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Isabel’s morning briefing

Posted in:

* ICYMI: Eileen O’Neill Burke wins state’s attorney race. Sun-Times

* Related stories…

* Isabel’s top picks…

Governor Pritzker will be at mHUB Chicago for a Bloch Tech Hub event at 9:30 am. Click here to watch.

* Here’s the rest…

posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 7:40 am

Comments

  1. Welcome back!

    Comment by Dirty Red Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 8:11 am

  2. Trying to understand why the financial support for Clayton Harris was essentially nonexistent. O’Neill Burke pounded the airwaves with GOP supplied cash, Harris was essentially invisible while carrying endorsements from Preckwinkle and the party… and he very nearly won despite the huge spending variance. What exactly happened here?

    Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 8:22 am

  3. ====What exactly happened here?==

    Enough Cook County GOP crossed over to push EOB over the top. Just more progressive fail.

    Comment by Gamma Bay Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 8:29 am

  4. === he very nearly won despite the huge spending variance ===

    Not sure the spending variance was as great as you think.

    Comment by Hannibal Lecter Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 8:50 am

  5. Rating the worst Illinois Governor might be more difficult. As bad as Small was, George H. Ryan and Rod Blagojevich might provide some serious competition.

    Comment by Gravitas Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 9:40 am

  6. Bruce Rauner has got to be near the top of the list for worst Illinois Governor.

    Comment by Demoralized Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:18 am

  7. Very sad story in Rockford.
    I have not heard where the marijuana was purchased but I assume from off the street which was my number one reason for legalization. Safety.

    Comment by Lurker Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:22 am

  8. I think Cook County Dems got complacent with Bring Chicago Home & Cook County State’s Atty races. They figured the Chicago Teachers Union & SEIU would come out to vote on a typically low-turnout primary, and no one else really would care, and therefore the odds were in their favor. Cook Co Dems weren’t expecting many cross-over GOP voters pulling a Dem ballot to get rid of Kim Foxx’s heir apparent, and also that a poorly worded and lengthy “raise taxes” would confuse a lot of voters.

    Comment by Old IL Dude Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:26 am

  9. @Lincoln Lad business in Chicago was pretty solidly for O’Neill Burke They have heard too many say “insurance can pay for that” and want to stop the lax enforcement of theft laws. Or maybe they listened to Harris and heard he’s not too with it on the law.

    Comment by Amalia Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:27 am

  10. == Enough Cook County GOP crossed over to push EOB over the top. ==

    She won by only 1,500 votes, so no doubt even a small number of GOP crossover voters helped determine the race. But by at least one measurement, there didn’t appear to be a gigantic crossover vote. With all the talk of low primary turnout two weeks ago, GOP turnout actually was up by a healthy clip in Cook County compared to 2020 — not what one would expect if scores of Republicans were requesting Dem ballots to vote EOB.

    Comment by Tony T. Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:50 am

  11. Eileen O’Neill Burke had solid credentials.

    Clayton Harris III was once a top staffer for Blagojevich. Cook County voters were understandably tired of Kim Foxx and Harris (who was endorsed by Toni Preckwinkle who had sponsored Foxx) suffered as a result.

    Comment by Gravitas Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:50 am

  12. In terms of the state’s performance, how can anyone be a worse governor than Rauner? Deliberate explosion of debt and financial starvation, for years, to break and remake the state. Governing with hatred toward workers—those who made over a thousand times less money than he did.

    Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 11:00 am

  13. O’Neill Burke owned the airwaves pre-election… ad after ad. Clayton had to be outspent 3-1 on TV IMO. Maybe more. Not sure the party is reacting to GOP supported candidates (don’t forget Vallas) participating in dem primaries and essentially buying them or trying to. Johnson hasn’t helped for sure… but the Harris election should serve as a wake up call.

    Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 11:19 am

  14. @LincolnLad the Democratic Party is waking up all over the country re handling crime.things tipped too far to soft. San Francisco recall of their District Attny the start.

    Comment by Amalia Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 11:33 am

  15. Gee the Cook County GOP voters don’t think Fioretti will win?

    Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 11:44 am

  16. ==Clayton Harris III was once a top staffer for Blagojevich==

    For one month. And as Blago is now a Trumper you would think conservative voters would see that as a plus.

    Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 11:47 am

  17. You won’t find Clayton Harris on any of the lists of indicted Blago staffers. The place was cleaned out except for him when it all went down… He shouldn’t be included with all the enablers - that’s misinformed.

    Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:00 pm

  18. All in all it was a bad night for Preckwinkle and CTU with BCH and Harris loses. Moderate / centrists showed they can still win in Cook County.

    Comment by low level Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:09 pm

  19. Clayton was a high ranking official at IDOT before moving to the Governor’s Office at the end of Blago’s run. In my limited interactions, he was pretty impressive.

    Comment by Oldtimer Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 12:16 pm

  20. Clayton was, and is, a class act. If trying to do things and get things right is a shortcoming… it’s his only one. The county would have been fortunate to have him as State’s Attorney. Not so sure about O’Neill Burke.

    Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 1:13 pm

  21. All former failed Governors could have studied under Rauner.

    Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 2:04 pm

  22. I was not attacking Clayton Harris III or calling his personal integrity in to question.

    It was extremely unfortunate for Harris that Rod Blagojevich (pronounced Blagogoof) began running his mouth about Harris working for him before the primary election.

    Toni Preckwinkle’s endorsement may have been viewed as a negative as well since she sponsored the unpopular Foxx.

    Comment by Gravitas Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 2:11 pm

  23. ==Not so sure about O’Neill Burke.==

    What about her background makes you say that? Can you elaborate?

    Comment by low level Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 2:23 pm

  24. @Lincoln Lad Eileen O’Neill Burke was an ASA Defense Attny Judge Justice & Head of the Illinois Judges Association She’s deeply experienced at all sides of the business that the CCSAO is in and has wide respect, including for lots of years. This is based on knowing her for a long time. she means what she says about doing both restorative & standard justice and she knows how the office used to have creative and smart training programs for attorneys and needs that again. She’s professional and will treat things that way.

    Comment by Amalia Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 2:25 pm

  25. Amalia - I’ve agreed with you on most things, and don’t doubt your sincere belief in O’Neill Burke. I hope you are right about her. What I didn’t like was the campaign content in her ads. They big time turned me off, and sought to position Clayton in a negative light that I didn’t agree with and didn’t find completely accurate. I have firsthand knowledge and have known him, as perhaps you’ve known the judge. She caused me to not trust her through the ads she ran and the focus she chose. Those representations don’t make me respect or admire her… and I’ll acknowledge that has been my only exposure to her. But it did work… she won and likely would not have without the ads. We’ll have to agree to disagree, and agree that we’ll both hope for the best.

    Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 3:24 pm

  26. - Tony T. - Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 10:50 am:

    == Enough Cook County GOP crossed over to push EOB over the top. ==

    She won by only 1,500 votes, so no doubt even a small number of GOP crossover voters helped determine the race. But by at least one measurement, there didn’t appear to be a gigantic crossover vote. With all the talk of low primary turnout two weeks ago, GOP turnout actually was up by a healthy clip in Cook County compared to 2020 — not what one would expect if scores of Republicans were requesting Dem ballots to vote EOB.

    Both my Fiancée and I took Dem ballots, even though we typically vote GOP, because we live in the 20th district. Our biggest concerns in this election were who won our State Senate seat, and who would be on the Dem ticket (and the likely victor) in the November General Election for State’s Attorney. And I know for a fact at least nine of our friends did the same thing. Harris was an absolute non-starter for us, and given the tight outcome of the race, I have to believe the crossover vote impacted the final results.

    Comment by Just a guy Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 4:00 pm

  27. I am a lifelong Republican who is staunchly anti-Trump. Thus, there was not any reason for me to vote Republican this primary. I took a Dem ballot to vote for EOB and am glad I did because change is needed in that office. I also did the same thing to try to oppose Kim Foxx in the 2020 primary.

    Just as an aside, because there has been talk of the undervote in the Presidential primary and all of those on the left who might have wrote something in to oppose Biden regarding the Middle East, my write-in undervote was “Support Israel Joe.”

    Comment by Suburban Neo-RINO Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 7:23 pm

  28. @Lincoln Lad The negative about Harris and choice? pretty mild especially compared to his scary ads about her. His Trump conflation was really silly and totally untrue.

    Comment by Amalia Monday, Apr 1, 24 @ 9:42 pm

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