Corbett Accuses Pritzker and WTTW of Debate Collusion
Independent candidate for Governor Collin Corbett. (Photo: Daily Herald)
Independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett Tuesday accused Governor JB Pritzker’s campaign of coordinating with Chicago Public Television station WTTW to keep him out of a planned debate next week.
WTTW’s debate rules required Corbett register 15% support in a public poll to qualify for the debate, which WTTW is branding as a “forum.” Without any public polling, Corbett said he had met all of WTTW’s criteria to participate in the event.
Then, Monday, Chicago News Weekly, an obscure, free weekly publication based on Chicago’s southside released a poll from national pollster Public Policy Polling, which is often considered affiliated with the Democratic Party. The survey showed Corbett at 6% support.
(Disclosure: Corbett is a personal friend who is treated like any other candidate and I occasionally appear on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” program.)
There are numerous ties between Chicago News Weekly and the Pritzker campaign.
Chicago News Weekly’s CEO, Cheryl Mainor Norman, was appointed by Gov. Pritzker in 2019 to a paid temporary board seat on the Illinois Human Rights Commission.
Pritzker’s current Lt. Governor, Juliana Stratton, was featured by the publication in January, in the throes of her Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. None of the other Democratic candidates for Senate were featured, including fellow African American Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Lynwood).
The publication also featured Pritzker’s new running mate, Christian Mitchell, complete with artistic photos. The back cover of the two most recent CNW editions include full page ads for Pritzker’s campaign. The Pritzker campaign appears to be one of few advertisers for the publication in general.
The Pritzker campaign reported paying the publication $16,000 for advertising in the 2022 campaign.
In a Livestream on his YouTube page last night, Corbett said Pritzker used CNW to put a poll in the field to get him out of the debate next week.
“This whole thing has been orchestrated. Clearly this has been orchestrated between WTTW and the Pritzker camp. And, wouldn’t you know it, Monday morning, a poll comes out by some obscure outlet that nobody has ever heard of,” Corbett said. “I wonder where they got the money to fund a national pollster to come in and poll this race and the other statewide races. It’s just such a coincidence. I can’t quite put my finger on it. I can’t figure out how this all happened.”
Norman said in an e-mail CNW paid for the poll independently.
The Pritzker campaign denied paying for, organizing, or commissioning the poll for CNW.
“We are proud to demonstrate why Governor Pritzker is the best choice this November across the state’s broad media landscape, including independent and Black-owned media outlets,” Pritzker campaign spokesman Alex Gough said.
But Corbett alleged the fix is in.
“It’s a Democratic pollster that has a history of overrepresenting Democratic candidates and underrepresenting all the other candidates. You have a poll done by a Democratic pollster, put out by a non-independent outlet, and WTTW is trying to use that to keep me off the stage. I’m not surprised,” Corbett said. “I’ve been saying from the beginning that we knew there was no way WTTW would allow me on that forum stage next Tuesday night because JB Pritzker doesn’t want me there. Bailey doesn’t want me there either, but WTTW couldn’t give two craps about what Darren Bailey wants. They want the Governor there. They’re gonna keep JB Pritzker happy. They don’t want me there to hold him accountable for his record.”
One Republican operative we spoke to Tuesday said they believe Corbett is likely exaggerating his case, but said it is plausible.
“Pritzker spent $30 million to make Darren Bailey his opponent in 2022,” the operative said. “It’s not like they’re above meddling.”
Representatives from WTTW did not respond to requests for comment.
