The Illinois Senate adjourned its session April 9 just after 3 o’clock in the morning. The House adjourned about three hours later, as the sun was coming up. This wasn’t the first time that the chambers worked into the wee smalls to finish their work, including a budget, and it probably won’t be the last, but it’s getting to be a bit much. Senate President Don Harmon told me afterward that, in the future, he would like to “avoid” adjourning sessions that late.

As you probably already know, the Democratic Governors Association recently launched a TV ad blasting Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin for claiming to be a crimefighter while having defended dangerous criminals as a defense attorney.

The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police’s top campaign priority this spring is defeating Senator Rob Martwick (D-Chicago) in the Democratic primary. The police group is backing Chicago police detective Erin Jones, who not long ago was described as a “loyal member” of the Northwest Side GOP Club.

By the end of 2020, most people assumed there were only three ways to get House Speaker Michael Madigan out of office, and none were going to happen anytime soon. Not one of those scenarios involved the Republican Party, the Chicago Tribune editorial board, the Illinois Policy Institute, or their fellow travelers and funders of the coordinated effort to dethrone the state’s Democratic king. Their constant attacks on Speaker Madigan only tightened the partisan and union support around him and strengthened his resolve to remain in office by any means necessary.