18 Nov 2012

Civic Committee Leader Pushes Himself Out of the Pension Debate

By Rich Miller

For the past few years, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago has been one of the most feared participants in the state's pension-reform debate.

Ty Fahner, a former Illinois attorney general who heads the Civic Committee, managed to convince both parties to elbow each other for a position of favor with him and his group.

When Fahner ended up siding with the House Democrats back in May and endorsing their pension-reform plan, including shifting costs to school districts, the House Republicans were furious and disappointed. They had been assiduously courting Fahner, and figured that since the Civic Committee is composed of several top Chicago business leaders, they'd be the natural ally of choice.

Not to mention that Fahner also formed a political action committee ("We Mean Business") to back up his word. Everybody wanted that money, so the PAC gave his position additional strength.

But those days appear to be behind us, at least for now. Fahner's histrionics last week over what he claimed was an "unfixable" pension problem have all but cut him out of the Statehouse mix. "He's made himself irrelevant," said one top Democratic official who is intimately involved with pension reform.

11 Nov 2012

Latinos Key to Several Election Upsets in Illinois

By Rich Miller

Back in 1992, Latinos made up about 8 percent of Illinois' population, yet only 1 percent of that year's total election-day voter pool was Latino. The trend continued for years. Latinos just didn't vote.

Twenty years later, things have changed in a big way. According to exit polling, 12 percent of Illinois voters last week were Latino - compared to the 16 percent of Illinois residents who are Latino.

That high participation contributed to many of last week's electoral surprises.

04 Nov 2012

Feud Shows Madigan at His Ruthless Best

By Rich Miller

There's nothing quite like the spectacle of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan when he's out to get somebody.

Just ask state Representative Skip Saviano (R-Elmwood Park).

The two men used to be allies, even friends. Saviano supported Madigan's daughter when Lisa ran for state attorney general. But then Lisa turned against Saviano's political mentor, the late Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens, blocking his dream of building a local casino because, she claimed, he was tied to the mob. Saviano vowed revenge.

28 Oct 2012

Super-PACS Making Their Presence Felt in Illinois

By Rich Miller

Independent expenditures in state legislative races are closing in on the $2-million mark since July 1, with most of that spending coming in the month of October, Illinois State Board of Elections records show.

In March, a federal judge struck down Illinois' law capping contributions to so-called state super-PACs. Since then, according to the State Board of Elections' Web site, $1.8 million has been spent by groups on Illinois campaigns, and - as of late last week - $1.3 million of that has been spent in the month of October alone.

Super-PAC money is expected to increase exponentially in 2014, when the governorship and other statewide offices are up for election. So far, just 11 independent-expenditure committees have been formed, but more will surely come after this cycle ends.

24 Oct 2012

An End to One-Party Rule? Rock Island County Republicans Put the County Board in Play with "Clean the Slate"

By Jeff Ignatius

It doesn't take a genius to see through the "Clean the Slate" effort. Its newsletter, promoting 23 candidates for the Rock Island County Board, asks: "Tired of one party controlling all jobs in the county? Unless you are related to or know key people in the county government; your chances of being hired or promoted are unlikely."

There's no mention of party affiliation - and no branding by the Rock Island County Republicans - in the newsletter, which notes that it was paid for by the Clean the Slate PAC. On the other hand, its Web site (CleanSlate2012.net) includes a photo showing the Rock Island County Republicans logo, and the county-party Web site includes a link to Clean the Slate.

Even if the connections aren't explicit, Clean the Slate is a pretty naked attempt to recast the county-board election in nonpartisan, good-government terms. Republicans are clearly hoping that common-sense critiques will loosen the grip held on the body by the Democratic party.

Yet you'd be hard-pressed to argue that the initiative doesn't have valid points. The 25-seat Rock Island County Board presently has four Republican members, and the issue is less philosophical uniformity than organizational comfort. Because most county boards operate with little public or media scrutiny, the absence of oversight or internal opposition can result in their members acting with collective near-impunity. And Clean the Slate has articulated a handful of areas in which the Rock Island County Board needs improvement - from being more flexible with public comment to stopping nepotism to ending the practice of paid absenteeism for board members.

21 Oct 2012

Two Races Show the Perils of Independence

By Rich Miller

Ever since I published a poll last month showing indicted former state Representative Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) leading third-party candidate Lance Tyson in the 10th Illinois House District race by a mind-boggling 47 percent to 9 percent, there's been a lot of grumbling about how Chicago voters ought to know better. Smith was arrested and indicted, after all. It was all over the news. People should know that, for crying out loud.

At the time the poll was taken, however, Tyson hadn't spent much if any money on his campaign. He isn't a known quantity in the district. And he's not a Democrat - at least, he's not a Democrat on the ballot. Likely voters were given the choice between Smith and Tyson and told their party affiliations. Smith won the Democratic primary; Tyson belongs to the newly created 10th District Unity Party.

Convincing voters to take a look at third-party or independent candidates is never easy. Go back to 1986, when some members of Lyndon LaRouche's cultish organization won some statewide Democratic primary races here. Democrat Adlai Stevenson's running mate was beaten by one of those candidates, and Stevenson had to form a third party to run for governor.

14 Oct 2012

How Political Money Finds Its Target

By Rich Miller

One way of getting around the state's new campaign-contribution caps is by forming a lot of different campaign committees. State law forbids people from forming more than one committee (except for independent expenditures, political parties, and state legislative leaders), but nothing in the law prevents "friends" and allies from forming their own committees to receive and give money.

For example, House Republican Leader Tom Cross has his own PAC (Citizens to Elect Tom Cross) and his allowed "caucus" PAC (the House Republican Leadership Committee), and he also appears to control or at least influence four other committees: Illinois Crossroads PAC, Citizens to Change Illinois, the Illinois House Victory Fund, and the Move Illinois Forward PAC.

Before we go any further, let me stress that none of this appears to be illegal. The House Republicans don't deny they're doing this, with one official saying that they even include these campaign accounts in the presentations they give to large donors.

07 Oct 2012

Congressional Campaigns Trickle Down to Local Races

By Rich Miller

There's not a lot that a state legislative candidate can do when his or her party's presidential nominee starts to tank.

The presidential race drives turnout to the point where down-ballot candidates must struggle mightily to rise above the noise and get their messages heard by distracted voters.

And because there are no statewide races in Illinois this year, that means there are no truly high-profile campaigns to "break up" any presidential advantage or momentum. Congressional races are all that state legislators have now to cushion the blow from the top, and down-ballot candidates are increasingly pinning their hopes on those contests.

30 Sep 2012

Will Legistors Curb Their Own Pensions?

By Rich Miller

For the past couple of election campaign cycles, this one included, incumbent state legislators have bragged in their campaign ads about cutting their own pay.

They didn't actually cut their own pay. But they did vote several times to take unpaid furlough days. So it's almost the same.

But lots of challengers have upped the ante this fall. The candidates are refusing to accept a state pension if elected.

23 Sep 2012

Two Bits from the "Only in Illinois" File

By Rich Miller

I have two poll results to tell you about today. One is about an alleged criminal; the other is about a proven liar.

Expelled state Representative Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) is leading his only opponent by 38 points and is close to the 50 percent he'll need to reclaim his seat.

According to a poll of 556 likely voters conducted September 12 by We Ask America, Smith is crushing third-party candidate Lance Tyson 48-9. The poll has a margin of error of 4.15 percent.

Smith was expelled from the House in August, months after his federal indictment for allegedly accepting a $7,000 cash bribe. He's still on the ballot, though, and faces Lance Tyson, who was picked to run by the district's Democratic ward committeemen.

Tyson loaned his campaign more than $26,000 last week after I told my subscribers about this poll. That's most of what he's raised so far.

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