| | | | |  | | By Shia Kapos | | | Good Tuesday morning, Illinois. The primary election is a week away, but you can vote ahead of time.
|  | TOP TALKER | | SCOOP: Eight hotels will house delegations from all 50 states and seven territories for the 2024 Democratic National Convention this August in Chicago — and we’ve got the list! — but you won’t see any mention of Chicago’s Trump International Hotel and Tower. It’s not a union hotel, which was a key consideration for Democratic organizers. Chicago was chosen as a host city in part because of its deep ties to the labor movement. The other reason. Illinois Democrats are so vehemently opposed to the Trump hotel’s presence that they made sure most out-of-state delegations don't even have to look at the looming 98-story hotel along the Chicago River with its 20-foot-high letters spelling T-R-U-M-P. Official statement: “We won’t be contracting with the Trump Hotel for any of our housing needs, not because of their non-union status, but because our party stands for unity, hope, and freedom — values that stand in fundamental opposition with everything the Trump name and brand represent,” Emily Soong, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Convention, said in a statement, adding, Joe Biden as “the most pro-union president in American history and Democrats are the most pro-labor party.” Grin and bear it: The Illinois Democratic Party chose to take it on the chin by taking over most rooms of The Royal Sonesta Chicago hotel that looks at the Trump hotel from across the Chicago River. Being from the host city, Illinois Democrats will need extra space to help put on the Aug. 19-22 convention. Also staying in Royal Sonesta are Nebraska Democrats, among the smaller delegations coming to Chicago. Hotels are a key component in making a political convention tick. Delegates and alternates want to stay close to the convention action. In Chicago, the delegations’ hotels are clustered in the downtown area — all within a 5-mile radius between the McCormick Place complex, which serves as DNC headquarters and where daytime events will be held, and the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls where nighttime events will be broadcast. Trump tower still in the mix. A Trump spokesman didn’t return a request for comment, but non-DNC organizations can still stay at Trump tower. “Maybe Fox News would like to,” one Illinois Democratic insider told Playbook. Other hotels, too: Convention organizers have contracted with 40 properties around the city to offer “competitive rates” to delegates, alternates, media “and members of the Democratic family,” according to a person close to the host committee. No labor worries: The Democratic convention won’t see any labor strikes, thanks to a peace agreement signed last year. Trump hotel backstory: Chicago Democrats have been vexed by Trump tower for more than a decade. In 2014, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the hotel’s giant Trump sign “tasteless” and tried unsuccessfully to have it removed.
|  Protesters gather across the Chicago River from the Trump International Hotel and Tower while President Trump attends a fundraiser in 2019 in Chicago. | Paul Beaty/AP | Lightning rod for controversy: Opposition to the former president’s policies over the years have prompted protests outside of the hotel. When Trump disparaged Chicago in a 2016 presidential debate, the city revoked the “Trump Plaza” designation around the hotel, saying Trump’s “mean-spirited remark… misrepresents the city and discredits the positive attributes of the city.” And as a result of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Chicago Ald. Gilbert Villegas is reintroducing an ordinance that would prohibit “any person convicted of treason, sedition or subversive actions from doing business with the city, including having a sign permit.” RELATED FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Robin Jones has been named accessibility adviser for the Democratic convention. She was director of the Great Lakes ADA Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Sen. Tammy Duckworth praised the appointment, saying, “We hope to set the gold standard of what accessibility can be for large scale events. … Accessibility should be the default, not an afterthought.” Jones will work with all the key players — the Democratic National Convention Committee, the host committee, the United Center, McCormick Pace, airports and hotels — to ensure the convention meets accessibility standards.
| | | THE BUZZ | | | NEW BATTLES FOR BRING HOME: The Bring Chicago Home campaign is facing a battle in the Illinois Supreme Court and a separate ethics complaint. At issue: The referendum on Chicago ballots calls for the city to raise the tax rate that buyers pay on high-end property sales. The funds from that one-time tax increase would go toward helping the city’s unhoused community. Opponents, led by the Building Owners and Management Association of Chicago, lost an appellate case to get it off the ballot, so it's appealed to the state Supreme Court. BOMA’s statement: “The Appellate Court’s opinion implies that an illegal referendum cannot be challenged until after an election — after voters have already been harmed. Given the importance of this topic, we will ask the Illinois Supreme Court to hear an appeal.” Bring Chicago Home responds: “The First District Appellate Court was unanimous in saying the matter of this referendum should be entrusted to the people of Chicago, who have a right to a legislative process free of interference, and we wholeheartedly agree.” Ethics questions: Separate from the legal case, the Chicago Teachers Union has teamed up with the nonpartisan Chicago Votes nonprofit and the Bring Chicago Home campaign to take voting-age Chicago Public School students to the polls. “We are teachers and teach civics,” CTU VP Jackson Potter told Playbook. “We aren’t asking them to vote for anyone.” The Mikva Challenge group is also organizing teens for a “Parade to the Polls.” The rub: CTU just donated $200,000 to the Bring Chicago Home campaign, prompting the Illinois Policy Institute to file a complaint with the Chicago Public Schools ethics office and inspector general. Illinois Policy’s Mailee Smith calls it an “unethical use” of taxpayer resources and “inappropriate indoctrination of high school students.” Sidenote: Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot was the subject of a similar ethics complaint when a campaign aide emailed CPS staff members recruiting volunteers. RELATED Experts warn Chicago of Southern California transfer tax referendum's negative impact on commercial real estate, by ABC 7’s Craig Wall A new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office finds most voters don’t vote on referendums, by the Tribune’s A.D. Quig If you are Trump hotel GM Gabriel Constantin, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email skapos@politico.com
| | A message from CVS Health: Learn how we’re delivering the future of health care. More here. | | | | | WHERE'S JB | | At the Aspen Ideas Climate Summit. Viewers can join the livestream labeled “Evening Plenary: 5:00-6:30 pm ET.”
| | WHERE's BRANDON | | No official public events.
| | Where's Toni | | At the Cook County Building at 10 a.m. to preside over the Forest Preserves meeting. Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (heaven forbid) a complaint? Email skapos@politico.com
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The stakes are high as America's health care community strives to meet the evolving needs of patients and practitioners, adopt new technologies and navigate skeptical public attitudes toward science. Join POLITICO’s annual Health Care Summit on March 13 where we will discuss the future of medicine, including the latest in health tech, new drugs and brain treatments, diagnostics, health equity, workforce strains and more. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | 2024 WATCH | | — O’Neill Burke rips Foxx in speech days before state’s attorney primary: “She repeated criticism that Kim Foxx is to blame for a staffing shortage and poor office morale and said the office’s working relationship with the Chicago Police Department ‘doesn’t exist right now,’” by the Tribune’s A.D. Quig. Interesting takeaway: “O’Neill Burke has attacked Clayton Harris for donating in 2009 to an anti-abortion candidate, Ethan Hastert. Harris’ former employer, Lyft, also donated to candidates who opposed abortion. Harris denied directing any of those donations when he led a political committee funded by the company." Personal PAC weighs in: The abortion rights organization said it’s staying “neutral” in the race and is “confident” it can work with that whomever wins the Democratic primary. But the group dinged O’Neill Burke for her attacks on Harris: “It is disheartening to see one campaign try to mislead the public on her opponent’s views on choice when abortion access is under attack all across the country.” The O'Neill Burke campaign called the statement “incredibly dishonest and inappropriate." — Clayton Harris III, meanwhile, has been endorsed by the Leaders for Tomorrow (L4T) PAC. — In IL-07, Kina Collins is holding a presser today to push back against super PAC efforts to push back against her campaign. United Democracy Project, affiliated with AIPAC, has spent $44,000 on mailers opposing Collin. .... Nikhil Bhatia remains on the ballot in the race after the Board of Elections voted unanimously to keep him on. It concludes what Bhatia calls “frivolous challenges” by City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the third candidate trying to unseat veteran Congressman Danny Davis. — In IL-17, Joe McGraw has been endorsed by U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana. McGraw is running against Scott Crowl in the GOP primary. — The Latino Leadership Council is out with endorsements: A thumbs up was given to Jesse Reyes for Illinois Supreme Court, Clayton Harris III in the State’s attorney race, state Sen. Natalie Toro in her bid to hold on to the seat and Mariyana Spyropoulos for Circuit Court clerk.
| | CORRUPTION CHRONICLES | | — Ex-Ald. Ed Burke keeps law license after most Illinois Supreme Court justices recuse themselves … Supreme Court candidate Jesse Reyes decries the ruling, by WBEZ’s Dave McKinney and Jon Seidel
| | | | A message from CVS Health:   | | | | | TAKING NAMES | | — Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot gets dishy with Chicago magazine: “Being a big-city mayor is a really, really hard job,” she told Mike Thomas. “There are a lot of people shooting at you. You’ve got to know who your enemies are and know that they’re working every single day to undermine you. I don’t know that I totally appreciated that early on.” “What I saw in politics was just transactional. ‘What will it take for me to get you to give me X?’ That’s really not how I operate. You should do things because it’s the right thing to do. And I often found myself being the only one who felt that way. … I was often appalled by what I saw. So I don’t want to do anything like that again.”
| | CHICAGO | | — Johnson outlines what he'll need to sign off on Bears' lakefront stadium plan: He wants the project to provide a “public benefit and public use” with a “365-day operation.” Both would be accommodated with a domed stadium owned by the Chicago Park District. “The mayor would not say how much public funding of the development he anticipates is necessary,” reports Crain’s Justin Laurence. — Fifth measles case found in Chicago as officials ramp up vaccination efforts, by Block Club’s Kelly Bauer and Alex Hernandez
| | COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS | | — Cook County expected to pay $17M in Burge-connected Jackie Wilson case, by the Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair and Christy Gutowski — Troubled Waukegan hospital recovers trauma center designation, by Crain’s Katherine Davis — Arlington Heights not giving up on Bears stadium amid new reports, by the Daily Herald’s Christopher Placek
| | | | 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 for your stories about changing the clocks: Aaron Lawlor: “I was in college working for Greg Kazarian for state Senate and headed out to work at a train station. It was 4 a.m. but I thought it was 5 a.m.” NEXT QUESTION: Where did you go on your first plane trip?
| | THE NATIONAL TAKE | | — Anti-abortion advocates condemn GOP as insufficiently ‘pro-life’ on IVF, by POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Miranda Ollstein — Biden’s advance team is rife with turmoil and toxicity, staff allege, by POLITICO’s Lauren Egan and Daneil Lippman — Bloodbath at RNC: Trump team slashes staff at committee, by POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt
| | IN MEMORIAM | | — Patricia Daley Martino, a true Chicagoan: “Patricia was a joy to know. She was known for her smiles and infectious laugh. So much so that her grandchildren called her Grinny instead of Granny. She was a proud Chicago Democrat,” reads her obituary. Details about her funeral here.
| | A message from CVS Health: Whether in the community, at home or virtually, consumers want health care that is convenient, personalized and affordable. And we’re delivering. By connecting each step of your care – from a medical appointment to a trip to the pharmacy to ongoing check-ins with your care team – we’re making healthier happen together.
Learn more. | | | | | Transitions | | — Vashon Jordan Jr. is now creative director for the Chicago mayor’s office. He was director of digital media and photography in the governor’s office. It’s a full-circle moment as Jordan was a photography intern in City Hall in 2018.
| | TRIVIA | | MONDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Graham Grady for correctly answering that the Chicago River was first dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day in 1962. TODAY's QUESTION: How did DuPage County get its name? Email skapos@politico.com
| | HAPPY BIRTHDAY | | Sen. Tammy Duckworth, retired Cook County Circuit Judge Roger Fein, All-Circo founder Jim Houlihan, former Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin, Duckworth Illinois press secretary Courtney Jacquin, McDonald’s global comms manager and former Durbin aide Joseph LaPaille, Fair Housing Division Director Steven Monroy and public affairs pro Jennifer Mullin. -30- | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | 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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