Illinois Politics
QUINCY — Filing closed Monday evening for Quincy’s 2025 municipal elections. Quincy is divided into seven wards with each represented by two aldermen, alternating every two years with one seat being available at a time. Citywide offices are also on the ballot. The candidates who filed for the Feb. 25, 2025 primary, if needed or,…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – Attorneys in the offices of Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx made similar arguments in recent court filings as both defend bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines against constitutional challenges. In separate cases at different levels of the federal court system, both offices are trying to make…
Read Full Article ‘My client is the speaker’: Jury hears three dozen wiretapped calls of McClain between 2018 and 2019
CHICAGO – By early 2019, Mike McClain had been a fixture around the Statehouse in Springfield for the better part of 50 years, first as a Democratic lawmaker in the 1970s and then for decades as a high-profile contract lobbyist. And though he officially retired in late 2016, McClain could still be spotted around the…
Read Full Article CHICAGO – In 2006, electric utility Commonwealth Edison was riding out the last year of a decadelong state-mandated rate freeze, which had put the company in “dire” financial straits. In a period when corporate profits climbed at record rates, ComEd was an outlier. And as the utility stared down the possibility of state lawmakers extending…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Opening arguments began Monday in the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, who faces 23 bribery, fraud, racketeering and conspiracy charges related to five “episodes” over the last 14 years. The former speaker wore a charcoal suit with a red tie, watching dispassionately and taking notes as federal prosecutor Sarah…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Two GOP mayoral candidates turned in petitions at the beginning of the filing period Monday morning at Quincy City Hall. Brink was first in line with 740 signatures on his petitions. Troup was third in line behind former City Clerk Janet Hutmacher, who was turning in the petitions for City Clerk Laura Oakman.…
Read Full Article The Pritzker administration continues to deny the state is losing population. During a panel discussion about pensions with the Better Government Association this week, Deputy Gov. Andy Manar was asked about the state’s economic trends, including population decline. “There has never been more people living in the state of Illinois than there is today,” Manar…
Read Full Article Illinois Senate President Don Harmon continues piling up campaign money. His latest quarterly report for his personal campaign committee showed Harmon had $13.4 million in the bank, up almost $2 million from the previous quarter. His caucus committee ended with $2.6 million in the bank, up about $800K from the previous quarter. And his two…
Read Full Article CHICAGO — Two of Gov. JB Pritzker’s top staffers have opened their own communications strategies firm. Jordan Abudayyeh and Jason Rubin have announced the launch of Abudayyeh Rubin Communications Strategies (ARC Strategies) to help companies and organizations raise their profiles, message targeted audiences and perform crisis navigation and management. ARC Strategies offers services including crisis communications, public…
Read Full Article Have you ever noticed the bike path along Columbus Road and Cannonball Road, running each side of Wismann Lane? Did you know it has a name? It is the Erin East Memorial Bike Path. Erin was a 13-year-old, seventh-grade student at Quincy Junior High School. The weather in November 1988 reached the high 60s. …
Read Full Article CHICAGO — The jury that will determine the fate of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is nearly complete after three slow days of jury selection this week. But in addition to the 11 jurors who have already been chosen, one final jury member must survive challenges, plus six alternates — a larger number than…
Read Full Article Illinois surpassed $2 billion in tax revenue last year from all types of gambling and the state lottery – a record bolstered by continued growth in video gambling, sports betting and the opening of several new casinos. But that growth comes at the expense of Illinois’ traditional riverboat casinos and the horse racing industry, which…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) has been named a Champion of Free Enterprise by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to the defense of free enterprise and job opportunities for all Illinoisans. Tracy also received the chamber’s inaugural Bridge Builder award, which recognizes two lawmakers from each legislative chamber who…
Read Full Article Last year, the Democratic Party of Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker targeted local school board races to defeat candidates who wanted to ban books and/or were receiving support from right-wing political organizations. The governor ended up claiming victory in more than 70 percent of those campaigns. The push was unusual because the state’s Democratic Party,…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD – Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Senate Republican Caucus Whip Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) filed an official resolution calling for an independent audit by the Illinois Auditor General into serious accusations of violence against children under the state’s care at Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center in Chicago, as well as what appears to…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD — Four Illinois state senators are calling on state and federal leaders to address concerns about recent federal data that shows thousands of non-citizens who have crossed into the United States are charged with serious crimes. State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy), State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley), and State Sen.…
Read Full Article A judge on Wednesday denied former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s motion to dismiss some of the charges he faces before trial next week. Judge John Robert Blakey also denied a motion from Madigan’s co-defendant in the case, Michael McClain, for a separate trial. McClain, a former state lawmaker, lobbyist and longtime Madigan ally, had…
Read Full Article Early voting began Thursday in Illinois, and Capitol News Illinois has launched an interactive election guide to help Illinoisans navigate the voting process. Illinois gives voters 40 days prior to Election Day to cast their ballot – in most jurisdictions. Beginning Thursday, most Illinoisans can vote at their local election authority’s office – in most…
Read Full Article SPRINGFIELD —The State of Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC) announces the third stop on its series of statewide public hearings it is hosting to discuss reparatory actions for Black Americans in Illinois who are descendants of American chattel slavery. The next public hearing will take place in Springfield at Southeast High School on Saturday, Oct.…
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