Election 2022 Recap

Written by David E. Smith

The hope in a “Red Wave” election didn’t come to fruition in November. The work to flip the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to Republican control produced mixed results.

The GOP barely gained control of the U.S. House, which means Nancy Pelosi will no longer be the Speaker of the U.S. House, and third in line to the presidency.

Of our state’s 17 Congressional seats, three downstate districts have Republican representation, as we lost one to redistricting and one to a Democrat candidate in the newly redrawn 13^th district in central Illinois.… Continue Reading

Republicans Ignore Abortion as a Wedge Issue

Written by Cal Skinner
McHenry County Blog – Former Illinois State Representative

In 2010 State Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) lost the gubernatorial race to Pat Quinn by 31,834 votes–less than one percentage point. Brady took a pounding from the pro-abortion Personal PAC’s television ads starting in early August.

Unlike Bill Clinton in his 1992 contest against George Bush, Brady never responded when he was attacked. On the abortion issue, he stood there like a punching bag and took the blows.… Continue Reading

Illinois Republicans Miss the Target in Target-Rich Environment–Again

Written by John Biver and David E. Smith

Illinois Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Whether it is reaching enough Illinoisans with the facts about the dire fiscal state of Illlinois or about the terrible consequences of the misnamed “Equal Rights Amendment,” GOP leaders can’t seem to make use of the many teachable moments that occur weekly in Illinois politics.

One such teachable moment presented itself in a shocking investigative report by the Chicago Tribune on pervasive child sexual abuse within the Chicago Public School system that exposed that “Over a decade, police investigated more than 520 cases of juvenile sexual assault and abuse in Chicago’s public schools.”… Continue Reading

Is the Illinois GOP Civil War Finally Here?

Written by John Biver

Now that prominent conservatives are seeing Governor Bruce Rauner for who he really is, we arrive at a genuinely dramatic moment in a state where the Republican Party’s failures have paved the way for Leftist policies to ruin the state.

After signing several outrageously left-wing bills into law, an increasing number of rank and file conservatives and elected political leaders are finally seeing the truth about Governor Rauner. This gives conservatives in Illinois the opportunity to get their act together.… Continue Reading

Ineffective GOP Messaging Leads to Tax Hikes Without Reforms Every Time

Written by John Biver

Every time state spending increases and taxes are raised, Republicans and conservatives issue statements expressing disappointment and disgust with those who played a part in making it happen. For many of us watching this Illinois tax and spend train wreck year after year, these statements are tiresome.

Bad things happen. Our side reacts to those bad things with statements.

These pages have outlined and linked to other articles explaining that Illinois’ problem is a simple math problem.… Continue Reading

Senator LaHood, Representative Unes Consider Congressional Vacancy

Written by IllinoisReview.com

Two state senators whose names emerged as possible Republican candidates to succeed resigning U.S. Representative Aaron Schock said they won’t be running in the special election to fill the 18th CD vacancy.

State Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington told WLS Wednesday morning he’s not interested in leaving his duties in Springfield and State Senator Jason Barickman* (R-Bloomington) said he too, would remain in the Illinois State Senate.

“Yesterday, I spoke with many supporters, and discussed this potential opportunity to serve with my family.… Continue Reading

“Spend-To-Stay” Alive and Well in Illinois

Written by Russ Stewart

Remember that old verity, you get what you pay for? Often, you don’t. In Illinois politics, however, you pay for what you get, and the candidate who pays the most is the candidate who gets.

Bruce Rauner is Illinois’ governor because during 2014 he raised $78,191,560 and spent $58,426,802. Roughly $25 million of his receipts came from his own pocket. Self-funding, in essence, bought him the governorship.

Rauner beat Pat Quinn 1,823,627 to 1,681,343, getting 50.3 percent of the vote and winning by a margin of a margin of 142,284 votes.… Continue Reading

Rauner Will Not Cure Springfield Dysfunction

Written by Russ Stewart

The outcome of Illinois’ gubernatorial race proves anew that any mother’s son can grow up to be governor, provided that he can self-fund $28 million and raise another $60 million.

Republican Bruce Rauner‘s win also reaffirms another pearl of wisdom: Bad always gets worse. If Illinoisans thought that state government was incompetent and leadership was dysfunctional under the Quinn-Madigan-Cullerton Democratic regime, they ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 2018 campaign for governor started on Nov.… Continue Reading

November Election Result will be “UPS Moment”

Written by Russ Stewart

The Nov. 4 election, for Democratic politicians in Chicago, will be a “UPS moment.” Which committeemen among the 50 Chicago wards will deliver, and will their delivery be decisive and intimidating?

With Chicago politicians already heavily focused on the Feb. 24, 2015, municipal election, and those with statewide ambitions intensely pondering the state landscape for 2016 and 2018, the 2014 vote will, to use that old expression, “separate the men from the boys.”… Continue Reading