Tag: Illinois

Authorities in Chicago say several people have been wounded in a shooting at Mercy Hospital, including a police officer and a suspect; senior correspondent Mike Tobin reports. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering…

A political reform advocacy group says it has grave concerns about the amount of big money in Illinois elections. Alisa Kaplan, policy director for Reform For Illinois, said Illinois’ gubernatorial candidates have raised $284.5 million. [Bruce] Rauner and J.B. Pritzker,” Kaplan said. Rauner has raised more than $79.4 million, also largely self-financed. It’s not just the candidates who are putting up big money, Kaplan said, it’s also mega donors shelling out tens of millions to political action committees and candidates. “People will start to feel disaffected and withdraw from the process because they’ll feel that if they're not wealthy, if they’re not particularly well connected politically, they just won’t have a voice in the process so why bother getting involved,” Kaplan said. “We worry about this system where it’s very top down and much of both of the Democratic and Republican parties might feel they might have to march in lockstep with the main funders,” Kaplan said. Kaplan said one number to analyze after the election is how much each candidate spent for each vote. In the March primary, Pritzker took the top Democratic spot with $119 per vote. Rauner’s primary win cost $102 per vote.

Bruce Rauner’s Illinois record-setting race for governor in 2014, just under $110 million was spent. Rauner had given his own campaign more than $27 million that year. Rauner has given his own campaign $50 million, while Democrat J.B. Pritzker has invested more than $171 million in his run. He donated $22.5 million to Rauner’s campaign. Since 2013, total donations from those people and their spouses or businesses include more than $111.5 million from Rauner; nearly $172.9 million from Pritzker; $58.6 million from Griffin and nearly $27.5 million from Uihlein. In addition to Uihlein’s nearly $12 million this cycle, there has been $13.5 million from Rauner’s campaign fund, $15.5 million from Pritzker’s campaign fund; and $7.5 million from Griffin. Major donors to GOP candidate for Attorney General Erika Harold are Citizens for Rauner, at more than $1.8 million; with another $1.7 million from Griffin. The spending in Illinois has caught national attention, in part because Pritzker broke the record set by Republican Meg Whitman of California, who in spending $144 million of her own money in a 2010 race for governor of her state had become the biggest self funder in the country’s history. “That really changes the nature of politics if both parties are looking for the financial angel.” Redfield also said that because Pritzker has done so much to help Democratic candidates for other offices, it helped take the pressure off of traditional Democratic funders such as unions and trial lawyers. She also said the extensive funding of political parties by those candidates is another concern.

Chicago protesters call for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has…

A record number of women are running for office, the majority of whom are in the Democratic Party. With under 100 days left until midterm elections, Ari Melber examines how Democrats are trying to win a majority in Congress. Democrat…

Live at 3:40 p.m. EDT. President Trump will deliver remarks on tariffs, trade and jobs in Granite City, Illinois following his tour of the Granite City Works steel plant. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated…

Against that backdrop, federal prisoner number 40892-424 this week penned a column in the conservative opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch who is tight with Trump. Another top adviser and fundraiser went to prison in corruption schemes that served as a precursor to Blagojevich’s own indictment. "I have nobody to blame but myself for my stupidity and actions and words and what I thought I could do. "Here I am in my sixth year of a 14-year prison sentence for the routine practice of attempting to raise campaign funds while governor," he wrote. Five of those counts were later tossed on appeal, but the crimes for which he still stands convicted include: Trying to shake down the CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital for $25,000 in campaign cash in exchange for a hike in state reimbursements for pediatric specialists. Among wiretaps played at trial were some that captured Blagojevich discussing a scheme to appoint a longtime political adversary to the post, then U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., in exchange for $1.5 million in political donations. "I’m in prison for practicing politics," read the headline on the article by the former Illinois governor. Blagojevich and his legal team also made the "politics as usual, nothing to see here" argument during his trials, but such claims were soundly rejected by federal jurors. Much of the evidence presented at those trials stemmed from court-ordered wiretaps on which Blagojevich was heard scheming to carry out the very crimes for which he was convicted. Illinois has certainly suffered its share of public corruption, and skepticism about politicians abounds.

Melissa talks about shooting her new movie Life of the Party on a college campus, working at a farmer's market during her college years, and she reveals an amazing question her mom once had for her. Jimmy Kimmel Interviews 20-Year-Old…

The biggest changes in politics in Illinois during Gov. Rauner’s election. In an increasing number of legislative races, spending now exceeds $1 million, and 54 percent of the legislative seats lacked a major party opponent in the last election. As the price of campaigning in competitive districts increased, more money came from outside of the districts as both parties’ campaign committees transfer funds to close races. Kent Redfield, a retired professor of political science at the University of Illinois-Springfield and an expert on campaign spending in Illinois, found that three individuals, Rauner, Ken Griffin and Richard Uihlein, now dominate the funding for the Illinois State Republican Party, the Republican State House and the Republican state Senate committees. These three committees in turn have contributed 96 percent of the money raised between 2015 and 2016 by the Illinois Republican Party and Republican State House Organization and about 69 percent of the funds raised by the Republican state Senate Campaign Committee. Labor contributes about half of the Democrats’ money, 48 percent for the state Democratic Party, 47 percent to the Senate Democratic Victory Fund and 50 percent to the House Democratic majority. In the past, the wealthy were content to influence politics by contributing to campaigns; increasingly they are running for office themselves. While the Republican Party is more open to extremely wealthy candidates than the Democratic Party, the prominence of wealthy non-office-holding candidates in this election cycle’s Democratic primary indicates just how quickly one party imitates the other. The increasing importance of wealthy donors and candidates distances officeholders from the public.

The Story: Daniel Lipinski (D-Il), Congressman for the 3d Congressional District, Illinois, faced but in the end defeated a vigorous primary challenge. The challenger, businesswoman...