Illinois primary results thread

by: Chris Bowers

Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 20:02


The Illinois Senate primary is tonight.  Polls close at 7 p.m. central time (8 p.m. eastern, 5 p.m. pacific).  There are a lot of races taking place but, as a D.C. focused blogger, I will only be providing updates on the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.  Check out Swing State Project and Archpundit for the nitty gritty on the other campaigns.

Illinois Senate, Democratic Primary Results
10,254 of 11,215 precincts reporting (91.4%)

Giannoulias Hoffman Jackson Marshall Meister
39.0% 34.1% 19.5% 5.7% 1.8%
Vote margin: Giannoulias +34,822 (going up--this is over.  No further updates.)

Update (9:12 eastern)--Looking like Giannoulias: Smart observation from alex in the comments:

it's hard to see a path for victory for Hoffman. He's not doing well enough in the collar counties to offset Chicago city and he's doing mostly poorly outside of Chicagoland at the moment.

Hoffman isn't strong enough in the city of Chicago to stage a comeback there.  His weakness among African-Americans, and downstate, appears ready to sink him.

Very worried about Giannoulias making himself, and the party, look bad with his banking ties.  He may be the more lefty than Hoffman, but I can't say I was pulling for him tonight.  Ties to a banking scandal are just terrible right now.

Update 2--A look at the Illinois 10th.  Worth noting, from minvis in the comments:

But the House 10th District is shaping up to be a good chance at a pickup for the Democrats.  This is Kirk's old House seat.  The moderate Republican, Elizabeth Coulson, is losing substantially to a more conservative Republican.  This is a slightly Democratic leaning district nationally.  It voted for Gore, Kerry and Obama the last 3 presidential elections.  Whoever wins the Democratic race, Seals is leading slightly right now, will more closely align with the electorate there than a right-wing Republican.

Good note.  Too add, IL-10 actually isn't slightly lean Democratic--it is D+6 in Cook PVI, which makes it roughly 12 points more favorable to Democrats than the national picture.   It is the second most Democratic district in the country held by a Republican (Delaware at-large is #1 in this category).

Follow the results of the House race here. I am a little dubious about Seals--pretty sure he isn't particularly progressive.  This is also his third run, and he failed to take the seat during two very Democratic years.  On the other hand, I know nothing about Julie Hamos, his main opponent.

With 4 precincts left to report, Seals leads by 662 votes.  Looks like Seals eeked it out.

update 3--Hamos appears to be Jan Schakowsky protege.  Multiple commenters are now reporting that Hamos is a protege of Jan Schakowsky.  That sounds pretty good to me.

If Hamos is great, and if she doesn't pull this out, it feels like a lost opportunity for a progressive pickup.  Terrible mistake on my part--should have done my research and gotten involved.

Update 4--Mark Kirk crushes tea party challengers in Republican Senate primary:  To no one's surprise, Mark Kirk cruises to victory in the Republican Senate primary.  He currently has 56% of the vote, and only 19% for the closest challenger.

Update 5--I am calling it for Giannoulias:  Giannoulias is going to be the Democratic nominee for Senate in Illinois.  Hopefully, his scandals will stay local, and he will find a way to beat Kirk despite them.  He leads in the polls right now, but keep an eye on this campaign.  Could get very dicey.

No further updates tonight.  This is an open thread on the Illinois primary.

Chris Bowers :: Illinois primary results thread

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Illinois primary results thread | 92 comments
lol (4.00 / 1)
Marshall and Meister score a symbolic victory, get updated after all.


New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.
Kirk winning as polls predicted (0.00 / 0)
60% of the Republican vote with 11% in.

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.
[ Parent ]
People can vote for the green party candidate Leland Jones (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
it's hard to (0.00 / 0)
see a path for victory for Hoffman. He's not doing well enough in the collar counties to offset Chicago city and he's doing mostly poorly outside of Chicagoland at the moment.  
Gotta agree (0.00 / 0)
Looks like Hoffman is done.
[ Parent ]
we'll have a really good snapshot (0.00 / 0)
once McHenry county comes in. It's one of the more conservative big voting areas in the state. Hoffman will need to perform very, very well there.
[ Parent ]
Well if Lake County is an indication (0.00 / 0)
of how McHenry might go, Hoffman has about a 15% lead there (roughly 3,000 votes more) over Giannoulias.  Also, we don't know where the outstanding precincts in Cook County are.  Are most of the suburbs in and it's just city precincts left?  I wouldn't say he's done just yet, but you can probably hear the fat lady warming up in the background.
[ Parent ]
agreed. (0.00 / 0)
although keep in mind that McHenry is much smaller than Lake and McHenry has fewer Democrats.

[ Parent ]
The other big county (0.00 / 0)
still out is Champaign.  I have no idea on Hoffman will do down there, but since the U of I is there, I'd assume there are more Democrats and probably more liberal as well.
[ Parent ]
and it should (0.00 / 0)
go to Geo. More liberal, younger crowd.  
[ Parent ]
also looks like (0.00 / 0)
Jackon County (Southern Illinous Uni), McClean (ISU), Dekalb (NIU) all have gone for Geo.
[ Parent ]
Which Dem has best chance to win in GE? (0.00 / 0)

lisa madigan (4.00 / 4)
:p
[ Parent ]
? (0.00 / 0)
who knows. Giannoulias will be a strong candidate though.  
[ Parent ]
I don't know any thing about these races. Thus the question. (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
See the discussion (0.00 / 0)
here.  The prevailing attitude was that all three major candidates were flawed: Giannoulias with his bank problem, Robinson Jackson with her Blago ties and Hoffman with his low name recognition.  Hoffman's problems were probably the least, as name recognition will go up anyway and he was running as the scandal-free candidate.  But for what it's worth, I argued that the candidate's ability to deflect Republican character attacks is more important for electability than the actual cleanliness of his/her record.
[ Parent ]
How bad is Kirk's record? (0.00 / 0)
Does he also have a problematic record that can be used?
[ Parent ]
He's considered a "moderate" Republican (0.00 / 0)
and had to be, given his D+6 district.  He had to tack to the right in the primary though; for example he explained away his vote for cap-and-trade as "good for his district", and I believe he said he wouldn't support it if he were representing the entire state in the Senate.  He also criticized closing Guantánamo and said he wanted to meet Sarah Palin.  He'll probably move back to the center somewhat for the general.

No actual scandals that I'm aware of.

[ Parent ]
sorry... (0.00 / 0)
I'm just not sure it's a question that can be answered with certainty.  
[ Parent ]
They were all flawed (0.00 / 0)
Hoffman is an anti-machine good-government liberal who said he wanted to leave the Bush tax cuts in place until the economy improved.  It's hard to see any great bastion of passion backing him up in any but the "lakefront liberal" areas of Chicago. But there was nothing scandalous against him.  I voted for him with little passion.

Cheryle Jackson had too many obstacles to overcome: 1) not that well known 2) being African-American is still a hurdle in this state, although perhaps less here than others, 3) she formerly worked for Blagojevich, probably the real kiss of death.

Winner Gianoullias is a bit more liberal than Hoffman but still, he's a banker tied to a scandal.  If the bank scandal turns out to be nothing, he may be formidable, but we'll see.

My own feeling is that Kirk is trouble, especially with the damages the Democratic Party has inflicted on itself the past year.

sTiVo's rule: Just because YOU "wouldn't put it past 'em" doesn't prove that THEY did it.

[ Parent ]
A bit off subject (4.00 / 2)
But the House 10th District is shaping up to be a good chance at a pickup for the Democrats.  This is Kirk's old House seat.  The moderate Republican, Elizabeth Coulson, is losing substantially to a more conservative Republican.  This is a slightly Democratic leaning district nationally.  It voted for Gore, Kerry and Obama the last 3 presidential elections.  Whoever wins the Democratic race, Seals is leading slightly right now, will more closely align with the electorate there than a right-wing Republican.
Sue Lowden banner?? (0.00 / 0)
Off-topic, but why is there a Sue Lowden for U.S. Senate banner atop this diary? I assume that Open Left has no control over the Google banners--at least I hope so! Isn't there a way to keep this kind of advertising off of Open Left?
There have been (0.00 / 0)
anti-EFCA and anti-healthcare banners all over liberal sites for months. Anti-Corzine banners were all over the place last fall. I've seen more than a fair share of "Seat Scott Brown Now", "Donate to Sarah PAC" and "Get Ann Coulter's column free" all over liberal blogs.

It's cause they're a lot smarter than us apparently.

[ Parent ]
I don't usually look at the ads (0.00 / 0)
which is why I miss most of this stuff. Is there similar liberal ads on conservative sites?
[ Parent ]
nope (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
It's smart to fund political enemies? (0.00 / 0)
No, DT, I am not so sure about that. It depends on whether those ads can have any impact on the actual readers. And recent studies show people simply ignore stuff that doesn't fit into their ideological view of the world. So, imho, the overwhelmingly progressives readers here won't be "harmed" by those ads, but OL sure can use the revenue. And are there many moderates reading this blog, too? That's not the impression I have...
[ Parent ]
I'll take their money (4.00 / 6)
I am not blocking ads.  I want other media outlets to run progressive ads, so I ain't blocking conservative ads.

Further, I am happy to take their money.  Terrible targeting on their end.  They are the ones who should know better than to run ads here.

Finally, a lot of progressive organizations don't want to spend money on blog advertising.  If they don't want to support us, I don't see why I should turn down money when it comes in.  Not like the banner ad content is going to influence my writing anyway.

[ Parent ]
Numbers game (4.00 / 2)
What a lot of media consultants do is buy a whole network portfolio (all political blogs, for instance) in order to get their numbers up high enough to justify their goals for impressions (and to pad their mark-up). You might as well take this cash since it really is very poorly targeted advertising and the advertiser is basically wasting their money. The fact that a lot of progressive orgs don't want to spend $ on progressive blog advertising is troubling. Believe me, I'm working on that.

Save Our Schools! March & National Call to Action, July 28-31, 2011 in Washington, DC: http://www.saveourschoolsmarch...
[ Parent ]
Hamos is one of my favorite local politicians... (4.00 / 1)
in ANY state.  She would be a representative much like her political mentor, Jan Schakowsky, who has been a consistent and vocal House progressive firebrand.  

I am crossing fingers and toes that she pulls this one out against Seals!  Makes me wish I'd done more (Hamos' state senate seat was in my childhood district, even though I've been a New Yorker for years).

Keep your eyes open...

wish I had known that (0.00 / 0)
Really seems like a primary where we should have helped out, then.  My mistake.
[ Parent ]
My fault too! (0.00 / 0)
I thought about bugging you about this one awhile back, but in the aftermath of the health care fight and Mass., I've been shirking and lurking a bit more than usual.  

:(

There's still a chance!...

[ Parent ]
Ugh... I'm getting a sickening feeling in my stomach (0.00 / 0)
I'm really not happy about how we all totally missed Hamos's campaign.
[ Parent ]
I like Jan (0.00 / 0)
but I never found her to be a more compelling candidate than Giannoulias regarding policy. I would have had a much harder time with this vote if it was between her and Gio though.
[ Parent ]
Hamos (4.00 / 1)
She's a protege of Jan Schakowsky. Her state house seat is in Evanston, which is in Jan's district. If Jan would have run for the Senate (wished she would have), Hamos would have been the favorite for that seat. With Jan staying put, Hamos is running in the neighboring North Shore district (very rich, old school republican, culturally liberal).  

Demockracy.com

9th and 10th (0.00 / 0)
Looking at the map, part of Hamos' state house district is in the 9th and part is in the 10th, so she could have picked either I suppose. The 9th includes evanston and a few northern neighborhoods of chicago (in between kirk's district and rahm's old district). It's PVI is probably close to D+20 or 30.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
D+20 (0.00 / 0)
Ohhh, I miss childhood.  Such a lovely liberal bubble, Evanston -- but the rest of the world beckons.  :)
[ Parent ]
I'm in the 10th (0.00 / 0)
We expected Beth Coulson to come out ahead for the Republicans, but the Seals/Hamos races have really divided Dems. With leaders like Jan going one direction with her endorsements and not always in concert with other elected officials, both candidates had strong supporters.

Many Seals backers felt that his previous runs against Kirk, who spent some of his huge war chest in hiring people to canvass for him while Dan depended on volunteers, gave him title to the third run, ESP. since Kirk took on the Senate race once Lisa Madigan was not going to be on the ballot for that office.  

[ Parent ]
On Alexi (4.00 / 1)
I had no dog in the race, truth be told I personally preferred Cheryle Jackson, even with her Blago connections. Keep in mind that she resigned from the Blago administration because she felt he was getting shady and didn't want to be associated with him.

That said, Alexi, for all his faults, did a really great job going out and connecting to voters one and one. Hoffman didn't do that. Alexi's ties to Broadway Bank and Rezko aren't really that believable and I think he's able to defend himself from those accusations. I don't think he'll win big, but he'll win. I'm not sure Hoffman would've done better.

Alexi will also be a very progressive Senators, Hoffman would be another Alan Dixon.  

Connecting with voters (0.00 / 0)
I actually saw Hoffman a couple of times in person at Oglivie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago campaigning in recent days. I know this is anecdotal, but I just wanted to counter your own anecdotal claim that Alexi was better at going out and connecting with voters. Alexi had name recognition and backing of the Chicago machine ($$$ and precinct captains at his will). This is why he'll likely pull it off. Hoffman was a no name--to make it this close shows the signs of a good operation in my opinion.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
I'm not so sure (0.00 / 0)
Looks like Gio will win this election because of down-state support. Chicagoland was somewhat split.
[ Parent ]
I should've added (0.00 / 0)
that the anecdotal claim I was making was outside Chicago. Hoffman made the rather interesting attempt to roll up enough votes in Chicago to overtake Alexi elsewhere in the state. It would've been a great strategy if not for Jackson.


[ Parent ]
Yeah (0.00 / 0)
It looks Jackson was the difference maker.

Hoffman went for a lot of the same voters that took a chance on no named Barack Obama in 2004. He won endorsements from anti-chicago machine party orgs like the democratic party of evanston, etc. However, Obama was able to combine this reformist, upper-middle class white vote with 95% of the African American vote on the South side of Chicago. Hoffman couldn't do this.

Interestingly Toni Prewinkle, who is an African American reformist candidate for Cook County Board President did very well with this strategy tonight--won nearly 50% of the vote in a crowded primary.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
Alexi had support early on (0.00 / 0)
Support groups were meeting in Chicago well before any of the others got in the race. He seemed to lay low when the excitement over Lisa Madigan blew up. I was personally glad not to see Lisa annointed, as it reeked of a family power grab to me.

Plus, I voted for him!

[ Parent ]
"Alexi's ties to Broadway Bank... aren't really that believable"? He's the VP! (0.00 / 0)
What's not believable about that? He's the effing vice president of that outfit and was responsible for the loan business! THOSE ARE FACTS!

Seriously, DT, if you don't believe THAT, what kind of a media guy are you? Are you living in a bubble, man? How "believable" has it to become to convince you, if you don't even trust your won lying eyes???

[ Parent ]
Also, don't forget, it's irrelevant what you believe. This is about the voters. (0.00 / 0)
There will be mudslinging, and Kirk won't have to make anything up, but simply have to put the facts in the most damningt light. That's not difficult, and all precendents show that such fact-based smearing will have any impact. Just remember the swift boating of Kerry! It wouldn'thave been so successful if it wasn't based on statements by people who served with him. That added a somewhat convincing (for the mostly uninformed people) level of plausibility.

For Giannnoulias, it will be the same. Every little damning detail of the family business and its shady connections will be brought to light, and will be blown up beyond all proportions by Kirk and his gang. Alexis will have to be a much stronger fighter than Kerry to survive this. And we all know the media won't help him, but glee over all those scandals that are so good for their business - you, as an insider, certainly know this!

There's still hope sure, some Dems still managed to mak it despite those bad odds. But is Giannoullias as good a campaigner as, say, Bill Clinton? No matter what you think about Bill's politics, but he his campaign skills were top! Is Alexis made of the same stuff? That's the important question now.

[ Parent ]
Are you saying... (0.00 / 0)
that he IS VP of Broadway Bank? I'm not reading anywhere in your post where it states he WAS VP at Broadway. Also keep in mind he was VP for a short period of time.

While he was at Broadway, the biggest mistake being made was Broadway's all-in approach to real estate loans (way above  bank averages of the time). The bank claims 9% of the bank's loans originated through Alexi.

The other big mistake made by the bank was also not growing the provision against loan losses fast enough. The bank doubled it, but that meant little due to the amount and type of loans Broadway started doling out.

Finally, there is no way of knowing who led to what decisions being made at the bank. What might be true to say is Alexi had a pretty big roll in the bank's decisions (since he was a senior loan officer or VP). What can't be substantiated is his positions on any of these bad decisions (although you can make the case that moving into certain types of risky loans were proposed by him).

I just don't think the story has enough legs to continue moving forward. At some point, the press will just lump it in with the dozens of other small banks that have gone belly-up in Illinois and other Midwestern states.

[ Parent ]
Yeah, "was", I guess. (0.00 / 0)
But I can't remember having read anywhere about when he quit. So, if I, a usually good informed OpenLeefter, don't know this, most of the voters won't know any details, either. Makes Kirk's job much easier.

"The bank claims 9% of the bank's loans originated through Alexi."
This real estate stuff is a minor point, imho. The rethuglicans won't go into so much details. They will keep it simple: Giannoulias = Broadway Bank = Millions of credits for crooks.

No miusunderstanding, I appreciate you shining more light on the bank's business, but that's not the point here. The problem is that there are lots of opportunities for Kirk's gang to sling mud at Giannnoulias.

And so, I  do "think the story has enough legs to continue moving forward." I even think the rethuglicans will put it on wheels, and may win the race with this!

Btw, "alex", "Alexis" - just a coincidental similarity of the names?  

[ Parent ]
yet (0.00 / 0)
I don't believe any of it will stick. Why? because there's no substantiating any of this "scandal". Also consider plenty of small banks have and are going under right now. Not news in Illinois where a fair share of regional/local banks have already closed up recently. The dealings of Broadway Banks aren't an anomaly.

And finally, good luck trying to pin the blame on Giannoulias 4-5 years after him leaving the bank. Pinning Geo to Rezco? heh. That kind of mudslinging will be as effective as the GOP telling voters Obama is pals with both Rezco and Ayers.

[ Parent ]
Let's hope it won't stick. (0.00 / 0)
But look at Chris' latest posting: Giannoulias lost several percent on Kirk! And that's only the impact of the primary. Can become worse when Kirk starts talking business. Well,maybe going negative will backfire for the rethuglicans, or voters will lose interest until November, but it doesn't look good right now.
[ Parent ]
are you from IL? (0.00 / 0)
we're an illogical bunch, but...

I think Chris doesn't have a good grasp of IL politics. He's usually wonderful otherwise, but he's been amiss there (I live in NJ but am an IL resident).

Like Mass state, the IL-Sen candidate will need to do better with independents. Kirk is currently mopping up with them in Ras's poll and don't think it's anything but a toxic jobs market and inaction in D.C. that's causing that.

[ Parent ]
doesn't look good... (0.00 / 0) 
U.S. House - District 10 - Dem Primary

Illinois - 498 of 511 Precincts Reporting - 97%

	Name 	Party 	Votes 	Vote %
	Seals , Daniel 	Dem 	21,772 	48%
	Hamos , Julie 	Dem 	21,089 	47%
	Richardson , Elliot 	Dem 	2,454 	5%

wow (0.00 / 0)
amazingly close. Can't believe I've ignored this race all night.
[ Parent ]
baby Hastert (4.00 / 1)
also looks like he's going down to defeat in IL-14
[ Parent ]
Guv Race (0.00 / 0)
close as hell too. Only 8,000 votes separated Quinn and Hynes statewide with 83% in.  

Demockracy.com

Is there a enthusaism gap showing? (0.00 / 0)
Total vote for Republicans in Senate race is about 550,000 votes and in the Dem race it's about 750,000 votes. While a larger number it doesn't seem large enough to me...I would have expected a much bigger differntial between each party's turnout based on how blue Illinois is.  I think it again portrays an enthusiasm gap between the parties.

7:45 p.m.: Giannoulias is maintaining his lead.  Results at Chicago Sun-Times.

Senate - GOP: Illinois - 9282 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 83% ( 567,167 total votes )

Kirk , Mark - 56% ( 319,820 )
Hughes , Patrick - 19% ( 108,917 )
Lowery , Don - 9% ( 52,135 )
Thomas , Kathleen - 7% ( 40,932 )
Martin , Andy - 5% ( 29,167 )
Arrington , John - 3% ( 16,196 )

Senate - Dems: Illinois - 9554 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 85% ( 757,356 total votes )

Giannoulias , Alexi - 39% ( 293,785 )
Hoffman , David - 34% ( 258,963 )
Jackson , Cheryle - 20% ( 149,039 )
Marshall , Robert - 6% ( 42,444 )
Meister , Jacob - 2% ( 13,125 )

Governor - Dems: Illinois - 9269 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 83% ( 752,917 total votes )

Quinn , Pat (i) - 51% ( 380,866 )
Hynes , Daniel - 49% ( 372,051 )

Governor - GOP: Illinois - 9269 of 11215 Precincts Reporting - 83% ( 584,701 total votes )

Brady , Bill - 21% ( 119,905 )
Dillard , Kirk - 20% ( 116,036 )
McKenna , Andy - 20% ( 115,377 )
Ryan , Jim - 16% ( 96,046 )
Andrzejewski , Adam - 15% ( 85,529 )
Proft , Dan - 8% ( 46,457 )
Schillerstrom , Bob - 1% ( 5,351 )



"Incrementalism isn't a different path to the same place, it could be a different path to a different place"
Stoller
Both totals are still very high for a primary (0.00 / 0)
Consider turnout in the 2004 Senate primaries was around 1 million for the Dems and 750,000 for Republicans.

Turnout on both sides looks to be about the same as the 2002 Gubernatorial primaries.

[ Parent ]
also consider (0.00 / 0)
that the race for GOP governor was very tight, if not the most competitive race of the night with 4 viable candidates.

in the end, I'm not entirely sold that the numbers back the enthusiasm gap meme.

[ Parent ]
Ummm.. I know that it hasn't been mentioned... (0.00 / 0)
...but, in case you didn't notice, Hynes and Quinn are essentially tied for the nomination for governor....

Any Illini care to comment on this development?

REID: Voting against us was never part of our arrangement!
SPECTER: I am altering the deal! Pray I don't alter it any further!
REID: This deal keeps getting worse all the time!

Not an Illini (4.00 / 2)
but Quinn will probably pull it out by about 7,000 votes.

That said, looks like Bob Brady will win the GOP nod, at which case Dems are favored no matter who wins the nomination.  

[ Parent ]
Bill brady (0.00 / 0)
Not Bob Brady...   And lets hope to hell we beat him... He's a wingnut and a half... Anti abortion except if the mother's life is at risk... Supports Creationism being taught....   Real bad character.
[ Parent ]
his numbers (0.00 / 0)
were woeful in the Chicagoland region. I suspect he'll have an extremely hard time in and around Chicago for the general but he'll be strong downstate IL.

I'm still not sure if he'll be the candidate though. Brady did woeful in Cook County and that's where a majority of the outstanding votes are.

[ Parent ]
Aargh - 50%-50% now (4.00 / 1)
I'm not sure who would be the stronger one. I've heard them both speak and both accuse the other of being weak, not willing to tackle the budget challenges. The state practice of nominating Gov and Lt Gov separately doesn't add any cohesion to their platforms, nor to cooperation during a term, apparently.

Hynes was Illinois State Comptroller for 12 years and didn't make much headway in countering corruption and/or bad practice. Comments from another blog linked Hynes to the leadership in Springfield, which is very controlling.

This is why we need of reform-minded State Representative candidates like Daniel Biss. Clean house from the bottom up!

[ Parent ]
I like Quinn (0.00 / 0)
I voted for Quinn...   He has some negatives, but he is more progressive in my opinion and has never been a part of the machine... in face they wanted to replace him as Lt Gov in 2006.   His biggest issue will be the competency perception.    
[ Parent ]
likewise (0.00 / 0)


sTiVo's rule: Just because YOU "wouldn't put it past 'em" doesn't prove that THEY did it.
[ Parent ]
The govenrnor nomination is nearly tied (0.00 / 0)
I comment on this matter.
[ Parent ]
There's still some good (4.00 / 1)
It's true that Giannoulias won and he is a machine Democrat.  His family launders money for the mob and I don't expect him to be any more progressive than Rahm Emmanuel, assuming he even wins.  But Hoffman did very well and might have won if Cheryle Jackson wasn't in the race.

But Senate is chump change.  I think in a year Hoffman is going right to heart of all of our problems in Illinois and run against Daley as for mayor of Chicago.  With Daley out of the way Illinois will stop embarrassing the Democratic party.

And I think the big news for locals is Stroger, the corrupt Cook County board president who inherited his seat from his father, has lost.  The progressive reform crusading alderwoman Toni Preckwinkle defeated him.  She was one of the the 5 out of the 50 Chicago aldermen to vote against Daley's deal to sell our parking meters to Morgan Stanley.

So win some, lose some but progressive corruption fighters did pretty well in Illinois today.

Amen (0.00 / 0)
My township voted four years ago to endorse John Stroger - I don't donate to them any longer on that account. They were committed to David Hoffman, but did not make a choice between Quinn and Hynes, nor Seals and Hamos.  
[ Parent ]
Exactly (0.00 / 0)
Which is why it was hilarious that some media outfits actually thought Rahm was considering running against Daley!

Rahm is who is he is because of Daley and the Chicago machine. Whenever the hell Daley steps down or dies, Rahm will be the new machine candidate. Daley, Rahm, etc.---none of these guys are progressive or political in a left-right spectrum. It's all about power, patronage, and the machine! Their candidate, Alexi, won tonight.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
Screw Hoffman... (0.00 / 0)
Hoffman is less progressive than Alexi is... If anything he is much closer to Rahm in politics.   The only reason some on here supported him was they thought him more electable.  Given the banking "scandal" hasn't been the lead story in the news for the last week locally, I have my doubts that the predictions of Dave and Chris will be correct.  Yes Kirk will hit Alexi with it, but its going to do very little.   If Alexi loses, it will be because its a down year...  I think he wins, but it will be close... 3 points or so.

And Stroger losing is far from a surprise... he was DOA, although I am surprised Toni won by as much as she did.    

[ Parent ]
and (4.00 / 1)
A lot from Illinois supported him because he wasn't a political hack, machine candidate, scion of money launderers.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
A lot of Blue Dogs (0.00 / 0)
were not political hacks or machine candidates, and a lot of progressives were.
[ Parent ]
and (0.00 / 0)
a lot of Illinoisans supported Alexi because he was the more progressive in the race. And he hadn't worked with and for some very conservative individuals.

[ Parent ]
eh (0.00 / 0)
what gives you the impression that Alexi will not be more progressive than Emmanuel?

Alexi has come out in full support of gay marriage knowing full well that this position could hurt him with conservative democrats and IL moderates.

[ Parent ]
So did Hoffman (0.00 / 0)
On Chicago Tonight they both did.  I don't trust Alexi because he is too machine affiliated.  I don't think anyone close to the machine is a true progressive.  They sell the public space to private companies.
[ Parent ]
Hamos would be good, but... (0.00 / 0)
she supported more troops in Afghanastan and Seals did not.  There weren't a lot of issues separating these 2 and this was one issue that did.

Julie has been my state rep for years and has done good work.  And my bias is to support more women when possible.  I think either would be fine and their electorate will support them in being progressive, and Schakowsky will demand it, I suspect.  We'll see where we are at the end of the night.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. -- Martin Luther King, Jr

CQ says Julie has conceded (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
Did a quick Google search of Julie Hamos (0.00 / 0)
and I'm not feeling so bad about her loss anymore.  No mention of single-payer/Medicare for All on her health care page, and when asked about it, here's what happened:

As for single payer, here's what Julie said at the Northside DFA event in October, when asked if she would co-sponsor a single-payer health care bill (HR676).  

"I would not sign on, although I wish that the year we passed Medicare fifty years ago, that we figured out how to extend Medicare [by] ratcheting down year by year the groups that it would be available to. I went on a study tour of the Canadian health care system with Quentin Young in the early 90's. I got very excited by the possibility of single payer but I think our country is not ready for it right now. I think we have no political will to dismantle the insurance industry and I think it's not a possible thing to do. That's the political reality - not because what's in my heart [but] because what my political gut tells me what's possible."

For good measure, here's a liberal blog panning Hamos.

[ Parent ]
Seals (0.00 / 0)
Is there any mention anywhere online that Seal's is  advocating in favor of single payer? What about Schakowksy? She seems to be a supporter of the current House bill as well.

Just saying.

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
Nothing on Seals and single payer from my quick search (0.00 / 0)
As for Schakowsky she's one of the 87 cosponsors of H.R. 676.

And yeah, people can support both H.R. 676 and the current House bill.  I'm one of them.

[ Parent ]
Found something on Seals (0.00 / 0)
on a liberal IL-10 centered blog, though it's from 2006.

That said, there's some good stuff.  On single payer:

I also heard that Dan is talking about single payer universal access to health care. It only makes sense. The current system of private insurance funded by employers is hurting US business trying to compete in a world where all other developed countries have a single payer universal system. Our current system supported by Kirk and his campaign contributors hurts US businesses constantly having to pay more and more to cover their employees and, of course, the unemployed and part time workers who have no coverage at all.

There's also good stuff about Medicare Part D:

For seniors, Seals wants to see a real drug benefit run by Medicare, not the plan Kirk supported that is run by the pharmaceutical industry and disallows price negotiation as Medicare had always done for services in the past. The Kirk plan forced Seniors to make snap decisions among many confusing private plans or be penalized for not having picked a plan fast enough. Picking a plan means finding a plan that covers the prescription drugs needed by a senior. For seniors taking multiple drugs, that could mean that some are covered under a plan, but not the others. To find a plan covering all a senior's prescriptions, it takes some research and long waits on hold.

Seals' prescription plan makes more sense because Medicare will act as an advocate for seniors and negotiate fair prices for its bulk constituency. That was what Medicare has always done for services in the past and is how Medicare is supposed to operate. The current plan controlled by the industry is nothing more than a salespitch in a game where being confusing lines their pockets.

Pretty good.  If the Dan Seals of 2010 is the same as or better than the Dan Seals of 2006, we may have nominated the right candidate.

[ Parent ]
Thanks for digging this up (0.00 / 0)
I have no problem with Seals. I thought Hamos had the potential to be a bit more progressive based on the fact that she represented the people's republic of evanston, but I'm fine with Seals. The GOP nominee, Bob Dold (seriously?) is apparently a big tea bagger. Definitely doesn't fit the district. Hopefully Seals will not move too far to the center (could definitely see him doing so this cycle).  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
also (0.00 / 0)
Also, I think Hamos's point about supporting single payer, while realizing it's not a current reality, is pretty much in line with Jan. She is a supporter of single payer, but admits that it's unfortunately not a political reality for this country at the moment.

Hopefully Seals will run with such zeal in a non-Democrat year.

I too share a similar position with you on HC btw.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
What bothers me is that Hamos won't even cosponsor H.R. 676 (4.00 / 1)
I mean, there shouldn't be any objection to cosponsoring a bill that obviously won't pass.  Signing on as a cosponsor of 676 would not dismantle the insurance industry, or whatever, but it would increase the show of strength that the bill has.

Also, for single-payer supporters (not just Hamos, but others too) who rightly complain that our country is "not ready for it", or that it's "politically impossible", why don't they try making it so our country is ready for it, by embracing and advocating for the concept (like Anthony Weiner does regularly) instead of running away from it, as Hamos did in her response?

I also want to point out that the info I posted about Seals above is from a blogger talking about Seals, and doesn't contain any actual quotes or supporting evidence from the Seals campaign itself.  So, take that as you will.

[ Parent ]
From a 90-minute live radio broadcast on Sat. Jan. 23 (0.00 / 0)
Here's the question on the Senate health bill from the Tenth Dems Newsletter report. The radio station, WCPT, has a podcast of Dick Kay's program, but not a transcript. Scroll to the very end for more photos of the panel and audience. We had a good turnout!

Would each candidate support the Senate healthcare bill if this were the only way to achieve reform? Both Richardson and Seals would reluctantly support it, with Seals citing the millions presently uninsured and the present insurance company inequities. He viewed the Senate bill as a "first step." Hamos does not like the Senate bill, stating that "state insurance exchanges" won't work. She said we need a national plan,
and, if necessary, we need to go back to the drawing board to develop a much clearer idea of the reforms. Kay asked, would "reconciliation" bypass Senate filibusters? Hamos said reconciliation deals with budget issues not specifics. Richardson felt that going back to the drawingboard would only add to the public's frustration.

[ Parent ]
Good for Hamos for not supporting the Senate bill (0.00 / 0)
Personally I'm looking for strong liberal Representatives who'd be willing to vote down the Senate bill unless there's a public option included in the fix.  Seals's answer is unimpressive, though unsurprising.

Of course, by the time Seals gets elected and sworn in this issue will probably be behind us anyway.  At least we hope.

[ Parent ]
Hamos was a very good State Legislator (0.00 / 0)
who took the lead on transit issues, but her take on national issues was not particularly inspiring as you have noted.  She was also a carpetbagger who had to move (albeit only a few blocks) in order to live in the district she ran for.  She was my State Rep but would not have been my Congressperson.

Dan Seals is a young African-American who has lost two very close races to Mark Kirk.  He has been compared in style to Barack Obama, although less charismatic and may be more liberal.

Maybe third time will be the charm for him as Kirk has been replaced by a right-winger.  Turnout will be key here.

sTiVo's rule: Just because YOU "wouldn't put it past 'em" doesn't prove that THEY did it.

[ Parent ]
Wait, latest report is that Julie Hamos won. (0.00 / 0)
link

sTiVo's rule: Just because YOU "wouldn't put it past 'em" doesn't prove that THEY did it.
[ Parent ]
IL-10 is partly in cook county and partly in lake county (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
Yeah, I missed that (0.00 / 0)
however, I would say it's a flaw of the software on the Cook County site it that puts a checkmark next to whoever is leading in the County.   They also checked Hoffman over Gianoullias.  The checkmark is typically only used for designated winners.  A too-close-to-call race does not usually have a checkmark.  Neither should a race which extends beyond the boundary of the area being counted.

sTiVo's rule: Just because YOU "wouldn't put it past 'em" doesn't prove that THEY did it.
[ Parent ]
yes, the checkmark thing is confusing (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Recount (0.00 / 0)
Looks like Hynes is laying the groundwork for a recount.
Crazy (0.00 / 0)
Crazy how close this race is. I ended up voting for Quinn largely because I thought Hynes' attack ads on criminal justice showed a severe ignorance on the issue (talked up every right wing talking point). I have no idea who would do better in a general election. Quinn has been the reformer and Hynes the insider--however, Quinn being the sitting governor negates that.  

Demockracy.com

[ Parent ]
Illinois primary results thread | 92 comments
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