duckworth, who has children through IVF, is expected to urge passage of her Access to Family Building Act to establish a federal right to IVF nationwide in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling and as Republicans continue to push so-called "embryonic personhood" bills around the country. THE STATEWIDES — Big plans for Springfield’s city budget: “Flush with cash, city seeks to tackle one-time projects,” reports Illinois Times’ Dean Olsen. — Amtrak’s California Zephyr turns 75 and is still chugging, by the Sun-Times’ Mitch Dudek — Letter carriers face bullets and beatings while postal service sidelines police, by Raw Story’s Alexandria Jacobson   A message from Capture Jobs Now:   CHICAGO — City sues gunmaker Glock alleging design flaw that allows pistols to be converted to automatic: “Instead of taking reasonable action to put an end to the modification of its pistols by civilians, Glock has made the business decision to continue profiting from the sales of its easily modifiable guns to the civilian market,” states the complaint, according to the Tribune’s Sam Charles. — With more funding rolling in and planning underway, a redesign of Chicago Union Station is moving forward, by the Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat — 19 Chicago-area organizations receive millions from MacKenzie Scott’s ‘Yield Giving’ by the Sun-Times’ Mary Norkol DAY IN COURT — Appeals court upholds $1.1M for investigator who refused to change findings on CPD shootings: “Lorenzo Davis was fired in 2015 from his job as a supervisor of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority, now known as COPA,” by WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell. TAKING NAMES — MEDIA MATTERS: Five media pros who went through the University of Illinois Springfield’s Public Affairs Reporting program will be inducted into the Bill Miller PAR Hall of Fame. They are WSMV4 (Nashville) reporter Jeremy Finley, WFTV (Orlando) Daralene Jones, Tribune Managing Editor Phil Jurik, OCI Oncamera investigations reporter J. Jacqueline McLean and ABC 7’s Christine Tressel. UIS News’ Jason Piscia has details.   JOIN US ON 3/21 FOR A TALK ON FINANCIAL LITERACY: Americans from all communities should be able to save, build wealth, and escape generational poverty, but doing so requires financial literacy. How can government and industry ensure access to digital financial tools to help all Americans achieve this? Join POLITICO on March 21 as we explore how Congress, regulators, financial institutions and nonprofits are working to improve financial literacy education for all. REGISTER HERE.     Reader Digest We asked who you’d like to shadow for a day: Vincent Brandys: “Any general manager of an NFL team on draft day!” Mark Heffington: “Joe Biden: Easy to keep up with, plenty of nap time, probably some ice cream.” Charles Keller: “Ron DeSantis, to see how a competent governor manages a state.” Ed Mazur: “Police Supt. Larry Snelling to see where the city’s top cop eats and works out.” Alison Pure-Slovin: “The director or curator at the Art Institute. It would be extraordinary to be surrounded by the beauty of art for one day.” Steve Smith: “I would love to shadow Taylor Swift!” Erika Weaver: “Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.” NEXT QUESTION:  What Illinois political tale is worthy of a book? FROM THE DELEGATION — Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and half a dozen other senators are urging President Joe Biden to employ his authority under the Antiquities Act to create a national monument in honor of Julius Rosenwald, who put Sears, Roebuck and Co. on the map and partnered with Booker T. Washington and nearly 5,000 Black communities in the South to build schools across 15 states for children without educational opportunities. THE NATIONAL TAKE — Shutdown threat meter: Yellow. Congress’ final funding deal is going down to the wire, by POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes and Caitlin Emma — Jewish group chides Schumer as he takes on Trump for 'unadulterated antisemitism,’ by POLITICO’s Ursula Perano and Anthony Adragna — New Texas law allowing police to arrest migrants back on hold, by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kierra Frazier TRANSITIONS — Neville M. Bilimoria has been named managing partner at Duane Morris' Chicago office. Bilimoria succeeds John Robert Weiss, the office’s managing partner since 2018, who will be retiring at the end of this month. Bilimoria has been with the firm since 1999.   A message from Capture Jobs Now: Illinois has a unique opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while creating thousands of new jobs by passing legislation to bolster carbon capture and storage technology (CCS) across the state. CCS will grow jobs while protecting our environment. In fact, CCS is key for rapid decarbonization. Legislation being considered by the General Assembly (HB569 and SB3311) builds on the existing stringent requirements mandated by the EPA and includes additional protections for landowners and environmental justice considerations. This legislation is the result of collaboration among labor, business, and the agriculture community, recognizing the important role CCS can play in growing the state’s economy. According to a study from the University of Illinois, CCS development and expansion has an employment demand of 14,400 jobs, generating over $3 billion more for the state’s economy. We cannot delay. Illinois must act now to capture these new jobs and advance our clean energy goals!   EVENTS — March 27: The Center for Effective Government at University of Chicago features a discussion with Jennifer Pahlka, author of the much-talked-about “Recoding America,” about modernizing government and making government efficient. Details here — May 9: Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter covering racial justice for The New York Times Magazine and creator of The 1619 Project, will headline the 20th Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting. A Better Government Association event. Details here TRIVIA TUESDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Brian Gill for correctly answering that Cook County Hospital opened a blood bank in 1937. TODAY's QUESTION: Where did John G. Shedd, the businessman and namesake for the Shedd Aquarium, once work as a stock clerk?  Email skapos@politico.com HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lincolnshire Mayor Elizabeth Brandt, Illinois Railroad Association President and former state Rep. Tim Butler, former state Sen. Terry Link, Avōq partner Maura Farrell and World Business Chicago Chief Strategy Officer Abin Kuriakose. -30-   Follow us on Twitter Shia Kapos @shiakapos   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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