Posts Tagged ‘Illinois’
IL: Former Republican State Senator Runs for old Job
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:50 Written by rslcpol Monday, 7 June 2010 01:42
From WBBM:
Former state senator Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin, who ran for the Republican governor endorsement in 2006 and then lieutenant governor that year, kicked off his campaign Sunday to reclaim the post he once held.
Rauschenberger, who held the 22nd Senate District seat from 1993 to 2006, will face off against state Sen. Michael Noland, D-Elgin, who won the seat in 2006 against Republican foe Streamwood Village President Billie Roth.
Rauschenberger said Sunday that he didn’t plan to run for public office again until he saw the Illinois General Assembly leadership convene for the summer without a finalized budget.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IL: Blago Goes to Court Tomorrow
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:53 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 2 June 2010 12:21
From the Washington Post:
When Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor, steps into a federal courtroom on Thursday, his madcap appearances on “Celebrity Apprentice” and the Second City comedy stage will be history. He will be playing to an audience of 13 — a dozen jurors and one no-nonsense judge — in the most pivotal performance of his life.
Blagojevich, who likes to say that he has never lost an election, will face three supremely experienced prosecutors, the same ones who put his friend Antoin Rezko, a notorious Chicago fundraiser, behind bars. They will be marshaling dozens of secretly taped conversations and the testimony of some of Blagojevich’s closest allies, now witnesses for the prosecution.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Dems Behaving Badly, State Legislature News | No Comments
IL: Governor Candidate Picks Campaign Worker as Lt. Governor Running Mate
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:14 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 13 May 2010 02:01
From Northwest Herald:
A pawnbroker who’s running for Illinois governor after quitting the lieutenant governor’s race announced his running mate on Wednesday but acknowledged the pick wasn’t his first choice.
Scott Lee Cohen said he first asked Democratic state Sen. James Meeks to run as lieutenant governor with him in an independent bid, but eventually settled on former campaign worker Baxter Swilley.
“He was not my first choice but he is the best choice,” Cohen said of the 35-year-old Swilley.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
IL: Candidates See Need for Lt. Governor Candidate
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 01:54 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 7 April 2010 12:45
From TheSouthern.com:
The Democrat and Republican candidates for lieutenant governor see a need for the office, and not just because they want a job.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan proposed legislation in February to cut the position entirely, but candidates on both sides of the aisle think that may not be a great idea. Madigan recently reiterated his stance Monday on Chicago Public Radio saying that the position is merely waiting to fill the vacancy of governor and that it could easily be filled by the attorney general.
Democratic candidate Sheila Simon said there are more important issues to worry about in the state such as the “state’s budget and how to get more jobs for the state of Illinois.” She said she feels the job is important for helping the state and the governor.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
IL: GOP Calls for Audit of State’s Financial Problems
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 02:10 Written by rslcpol Friday, 26 March 2010 01:35
From the News-Gazette:
House Republicans on Wednesday called for a “comprehensive, top-to-bottom audit of state spending,” a review that a former gubernatorial candidate predicted would uncover more than $1 billion in waste.
“During a time when every family, every school and every nonprofit organization is assessing their own budgets and finding ways to make every dollar stretch a bit more, it is only appropriate that we ask the same of government,” House Republican Leader Tom Cross, R-Plainfield, said.
Cross said his proposal for a forensic audit, which would be conducted by Auditor General Bill Holland, would review state spending, hiring, procurements and contracts during the administrations of Govs. Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
IL: GOP Urges AG to Sue over Health Care Bill
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 02:14 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 24 March 2010 12:40
From Pantagraph.com:
Republican members of Illinois’ congressional delegation want Attorney General Lisa Madigan to sue to block the new health care overhaul.
Six lawmakers signed a letter Tuesday urging Madigan to join more than a dozen other state attorneys general who are claiming in court the law is unconstitutional.
Madigan’s office says it isn’t filing a lawsuit. Gov. Pat Quinn, a fellow Democrat, says Illinois won’t do anything to try to block health care reform.
The letter to Madigan was signed by U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo, Aaron Schock, Peter Roskam, Judy Biggert, John Shimkus and Tim Johnson.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
IL: Party Will Make Lt. Governor Decision
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 02:25 Written by rslcpol Friday, 19 March 2010 11:05
From Daily Herald:
Gov. Pat Quinn said picking his running mate is a decision largely up to him despite repeated claims by members of the state Democratic Party that choosing the nominee is their prerogative.
“I think this is a healthy exercise in grass-roots Democracy, but ultimately I have to make a choice, and I will at the right time,” Quinn told reporters Wednesday morning after a campaign speech to union electricians at a Springfield hotel.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
IL: Democrat Refuses to Name Lt. Governor Pick
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 02:32 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 16 March 2010 01:55
From the chicagodefender.com:
Gov. Pat Quinn isn’t saying who he wants to be his running mate as the state Democratic Party gets ready to pick a lieutenant governor nominee.
Quinn on Monday said he’s talked to House Speaker Michael Madigan about who he wants.
The governor says he’s confident a good nominee will eventually be picked.
The Democrats are looking to replace pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen, who won the primary but quit the ticket amid questions about his past.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments
IL: Democrat Governor asks Legislature to Hike Taxes
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 02:38 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 11 March 2010 02:16
From SouthtownStar:
Gov. Pat Quinn called on lawmakers Wednesday to impose a 33 percent increase in the state income tax, a move the Democratic governor says will allow Illinois to spend more money on education.
Quinn told lawmakers that without raising the income tax from 3 percent to 4 percent, they face the daunting prospect of reducing school funding by $1.3 billion during the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Blog | No Comments
IL: Dems Get all sorts of Lt. Governor Applicants on Website
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 02:43 Written by rslcpol Friday, 5 March 2010 11:05
From Pantagraph.com:
Illinois’ Democratic voters picked a pawnbroker as their candidate for lieutenant governor, and that didn’t exactly end well. So perhaps they won’t mind if the next candidate doesn’t have a job. Or is still in school. Or isn’t actually a Democrat.
At least that’s what some applicants for the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket seem to hope. The Democratic Party of Illinois has received more than 70 applications since it began accepting them on its Web site this week. Applicants included a former senior adviser to disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and an out-of-work technician who answered the question “Why are you a Democrat?” with “Who said I was?”
Tags: Illinois | Posted under Lieutenant Governor News | No Comments