From the Joe Walsh campaign:
8th Congressional District Republican Candidate Joe Walsh announces Illinois Federation for Right to Life Endorsement
Lake Zurich: Joe Walsh, candidate for the Republican Nomination to the 8th Congressional District, is pleased to announce the co-endorsement of his candidacy by the Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC. The IFRL PAC notified candidates December 8th.
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8th District: Joe Walsh Gets Ill. Fed. for Right to Life Endorsement”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Conservative Senate candidate Patrick Hughes told the Daily Herald that he wasn’t even interested in throwing his hat in the ring of the junior Illinois Senate seat until Mark Kirk voted for one of the most destructive tax plans in American history with his yes vote on Cap and Trade.
“I had no interest in this race. I hadn’t considered running … then Mark Kirk voted for cap-and-trade,” said Hughes, a Hinsdale real estate developer.
Hughes is right to be concerned. Kirk is running around the state telling people he wants to build a “center right” coalition. The problem with his plan is that the person at the center of that coalition, Kirk himself, is center left NOT center right!
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Senate Race: Hughes Got in Over Kirk’s Cap and Trade Vote”
From the Pulido campaign:
The Illinois Federation for Right to Life Political Action Committee (IFRL-PAC) announces the endorsement of Rosanna Pulido for the nomination as Republican candidate for the Fifth Congressional District in the primary election to be held in February 2010.
The protection of the lives of conceived but yet unborn children of Illinois and the nation is the foundation upon which we build all other rights. If we do not restore and maintain protection of the Right to Life for the weakest and most helpless members of our society, we ourselves become endangered.
We are pleased to announce our endorsement of Rosanna Pulido for nomination as Republican Candidate for the Fifth Congressional District. Not only has Ms. Pulido expressed a desire to protect unborn children, but she has also indicated her support for the disabled as well as those who are endangered at the end of life.
The Illinois Federation for Right to Life is a statewide organization with local affiliates throughout the State of Illinois.
For more information, visit Pulido’s campaign website: www.rosannapulido2010.com.
One petition bid challenge is down, at least. Now let’s hope that Phil Collins and Steve Rauschenberger find their challenges removed.
“All objections against District 5 congressional candidate’s signatures withdrawn at 11th hour”
CHICAGO – December 9, 2009 – Minutes before the Illinois State Board of Elections was set to formally dismiss the case, objectors to 5th Congressional District candidate David Ratowitz’s nominating petitions withdrew their challenge.
An official records review on December 3 overwhelmingly upheld the validity of Ratowitz’s petition signatures, finding that some of the objectors’ claims were based on technicalities overruled by the Illinois Supreme Court more than 30 years ago.
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5th District: David Ratowitz Victorious in Nominating Petition Challenge”
-By Warner Todd Huston
It’s the end of the year and that means LISTS! Over at Illinois Observer, David Ormsby has assembled the rankings of the top 50 Illinois websites and Publius Forum shows up at number 13 on that list.
Seeing as how we few, we unlucky few conservatives in Illinois live in a bloo, bloo state, it is not surprising that most of the sites are lib sites. But there are some great conservative sites represented in the list, as well.
Here are the conservative/libertarian blogs as they appear ranked (the number to the right is the Alexia ranking):
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Publius Forum at Lucky 13 on Illinois Top Blogs”
-By Warner Todd Huston
This is a bit of a shocker. Former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger (R, Elgin), famed as one of the “fab five” conservative Senators from the late 1990s , has endorsed Dan Proft for governor.
On the Don Wade and Roma radio show on WLS on Dec. 8, Rauschie said Proft is his man.
“I am proud to endorse Dan Proft’s candidacy for Governor because Proft is the only candidate who has properly diagnosed what afflicts state government and is prescribing the right policy remedies,” said Rauschenberger, who is seeking to regain his old senate seat currently held by State Senator Michael Noland (D-Elgin)
“The other candidates believe we have a management problem in state government. Proft correctly understands that it is a system problem.”
I have to say this is a bit shocking to me. I didn’t expect Steve to go for Proft, not because of his positions (most of which is very straight line conservative) but because of the whisper campaign launched against Proft’s Cicero baggage.
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Guv’s Race: Rauschie Picks Proft!”
Further Information: Don Castella, Vernon Township Republican Chairman, 847-275-5542 or email: dcastella@vernongop.org
Lincolnshire, IL Dec 8, 2009: Vernon Township’s Monday evening GOP endorsement session surprised local incumbents Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL 10) and IL State Senator Matt Murphy (R-27), who both failed to garner the nod in their respective state-wide races for US Senate and Lt. Governor. Kirk lost the US Senate endorsement outright to Hinsdale Businessman Patrick Hughes who grabbed the Vernon endorsement with 64.3% of the committeeman vote. Senator Matt Murphy finished ahead of Pastor Randy White in the Vernon Lt. Governor endorsement voting with 57.1%, but failed to garner the requisite 60% for the endorsement.
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Complete Vernon Township Endorsement Session Results”
From the Dold campaign…
With Hanukkah coming up later this week and Christmas just around the corner, I would like to ask for your help in supporting our troops who are stationed overseas during the holiday season.
Dold for Congress has partnered with Any Soldier, Inc., a nationwide non-profit organization that sends supplies and packages to troops who are in need of basic items. We’re asking members of the 10th District community to help us make the holidays brighter for these young American servicemen who give so much to keep us free. We have selected three soldiers from Illinois—one stationed in Afghanistan and two in Iraq—who have provided Any Soldier, Inc. with a wish list of items they need during the holiday season.
Please drop off any of the items listed below at Dold for Congress Headquarters, 511 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka, anytime between Tuesday, December 8 and Thursday, December 17, 2009. On Dec. 18, we’ll send out the holiday packages to the troops.
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Dold for Congress Holiday Gift Drive for the Troops”
From the Hayes campaign:
CHICAGO – December 8, 2009: The following statement was released today by Rev. Isaac C. Hayes, the GOP nominee for Congress in IL-2, and opponent of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) in response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) comparing opponents of heath care reform to opponents of the emancipation of slaves:
“Harry Reid’s rush to use race in the health care debate is exactly why we should not rush this bill” said Hayes. “History reveals that it was Mr. Reid’s Party that opposed the emancipation of slaves and the Republican Party that was the vanguard of freedom. A brief review of history will record the Republican President Abraham Lincoln abolishing slavery and the Republican Caucus voting in a larger percentage for Civil Rights legislation than their Democratic counterparts. It is quite evident Mr. Reid has not read a history book or the bill he wants to force through.”
-By Warner Todd Huston
And now the 14th District is down to a two man race. First time candidate Jeff Danklefsen has dropped his bid and is now endorsing Randy Hultgren.
Danklefsen just sent out an email with information on his bid:
After Mark’s announcement this morning to drop from the 14th Congressional race it is best to end my candidacy and remove my name from the ballot and ask Mark to remove his as well to provide voters a clear choice between two candidates. Sen. Randy Hultgren has the resources to run an effective campaign and I do not wish to be a spoiler.
Hultgren gives Republican Party voters a solid choice over the return to the problems that brought us Barack Obama and Bill Foster. He has the voting record and integrity our district desperately needs.
Jeff Danklefsen
This leaves two candidates:
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14th District: Jeff Danklefsen Drops Bid, Now Down to Two”
-By Warner Todd Huston
First time aspirant Mark Vargas (R, Elgin) has suspended his campaign for the GOP nomination for the 14th District leaving now three Republicans vying for the Primary nod. Vargas is the second to drop out of contention as Jim Purcell recently quit his bid in a move for party unity.
Both Purcell and Vargas have thrown their support behind Ethan Hastert (R, Elburn), son of former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
Vargas told the Kane County Chronicle that he is still ambitious but is “realistic,” as well.
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14th District Race: 1 More Drops Out Amid Calls to Pull Names From Ballot”
-By Megan Fox
A few weeks ago I interviewed Dan Proft, Republican candidate for the IL governorship. I ran out of time on the air and asked him to please answer the rest of my questions over email. He agreed and I will have those for you soon. (I’m still typing them up between cleaning up spit up and red and green Christmas glitter that seems to be all over everything)
I want to share something with you about one of the other candidates in the race, Adam Andrejlakidjferjeski (as I like to call him because I CANNOT spell or say his last name). I gave Adam the opportunity to come on Clash Radio with me the same week Proft was on. I emailed him on Facebook. He directed me to his scheduling person who agreed he would be on with me. To be fair, and to make sure Adam had a chance to come up with a rebuttal for what I said about him that wasn’t flattering, I sent him a copy of the article I wrote about my impressions of the Tea Party debate. This was the one where I said Adam’s pants were too short, I had doubts about his ability to win this race, but I liked his responses and he was in my top three picks. Just hours after forwarding my article to Adam’s campaign, the interview was cancelled.
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Et tu Adam?”
“A clean break from politics as usual.” You can’t build anything without a blueprint, says Brady, and he’s got the plan.
-By Warner Todd Huston
A recent round of posts between Gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft and Chicago Examiner website columnist Robert Moon of Macon County, Illinois shows the difficulty of trying to discuss immigration in Illinois today. Passions are high and it is hard to get past all the suspicion imbued in it all.
It all began with a segment of a Chicago radio broadcast in which Dan Proft addressed some of the more demagogic treatments of the immigration problem and echoed the worry made by many Republicans that the more wild-eyed treatments of the immigration problem is bound to force the GOP into permanent minority status due to the rising number of voters with Hispanic background.
Unfortunately, this snippet seems to do Proft’s full stance on immigration a disservice because it does not explain his larger views, some of which might tend to belie the initial impression. Mr. Moon construed Proft’s stance to be one of the “open borders” variety simply because the excerpt of Proft’s radio commentary appeared on the La Raza website (La Raza is a racist organization dedicated to taking back parts of the American south and all the south west for Mexico).
Moon mentioned that Proft has had “several pro-amnesty rants” featured on the La Raza website. I have tried to find these “rants” but have not located any so I cannot speak to this claim. If anyone has any links to these “rants” I’d like to see them. But if there are none (other than the one example), this single fact would tend to make Moon’s claim problematic.
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The Illinois GOP Has Difficulty Talking Immigration”
-By Warner Todd Huston
William Kelly is running for Illinois State Comptroller. We’ve highlighted him several times here and as long as he is in the news we will continue to do so. Sometimes, of course, the “news” is not all good. In fact, it looks like at least one person is passing around a compilation video showing Mr. Kelly over indulging some “adult beverages,” if you will, in his guise as TV sports show host.
The YouTube videos show Kelly really putting on the show and downing enough alcohol to float a battleship it seems. Let us assume he had someone to drive him home after the show that night! (We’re sure he did, of course)
As fun-loving, TV show host, of course, Kelly proves an interesting screen presence but his is certainly not the sort of behavior we are used to from our politicians. At some point I guess I’d rather see a guy in office that likes to have some fun once in a while than one that will end up in jail for corruption like so many of our less emotive sorts seem to end up.
And, one cannot do years of TV appearances without something coming back to haunt you, I’d suspect. My own writing has gotten me in trouble in the past, so I can relate — at least a little.
Still, I would be remiss in my reporting duties if I did not report the existence of these less than savory videos. So here are the two videos in question:
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It’s About Authenticity: Odd Video of William Kelly Surfaces”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Denklefsen campaign is reporting that Tax Accountability, the political action arm of National Taxpayers United of Illinois, is endorsing Jeff Danklefsen in his effort to take the GOP nomination for the 14th District Congressional seat.
In making the endorsement, president Jim Tobin cited Jeff’s “exceptional desire to fight taxes and support economic growth.”
Founded in 1976, NTUI is the largest taxpayer protection organization in Illinois with more than 30,000 members and supporters. For more information, see www.ntui.org.
For more information of Jeff Danklefsen, see his campaign website.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady (R, Bloomington) announced at a campaign stop at the Willard Airport in Savoy, Illinois that he has the support of 14 out of 70 Republican members of the Legislature.
Brady is also calling for a 10 percent across the board cut in the state’s budget.
“I have called for a 10 percent cut across the board in every area of state government. We’ve got to rein in government spending.”
The 14 Legislators that have endorsed Brady are as follows:
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Brady Announces 14 GOP Legislators Endorsing Him for Governor”
From the Morrison campaign:
Palatine, IL – Challenger Tom Morrison received an overwhelming endorsement of the Palatine Township Republicans for state representative of the 54th district against incumbent Suzie Bassi in the upcoming Republican primary on February 2nd.
Palatine Township Republican precinct captains overwhelmingly endorsed Morrison. More than 85% of the precinct captains supported Morrison against 11 year incumbent Suzie Bassi.
“I am honored to receive such a strong endorsement from the Republican Township precinct captains,” Morrison said. “This is further testimony from our party leaders of the urgent need to correct the enormous problems facing our state. I am heartened by this support and will continue with my efforts to run a spirited, door-to-door campaign for the Republican primary election on February 2nd.”
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54th District: Tom Morrison Endorsed By Palatine Township GOP”
-By Warner Todd Huston
A new FaceBook effort to rally conservative Illinoisans to the state’s electoral process was launched by several youngsters out of the Rockford area and they’ve decided to make a few endorsements for some of the statewide races coming up soon in the February primary. The group is calling itself “Illinois Conservatives” and can be found on FaceBook.
Here are their endorsements thus far:
The new group says in its mission statement that they are trying to support candidates for “the betterment of Illinois.”
The Illinois Conservatives Facebook group believes in conservative ideologies and supports political candidates who share in those beliefs for the betterment of the State of Illinois
I have to thank Tom Mannis of Chicago New Bench for alerting me to this group. On his site, Tom says of this effort, “Frankly, endorsements like the one from Illinois Conservatives means a lot more than those from the inbred, cloistered little Republican groups around the state.” I couldn’t agree more.
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New Illinois Conservative FaceBook Group Makes Endorsements”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Incumbent Kane County Recorder of Deeds Sandy Wegman has before claimed that she is a “team player” for the GOP. Her actions, however, make that out to be a lie. The last time Wegman tried to get out of her dead end clerk’s job was when she ran for Lt. Governor in 2006 despite that she had no party backing. In fact, her run then likely took votes away from State Senator Steve Rauschenberger who also ran for Lt. Governor that election, the only candidate that had a chance to beat Joe Birkett for the nod. (She got a measly 13% to Steve’s 30%)
A team player in 2006 would have dumped her own effort in order to back either Rauschenberger or States Attorney Joe Birkett the only two in the race with any party backing at all. Instead she stayed in causing the race to look uncompetitive.
Now we get another example of Wegman’s party averse opportunism, once again seemingly intended to hurt former Senator Steve Rauschenberger. She has inexplicably launched a late “write-in” bid for the State Senate seat of the 22nd District in opposition, once again, too a Rauschenberger candidacy.
Wegman’s cynical opportunism comes just as Rauschenberger faces an odd but vexing petition challenge forced upon him by the Democrat Party aimed at keeping him from appearing on the primary ballot as a Republican.
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Sandy Wegman: Team Player or Self-Interested Opportunist?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Looks like Jim Purcell, a solid conservative, has decided not to run for the 14th District seat after all. That still leaves four Republicans in the race.
Still in:
Here is the Purcell press release:
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Purcell Says no to 14th District Run”
There has been some question on candidate Joe Walsh’s pro-life stance, so here is his “setting the record straight” message to try and settle the question:
You may have heard some rumor and innuendo over the past few days, writtennand spoken, trying to distort my position on the life issue. I would like to set the record straight.
For seven years, I have been pro-life without exception. I believe in the
sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. There is no
candidate in this race who is more pro-life than I am.
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8th District: Joe Walsh ‘Sets Record Straight’ On Pro-Life Issue”
Several Illinois candidates have been signing no-tax pledges of late and 5th District candidate David Ratowitz is the latest. This from the campaign…
“Cap and Trade is a disaster that will sacrifice jobs and increase energy costs.”
CHICAGO – December 3, 2009 – U.S. House candidate David Ratowitz (IL-5) this week signed Americans for Prosperity’s “No Climate Tax Pledge, vowing to “oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.” He is one of only nine Illinois state or federal candidates to sign the pledge to date.
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5th District Race: David Ratowitz Signs AFP’s “No Climate Tax” Pledge”
The newest McKenna for Governor ad takes Governor Quinn to task for an over $11 billion deficit, one that is growing at “$30 million a day.”
8th District Congressional candidate Joe Walsh has signed the AFP no tax pledge…
CHICAGO-The Illinois chapter of the free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity (AFP-IL) today applauded U.S. House candidate Joe Walsh (8th District) for signing the group’s “No Climate Tax Pledge.” By doing so, Walsh joins over 285 lawmakers and candidates on the federal, state and local levels pledging to “oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.”
“The one thing elected officials should all be able to agree on is that global warming shouldn’t be used as an excuse to hike taxes on citizens and businesses,” said AFP-IL State Director Joe Calomino. “We encourage all of Illinois’ elected officials and candidates for elected office to sign.”
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Americans for Prosperity: U.S. House Candidate Joe Walsh Signs No Climate Tax Pledge”
From the Isaac Hayes campaign:
CHICAGO – December 1, 2009: The following statement was released today by Rev. Isaac C. Hayes, the GOP nominee for Congress in IL-2, and opponent of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) regarding President Obama’s announcement to send 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan:
“President Obama’s decision to send 30,000 additional troops into the theatre of Afghanistan is a good step in the right direction” said Hayes. “His decision to not cut-and-run despite opposition to the buildup by members of his own party is commendable. However, I am disappointed that he has chosen not to deploy the minimum number of troops requested by General McCrystal of 40,000. As Congress debates funding for the troop buildup, it is important that the Republican Party work to ensure our soldiers have the best chance of success by heeding the firsthand assessment of Gen. McCrystal.”
For more information, go to:http://www.isaac4honesty.com.
From the Joe Walsh campaign:
8th District GOP Congressional Candidate Supports More Troops
Lake Zurich, IL – Joe Walsh, Republican candidate for the GOP nomination for the 8th District Congressional seat currently held by Rep. Melissa Bean has issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan policy tonight:
According to Mr. Walsh:
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8th District: Joe Walsh Pans Obama’s Afghanistan Policy Speech”
-By Warner Todd Huston
On the Ryan FaceBook page the claim was recently made that Jim Ryan was endorsed by the Illinois State Rifle Association’s political action arm for his 2002 race against Rod Blagojevich for governor. Au contraire, says the ISRA-PVF. They didn’t endorse anyone in 2002, they say.
The ISRA-PVF issued a news release to correct the record:
ISRA-PVF Calls Upon Illinois Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Ryan to Retract Endorsement Claims
CHICAGO, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following was released today by the ISRA Political Victory Fund (ISRA-PVF):
The ISRA-PVF is today calling upon Illinois gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan to retract claims that he received the group’s endorsement during his failed 2002 run for governor against Rod Blagojevich. Such misleading claims have surfaced on Ryan’s social networking internet sites in recent days. Additionally, individuals have made reports to the ISRA-PVF that Ryan campaign staffers have made similar endorsement claims when questioned about Ryan’s stands on issues important to law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.
The fact of the matter is, the ISRA-PVF declined to make an endorsement in the 2002 race for Illinois governor as neither the Republican candidate, Jim Ryan, nor his Democratic opponent, Rod Blagojevich, were deemed suitable for endorsement.
Ill. Rifle Assoc.: Oh, No We Didn’t Endorse Jim Ryan in 2002″
From the Plummer for Lt. Guv campaign (and yes, I want to stress that HIS release spelled Lieutenant wrong several times)…
If you think the office of Illinois Leiutenant Governor doesn’t matter — just wait until now-Governor Pat Quinn passes his massive income tax hike.
For seven years, Pat Quinn played loyal second fiddle to Rod Blagojevich — remaining silent while Rod plundered the state and destroyed our economy.
As governor, Pat Quinn has continued the Blagojevich legacy — padding the state budget to pay off political special interests at our expense.
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Lt. Guv Candidate Jason Plummer: Still think the Illinois Lt. Governor doesn’t matter?”
From the Dold campaign…
The end of 2009 is almost here, and as Election Day, February 2nd, quickly approaches, it is time to look forward to electing a new Congressional leader who will bring your concerns and ideas to Washington. I believe that healthcare, an issue at the forefront of our minds this election season, needs to be reformed the right way—without a government takeover.
The current Democrat-backed health care plan will increase government health expenditures by an estimated $1 trillion over a ten year period. While the consequences of the enormous bill will affect us on a national level, it will also make things worse for Illinois. A recent report released by the Illinois Policy Institute revealed the nationalized health care plan will lower economic growth by costing Illinois 169,000 jobs, impose $57 billion in costs for Illinois taxpayers to bear, and shrink our state’s economy by 5.1 percent.
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10th District, Robert Dold: Government Run Health Care is Bad Medicine”