Pritzker as winner in Illinois Primary forges ahead to beat Rauner

In a case of my billionaire can beat your billionaire, J.B. Pritzker is the winner of Tuesday’s Illinois primary as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate to run against incumbent Bruce Rauner, in the upcoming general election this Fall, and whose pro-business, and anti-union platform has angered residents, both within and without his party.

Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, is worth a cool $4 billion dollars, spent nearly $70 million dollars of his own money in a self-funded campaign, and now makes the gubernatorial race in the land of Lincoln, the most expensive, to date, in the nation, erasing the financial lead of the 2010 California gubernatorial race as the most expensive in U.S. history.

Capturing 46 percent of the vote, and all but decimating Daniel Biss, who was in second place and Chris Kennedy, who was in third, giving them, respectively, 26 percent, and 24 percent of the vote.

Biss who moved from a distant hope last year, to a comfortable second place lead. but the Pritzker cash that helped to establish a presence in nearly all of the 102 counties in Illinois swept him aside, despite his label as the “middle-class governor,” and relegating Chris Kennedy, of the storied political family, to third place; positions from which they never left.

Well-coached, some say too much so, Pritzker voters were willing to ignore the revelation of a secret FBI recorded conversation with the now disgraced former, governor Rod Blagojevich, when advising him on how to solve his ‘African American thing”, Pritzker suggested current secretary of state, Jesse White, as “the least offensive” of black leaders.

They were also willing to ignore that last May, Pritzker was accused of ripping out the toilets from a historic home he purchased in Chicago’s pricey Gold Coast to gain a lower value, from now former Cook County Assessor, Joe Berrios from $117,087, to $19,719, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, and helped him gain three refund checks, totalling, $132,747.

Equally damaging was a story in the Chicago Tribune that accused him of tax evasion by holding offshore accounts; and again, an allegation that Kennedy decried in the one televised debate on the local PBS station, WTTW, where Pritzker defensively said were created by his grandfather, and alternatively, by family trustees, to continue charitable giving, of which the family is known for.

Critics, including Kennedy, felt that his stance on fair taxation, and a desire for Illinois to have a progressive tax, as disingenuous, considering these revelations. But, voters seemed either not to care, or were seduced by what many observers are describing as a well-oiled machine.

Kennedy, despite being a wealthy man (a millionaire, from an era, when that meant something) was unable to fund the jettison of flyers, TV ads and even internet ads that Pritzker had, despite having the ideological edge on governance that the former lacked.

On the GOP side, Rauner fought off a determined newcomer, Jeanne Ives, from suburban Wheaton who took on the wounded 61-year-old incumbent, by saying that he was not a true conservative, who among other things, abandoned his promised veto of state funded Medicaid abortions.

The result was a narrow win by only three points, by Rauner, and which outside of partisan politics says something important about female candidates on both sides of the aisle, especially in this post #Me Too cultural environment.

In a risky move, some say Ives blew her chance to win with a negative television ad that gave sharp, and negative racial and transgender stereotypes; a move that removed moderate Republicans, especially female and suburban from supporting her.

Rauner, however, never took Ives seriously, until, a Chicago Tribune Editorial Board where she aggressively went after him, that observers say both alarmed him, and forced him to go negative, a stance that he previously thought was unnecessary.

Aside from GOP critics Illinois residents endured a stalemate for nearly two years with no budget which created a backlog of unpaid bills -- now in the billions, and public colleges and universities were forced to make draconian cuts, including furlough days, to keep the doors open, and which resulted in less freshmen enrollment this past Fall.

Vowing to veto a new K-12 school funding bill that would have given priority between low, and middle income, students he vowed to veto that bill too, labeling it as a “bailout for Chicago” schools; which was later passed over his veto.

Later under a definition label he refused to sign the bill until there was  an“equal” chance clause for both private and parochial schools to get funding under a new $ 75 million scholarship program, in all ways a voucher program, and one that was used as a compromise to gain conservative legislative support.

Pritzker has now taken on a populist mantle of the following: a $15 dollar minimum wage, an expansion of healthcare, guarantee of collective bargaining and a progressive income tax, giving his critics the charge that he is a chameleon, and some wags wondering why a rich man would want a $15 dollar an hour wage as governor. The answer may simply be one word - power.

He has also given support to the legalization of marijuana , which passed a voters referendum with 75 percent, and that Pritzker feel can bring between $50 to $75 million dollars to a state with those aforementioned unpaid bills, from the budget stalemate, and an unfunded pension of $129 billion.

In related races, the much maligned Joseph Berrios whose assessments favored the wealthy (like Pritzker) over low to middle income, was defeated by Fritz Kaegi, easing the minds but increasing the appeals to that office by those unfairly assessed.

Money was an issue, in this race, as well as defeating the “machine politics” that are the trademark of Chicago and Illinois. As the Tribune reported, “Kaegi has put $1.55 million of his own money into his campaign fund, and raised another $440,000. Two campaign committees controlled by Berrios have pulled in nearly $878,000 since Jan. 1, after starting the year with more than $1.4 million.”

It also put some pressure on Toni Preckwinkle who supported Berrios, despite claims of maligning racial minorities in his assessments, and who came under fire for the now rescinded sweetened beverage tax, that moved her from social justice crusade to bureaucrat; a role that many had not thought possible for an African American woman in the mostly white male world of Illinois politics.

For the Attorney General race, Kwame Raoul handily defeated former governor Pat Quinn, who was hoping to make a comeback after some said, under his watch that Illinois sank into economic morass, while he stood by as a bystander.

As previously noted, strong female candidates were seen with even greater numbers than thought possible and the fact that even zoning board member Kelly Mazeski could even get close to Peter Roskam, after a final tally, after voting equipment failure gave her 27 percent of the vote, but conceded to Sean Casten, who got 30, says a lot about women emerging as viable candidates in state elections.

Giving another male candidate a run for his money was Marie Newman, who got 43.53 percent against long term politico Dan Lipinski showing both some moxie and some money for progressive causes, with the help of about $1.6 million from Campaign for a Better Illinois, a PAC.

As longtime political reporter Lynn Sweet reported in her column for The Chicago Sun Times, Thursday, Lipinski "got the biggest challenge of his political career," and was forced to move on immigration and the minimum wage, "under pressure from Newman."

That, in turn, say news makers, and pundits, the 2018 midterm elections may focus not only on women candidates, but also women’s issues, such as health care and others that the Trump administration has a weak record on; in fact, GOP leaders admit that they do not do well with women voters at all -- and that their support is mainly from men, and those who lack a college degree.

On the partisan divide, women on both sides are proving like Ives, that they can get the votes, even without mega wealth. And, in that case the Illinois Primary, is a bellwether for pollsters and forecasters.

If those leading, like Pritzker, are Democrats then the forecast that the U.S. House of Representatives may well be lost by the GOP, with an 8 to 9 point lead may prove to be true.

Meanwhile the gubernatorial winner took all and may will spend, up to all, to win that coveted job, that spells power, much like those 19th century American robber barons.

Updated 03.23.18 at 4:47 p.m. (CSDT)