Primary 2016: Halbrook's victory over Acklin a win for Rauner
Wed, 03/16/2016 - 12:32am | Tom Kacich
Photo by: Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
Candidates for the 102nd House Republican primary, from left, Jim Acklin, Randy Peterson and Brad Halbrook. At the Champaign City Building in Champaign on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016.
Former state Rep. Brad Halbrook of Shelbyville, aided by the fundraising muscle of Gov. Bruce Rauner and his allies, Tuesday defeated two other candidates to win the Republican nomination in the 102nd House District.
Halbrook defeated Jim Acklin of Ogden and Randy Peterson of Paris, taking 43.6 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Acklin and about 18.4 percent for Peterson.
Unofficially Halbrook had 9,354 votes to 8,162 for Acklin and 3,946 for Peterson.
Acklin, a former teacher and school superintendent in the St. Joseph-Ogden High School district, won Champaign, Vermilion and Edgar counties in Tuesday's voting.
But Halbrook won Shelby County, his home county, with 69 percent of the vote and a 2,327-vote advantage there over Acklin that gave him the win. He also won Douglas County by a 332-vote margin over Acklin, and took Moultrie and Macon counties.
"We ran on the issues and the issues of reform, and I'm ready to go to work," said Halbrook, who served three years in the Legislature earlier in this decade.
The win is the equivalent of capturing the general election since the largely rural legislative district south of Champaign-Urbana is overwhelmingly Republican, and no Democrat has filed to run there.
Halbroook's victory also is a victory for Rauner, since the race in the 102nd District was seen as a proxy showdown between the governor and former Gov. Jim Edgar, another Republican who had endorsed Acklin and recorded television and radio commercials for him.
Edgar, who was raised in East Central Illinois and still is admired in much of the area, has criticized Rauner's governing style several times in the last year, saying he hoped the governor would focus on passing a state budget.
But Rauner repeatedly endorsed Halbrook and was heavily invested in his campaign, helping to directly or indirectly provide almost all of his funding.
The race attracted some of the greatest campaign spending and fundraising in Illinois this year.
As of Tuesday, campaign disclosure reports showed that more than $600,000 had been raised by and for the three candidates.
"I didn't expect it to be a $500,000, $600,000 race," Halbrook said. "After that, all I know is that we worked hard all winter long, and we won, and I'm excited about that."
Acklin had raised $195,750 since Oct. 1, the majority of it from labor union-affiliated groups like the Illinois Education Association ($63,900); the Chicago Land Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC ($53,900); the Associated Firefighters of Illinois ($20,000); the Illinois Federation of Teachers ($15,000); the Illinois Laborers Legislative Committee ($2,500); and the University Professionals of Illinois ($1,000).
Halbrook raised $96,746 since Oct. 1, most of it from Gov. Rauner, to whom the Shelbyville farmer pledged allegiance, saying he would vote for every part of the governor's "turnaround agenda." Not only did Halbrook get $53,000 from the Citizens for Rauner campaign fund, he also was the only individual candidate this year to receive a personal campaign contribution from the governor and his wife. Both of the Rauners gave Halbrook's campaign $5,400.
In addition, a superPAC known as Liberty Principles PAC, funded largely by the governor and his allies, gave the Halbrook campaign about $300,000 in campaign aid, including television and radio advertisements and mailings.
Peterson, who was endorsed by the retiring state representative in the district, Adam Brown of Champaign, raised $40,750 during the period — $40,500 of it from Brown.
Above is from: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-03-16/primary-2016-halbrooks-victory-over-acklin-win-rauner.html
Chalk up a win for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan in his war with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Madigan-backed Juliana Stratton on Tuesday easily defeated Rauner ally Rep. Ken Dunkin for the Democratic nomination in the city's 5th House District. Stratton's campaign was heavily funded by labor groups that oppose Rauner's pro-business, union-weakening agenda.
The race was like none seen before in Illinois, with record-breaking spending, allegations of dirty campaign tactics and even an endorsement from a sitting president with Barack Obama cutting an ad for Stratton.
Madigan also got to celebrate another victory: a primary win over challenger Jason Gonzales, who had been funded by many of Rauner's donors.
With 88 percent of precincts reporting, Stratton led with 68 percent of the vote compared with 32 percent for Dunkin. In a reflection of the campaign's bitterness, Stratton refused to declare victory until Dunkin called to concede defeat.
Stratton arrived at a community center in Bronzeville to cheers and hugs from well-wishers as supporters yelled "Julie! Julie!"
"This is an incredible journey and I'm so thankful for all of the support," she said. "Though he's not here in person, I know that President Barack Obama is here in spirit."
More than an hour after Stratton left the stage, Dunkin emerged to say he had called Stratton to concede.
"Partisan politics is going to be the death knell of this state," Dunkin said, laying all of the blame for the state's record-breaking budget impasse fueled by the partisan battle at Madigan's feet.
Madigan "is the lone wolf out there and the people are suffering," Dunkin added, saying a "perplexing" amount of money was spent on his race but that he had no regrets about how he had handled his office and the race.
Combined, both sides poured more than $6 million into the contest. Dunkin received $1.3 million from the Illinois Opportunity Project alone, which is run by Dan Proft, a conservative radio talk show host. It has ties to the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank Rauner has donated more than $500,000 to over the years.
Incumbent State Representative for Illinois' 5th District Ken Dunkin greets voters at Cullerton and Indiana on Chicago's South side before the polls close for Tuesday's primary election on March 15, 2016. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Stratton received millions from labor and Democratic heavy hitters, including more than $25,000 in help from the 42nd Ward Democratic Organization, led by former Madigan aide Ald. Brendan Riley. The money was used for a mail piece featuring an old mug shot of Dunkin, highlighting his conviction for battery.
Dunkin's campaign also was challenged by 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell, a Stratton supporter who filed a complaint with the Cook County state's attorney alleging his workers were trying to buy votes for $50 apiece. Dunkin's camp said the accusations were "baseless" and contended the attacks from the Democratic establishment were punishment for bucking Madigan, whom he accused of "plantation politics" by taking advantage of black voters and lawmakers to maintain power.
The attention-seeking Dunkin tried to paint himself as a hero for cutting a deal with Rauner in which he refused to vote with Democrats to try to overturn Rauner vetoes of bills to protect funding for child care and services for seniors and the disabled. Dunkin also missed an attempt by Democrats to overturn another Rauner veto of union-backed legislation to limit his options in contract talks with state workers. His defection earned him a public rebuke by Obama during a February speech on bipartisanship at the Illinois Capitol, and Dunkin said Obama's support of Stratton clearly swayed voters.
"Having the president of the free world to chime in on a local House race, one of the few in the nation, and not the U.S. presidency, not the Senate, not a congressman, not the state's attorney's office race — but my race — really spoke volumes," Dunkin said. "You know, it is what it is. He has a right to endorse whoever he wants to, and life goes on.
"I am not embittered by any stretch. The people of the 5th District, they spoke," Dunkin said. "They spoke when I defeated an incumbent 13 years ago … they spoke now when they sent me home, and it's A-OK."
Stratton, a former adviser to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on criminal justice issues, is now the director of the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has declined to say how she would have voted on the labor and child care issues but says her background as an administrative law judge and mediator for the city on employment issues ensures she can maintain independence despite heavy backing from unions.
For his part, Madigan took no chances in his own race, filling mailboxes with fliers labeling Gonzales a career criminal. Gonzales said he did serve jail time for illegal credit card use as a teen but received a pardon for his crimes from former Gov. Pat Quinn. With 97 percent of the vote counted, Madigan had 65 percent to Gonzales' 27 percent.
Standing before a group of about two dozen supporters, Gonzales said their efforts to unseat the long-standing speaker had not been in vain.
"To finally have somebody to stand up and say, 'Enough is enough.' That is historic," he said.
Chicago Tribune's Celeste Bott and Cynthia Dizikes contributed.
Above is from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-house-dunkin-stratton-madigan-gonzales-met-0316-20160315-story.html
Above is from: http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160315/sam-mccann-beats-rauner-backed-bryce-benton-in-race-for-illinois-senate-seat
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