Illinois Primary: What’s at Stake?

J.B. Pritzker

Taking most of the air from the room is the gubernatorial election that has been expected to cost over $300 million dollars, and as of this writing, the leading Democratic candidate J.B. Pritzker has spent a whopping $69.5 million dollars in a self-funded campaign.

It’s not about the money, say his defenders, but others have said that it is, and those others are mostly local DNC leaders who feel that the only way to beat the Republican incumbent, himself a wealthy man worth billions, that had the support of other uber wealthy people, such as Ken Griffin of Citadel, and who most Illinoisans, believe bought the governorship is with another billionaire.

In the number three spot is businessman Chris Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy and now matriarch, Ethel Kennedy, capitalizing on his long knowledge of Illinois and indeed the Kennedy presence: Merchandise Mart, and many religious and civic enterprises, (especially with his Aunt Eunice Shriver, and the founding of “The Special Olympics”) wants the top job.

Chris Kennedy

At the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, in downtown Chicago, Kennedy, on Saturday, told the Chicago Tribune, calculated that “means he’s spending, I guess, $2 million a day to try and buy this election.”

That alone makes many dissatisfied, Kennedy included, who also said, “and we have to decide whether we want to send a message from illinois to the rest of the country, the rest of the world, that a democracy can be bought.”

If it’s Illinois politics, then it’s also dirty politics, where scandal, not love, is the best sweetener for an election where the stakes are high, and Pritzker, a venture capitalist (worth a cool $4 billion dollars) found himself embarrassed at the revelation of a secret FBI recorded conversation with the now disgraced former, governor Rod Blagojevich, when advising the former on how to solve his ‘African American thing”, suggested current secretary of state, Jesse White, as “the least offensive” of black leaders.”

To make matters worse, the conversation was the subject of a piercing attack in the Chicago Reader” a local alternative paper, which featured a bloated picture of Pritzker, on the cover, perching on a black lawn jockey statue, both emphasizing the candidate's weight, and seemingly disdain for the black community; but, which he is relying on to become the candidate on the Fall ballot.

The resulting outcry, some say, via a phone call to the paper’s owners, The Chicago Sun-Times, resulted in the firing of the Reader’s young editor, and a plethora of bad publicity, which Pritzker ironically tried to deflect by holding a press conference in front to a soul food restaurant, surrounded by some local black leaders.

Spin is nothing new to modern politics, but that backdrop made some in Chicago’s black community wince, at an outdated, and unneeded, stereotype.

If billionaire is the new standard, then Kennedy as a mere millionaire, seems to have nevertheless, adroitly captured the mood of a more ideals based campaign; and one of the first things that he did was to call out the questionable practices of Cook County Assessor, Joe Berrios who he accused of unfairly lowering the value of the homes of the wealthy and increasing the value of those far lower on the pay scale, resulting in an expose by the Chicago Tribune.

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 Berrios, who accessed that home (bought next door to one that he already owned) from $117,087, to $19,719, according to the Chicago Sun-Time, and helped him gain three refund checks, totaling, $132,747.

That story faded away for a bit, but then resurfaced, especially when Kennedy, the first of the leading contenders to do so, called out Berrios on practices that favored the wealthy. And, of note is that the latter is the current chair of the Cook County Democrats, a position that he has held since February of 2007.

Adding even more bad news for Pritzker 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 said were created by his grandfather, and alternatively, by family trustees, to continue that any proceeds go to charity.

Capitalizing on all of this is the young Daniel Biss, a former mathematics teacher, who has risen to the number two spot after most early predictions had said he would drop out to weak funding, but who now billing himself as the hero of the middle-class and his ads, showing his modest home in suburban Evanston, and easy demeanor have given him a substantial lift --- after a series of missteps --- like dropping running mate Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who supported Palestinian resistance to Israeli domination.

Daniel Biss

 Biss, who is Jewish, was forced to drop him; and, then came the revelation that in 2013 he voted to cut state employee benefits, only to have them ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois State Supreme Court, a decision that he says he regrets, but also affected his fundraising, therefore the hero of the middle-class to increase profile, erase memories of the faux pas, and raise some much needed cash, despite some donations of bits and pieces: $100,000 from the Illinois State Democratic Victory Fund, and a smattering of donations from retiring colleagues, had $2.3 million in July, an increase from $1.6 million in April; it is not entirely clear how much he has, as of this date, but it’s bound to be less than what is needed.

As said before, the old adage goes, whenever someone says it’s not about the money, it usually is, and there are many who decry the fact that the local Democratic leadership feels that the only way to defeat the dreaded Rauner is to have a billionaire Dem as a candidate.

If the issues are taking second place to the values of a democracy, then it is Kennedy who we endorse for his personal integrity, values and a resurgence of New Frontier idealism that cannot be bought.

He has also called on the inequitable distribution of educational dollars to black neighborhoods, supported the role of investment into communities of color as a way to stem the violence, and a host of other planks in a platform that looks at the issues confronting the state, with plans to address the growing depopulation of the land of Lincoln, where current stats show that the high cost of living in a state that is burdened by high taxes, weak public education, and a  pension obligation that is the highest in the nation.

Still feeling the effect of the Great Recession, there has been a much higher level of unemployed blacks, and for those that are middle-class, they have left for better schools, lowered crime, and property taxes, like their white counterparts, who feel the pinch.

Both whites and blacks feel the budget busting high property taxes to buoy up the aforementioned pension crisis, with a drain of 37,000 from a population of nearly 12.8 million in 2016.

The problem as we see it, is not that Kennedy is not ready for the Illinoisan governorship, but is Illinois ready for Kennedy? Can the electorate see that his direct appeal to democratic values that wants to leave scandal behind, and move forward?

Hovering in the background is the formidable Speaker of the House Michael Madigan who everyone alternatively hates, fears and besmirches, on any given day, or time. Yet, this powerful man has been the villain among Republicans and Democratic women are rebelling due to what is felt to be less than ideal handling, some say cover-up of sexual abuse against women lawmakers, and leaders, in the state capitol.

For Biss, who now maligns him, he also accepted money for a youth based education fund, from the Speaker, but who can now spout off on the Madigan specter, as he did last year in a forum sponsored by the “Chicago Women Take Action Alliance,” when he unexpectedly, in an offhand remark about Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, said that Pritzker was Madigan’s favored candidate, to which the accused replied, “That’s hypocrisy, if you want to see the man that voted for Madigan, look at the end of the table!”

On the GOP side is the incumbent Rauner, but nipping at his heels is newcomer Jeanne Ives who has mangled the former’s cultivated image as a Republican by decrying his signature of a bill that used Medicaid funds for abortions, and for state employee health coverage as his chief betrayal, when he vowed to veto.

While she may well be outspent by the huge reserves it forces him to step up his game to make the grade, despite the National Review calling him the worst Republican governor in the nation. Ives also forces him to make a stand with President Trump, who he has sidestepped in every public address, and did not attend the inauguration, last year.

Ives supports Trump and says that “we should have a working relationship” with him, and has an ‘A’ rating from the National Rifle Association.

In a very crowded field the race for the nomination for the job of Attorney General the standouts are Kwame Raoul who has a strong record on bipartisan issues and an equally consistent record on bread and butter issues, and Pat Quinn, who has the clout of being a past governor and the cash, although the cash being spent is mere pocket change in the gubernatorial race.

In a strong showing of women in the primary race, Ives, Marie Newman against Dan Lipinski and Kelly Mazewski against longtime Republican Peter Roskam, is Sharon Farleigh most recently of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, who holds an impressive resume including the addition of an engineering degree in both mechanical and aerospace engineering; plus, she is the only black woman in the race.

While she lacks name recognition, we predict that this is not the end of the road for Ms. Fairley if she loses.

Tuesday will prove to be a watershed moment for Illinois as it seeks to redress rights, and also, just might reverse the fortunes of Democrats in a blue state with a Republican governor, as we calculate the price tag wondering if ideals will win, along with true governance, or is about the money?