Your Questions...Answered!
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza at the Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association State Fair brunch in 2021. (Photo: State Journal-Register)
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OPINION
I like to periodically open it up to your questions. Thanks to all who submitted. We’re not going to use any names to protect identities and employers and biases and all that stuff. Don’t worry, there is plenty of opinion to be found here.
(Susana) Mendoza is definitely running for Mayor, isn't she?
Yeah, absolutely. The State Comptroller, who announced last week she isn’t running for re-election, is trying her best to not say part out loud yet, but it's pretty clear what direction this is going. I tried to pin her down on the radio last week, but she didn't take the bait. I asked her how an”hypothetical” campaign may go, which opened her up a little, but she's doing what politicians do. At least she can admit she's thinking about it, which Governor Pritzker won't do about his flirtations with running for president. When does she announce? Not sure. But I'd guess sometime next year.
Is Mendoza the favorite to win the mayor's race?
It's a general political philosophy of mine that the incumbent is always the favorite, but, well, in this case, you've got Brandon Johnson. Paul Vallas got 48% in 2023, and it makes one think Mendoza could get all of those voters if she's in a runoff in 2027. Along with a potentially large block of Latino voters, she could be in a great spot. But getting to the runoff may be the trick.
Is Alexi Giannoulias going to run for Mayor, too?
I wish I could tell you I had some great insight into Giannoulias’ thinking, but he hasn’t really seriously broached the topic and he’s been pretty quiet lately. When Giannoulias was Treasurer, I had a pretty easy time connecting with him, but his staff has kept him at arms length from me and a lot of other media types since he got back into politics in 2021. I have theories, but I ain’t going there. That said, I wonder what his lane is. I suppose there’s the “Lakeshore liberal” money types, and he certainly raises a ton of cash, but I don’t see a natural coalition for him, unless labor really decides he’s the guy. I’ll keep asking around and see if I can’t bust down his door at some point.
Why did Pritzker go with (Christian) Mitchell instead of Andy Manar?
I think it comes down to who was completely aligned with Pritzker on policy, who he’s comfortable with, and who he thinks can do the job if he gets elected president or, God forbid, something bad happens. I don’t know how seriously Manar wanted the job, and I think he would have been really good at it. But you and I both know there would be some Democratic pushback if they had two white dudes at the top of the ticket. And certainly, in today’s Democratic coalition, having a downstater on the ticket anywhere isn’t the priority to party bosses as downstaters think it should be.
Who will be the GOP nominee for Governor?
It’s so hard to tell at this point who may eventually get in, what the primary electorate looks like, who can raise money, and just what crackpot conspiracy has taken hold in the GOP by March. Swear to God, if Darren Bailey put his name on the ballot and drank coffee on his farm until March, he may be the favorite in the primary. But, I feel like I have a pretty good pulse on who is thinking about it, and it sure doesn’t feel like any of them are in a particularly good position to make a serious race out of it. Which may tell you everything about the state of the Illinois Republican Party today.
Will any other major Democrat get into the U.S. Senate race?
It’s hard to imagine the field seriously expanding at this point. Stratton, Krishnamoorthi, and Kelly have all staffed up and are raising money at a pretty decent clip, so it would be hard for another serious candidate, outside of a self-funder, to jump in and staff up and build a fundraising base. Maybe a billionare with cash to blow wants to get in the mix, but I don’t know of any kicking the tires.
What is going on with Darin LaHood?
Why don’t I just copy and paste what I wrote in one of these in May: Whatever it is, it probably isn’t a run for Senate. While he left the possibility of running for Senate open in his statement after Durbin’s retirement announcement, I’ve been told by people close to him that he’s “unlikely” to enter the race. Pretty good fundraising tool, though.
I know you’ve made a lot about the Republican field for Governor, but what about the other statewides? Is the Illinois GOP doing ANYTHING?
A Republican friend sent me this gif last night when I inquired about any Republicans potentially running for Comptroller. It’s crickets, man. I have heard one name and I don’t think it’s serious (if it is, I’ll let you know.) I reported before we left for vacation that one-term Jackson County State’s Attorney Joe Cervantez, who lost his race for re-election last year, is likely to run for Attorney General and Chicago’s 29th Ward Republican Committeeman Walter Adamczyk has said he’s running for Secretary of State, but hasn’t put much of a campaign together.
You’ve been pretty outspoken about Donald Trump, has that hurt or helped your reporting on state government and politics?
I was outspoken about Donald Trump beginning in 2015, so it’s not like it has changed any perceptions of me in Republican circles since then. There are more than a few Republicans who have canceled subscriptions or made their disdain for me clear, but it’s a minority. Most of those people never liked me anyway. Same thing goes on the other side. There are still more than a few Democrats in this state who think I’m just some right wing shill out to get them, even though I have almost five years of track record doing this newsletter in the fair, honest, tough manner that I’ve always done it.
