I attended two parties in one evening last month that seemed to complement each other.

Governor-elect JB Pritzker was asked last week about the timeline for passage of a new minimum-wage law.

“That’s very important to me,” Pritzker said, “It’s probably something we’ll be able to get done in the first six months in office.”

I had the pleasure of meeting several Democratic women candidates from Lake County during the Illinois State Fair last summer. Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) was showing them around town and brought them to a reception I was attending. We chatted for a while before they went on their merry way.

“Merry” is actually an understatement. Those candidates were positively joyful. They seemed genuinely thrilled to be running for office. Only one had ever run for something before. The rest felt compelled to get involved after the 2016 election.

The last column I write before an election day is always the toughest because some papers will publish this before election day and others will publish it after. So today you get a yard-sign story.