[MUSIC] >> Welcome to Capitol view on WSIU.

I'm Jeff Williams sitting in this week as we take a look at what's making news around the state in Illinois politics.

Well, at the top of the news feed this week, Illinois's primary election.

We'll take a look at the top tier races around the state, the winners, the losers, and, well, maybe some races yet to be determined.

Plus, we will likely hit on a couple of other topics this week on Capitol View to help lead our discussion.

Is Peter Hancock, statehouse reporter for Capitol News Illinois.

Peter, welcome back to the program.

>> Thanks, Jeff.

Good to be here.

>> And just in all transparency, we are taping this on on Wednesday.

So this is officially the morning after the primary election.

So Gold Star for being here.

Being here with us with us this morning.

Um, why don't we just we'll just dig right in and let's start at the top of the ticket.

There were essentially a three way race for the Democratic nomination for Dick Durbin's U.S.

Senate seat.

Crowded field of candidates, those frontrunners basically throughout the campaign Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, and of course, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.

And, well, the lieutenant governor, backed by the governor, prevailed.

Peter, you've watched this race throughout from its from its beginning.

Um, what's your what's your takeaway on on how the results turned out in this one?

>> Well, it was a good night for J.B.

Pritzker.

Uh, for one thing, uh, Raja Krishnamurti, uh, entered this race with a huge financial advantage over, uh, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.

Um, he had a very strong base, you know, in the collar counties.

Uh, and, you know, he looked, uh, almost invincible in the early months of this campaign.

Uh, Juliana Stratton had the endorsement of Governor Pritzker.

Uh, and it was kind of interesting as we were sitting here in the statehouse, uh, we were thinking, you know, Juliana Stratton is the lieutenant governor.

She has a very large presence in this building.

It was not clear how much of a presence she had outside of this building.

She had been a state legislator from the Chicago area for a few terms, but, uh, other than that, hadn't really built that much of a statewide name recognition presence of her own outside of the governor.

Uh, but then as the campaign, uh, went on into the final weeks, uh, the governor got more vocal about his endorsement.

Uh, a lot of money, uh, went into the campaign.

And it was also interesting.

There was a lot of outside money flowing into this campaign, uh, you know, tens of millions of dollars, which we really hadn't seen before.

And I think it's going to take some time for all of that to shake out, to see, you know, whose influence was really carrying the day.

Uh, but in the end, uh, you know, she, uh, prevailed.

Uh, Krishnamurti, uh, conceded the race.

And so I, you know, in some ways I thought it was really a test of the governor's, uh, goodwill.

Uh, the governor's influence with it among Democratic primary voters and, uh, showed that, you know, he still has some muscle.

Uh, he, of course, you know, was on was unopposed in his bid for a third nomination for governor.

Uh, no Democrat has ever been elected to three terms before.

Uh, so he's in a pretty strong position going in to the governor's race.

Uh, but these other races where he was backing candidates.

Uh, it was really seen as kind of a test of, you know, whether or not he, uh, still has the muscle that he's had in the past.

And it looks like he's still in pretty good shape, at least among Democratic primary voters.

>> Yeah.

As you mentioned, there was a lot of money spent on this Democratic primary, especially by Krishnamoorthy.

What do you think was the turning point for for voters?

Was it the money and the ads or was there something else?

Maybe you think that that might have.

>> You know, I think it might take some time.

Uh, I hate to be, you know, uh, the Monday morning quarterback or in this case, the Wednesday morning quarterback, uh, with, you know, so little information.

Uh, but I think you can't discount what is going on in Washington with the Trump administration and just the desire among Democratic voters, uh, to have somebody in there who can really oppose the Trump administration, uh, You know, it was sort of surprising to me how in the final weeks, you know, the United States went to war, uh, went to war in Iraq.

Uh, I think that was on a lot of people's minds, even though it was mentioned very little, uh, in campaign commercials or in campaign rhetoric may possibly because the candidates really hadn't, uh, didn't have time to hone a message around that.

And, uh, the fact that maybe there wasn't that much separating the three Democratic candidates on it, uh, but, you know, this is weighing on the minds of American voters, and I am sure the voters of Illinois, uh, and so I, I would like, you know, some more information.

It's going to take a week or two for the dust to settle on this.

Uh, but I certainly think that the Trump administration, its record, uh, for immigration enforcement in the Chicago area, which has been very controversial.

And now the war in Iran.

Uh, I think these are factors that were weighing heavily on the minds of Democratic voters.

>> Yeah.

On the on the Republican side of the ticket, again, another crowded race, uh, in that one, Springfield attorney and former state GOP chair Don Tracy won the Republican nomination for for U.S.

Senate.

I guess probably Gene Evans was probably her his closest challenger.

Um, any surprises in this in this outcome?

>> No.

Not really.

Uh, you know, as you just mentioned, uh, Don Tracy, who's a former chairman of the Republican Party, so he clearly has a lot of ties, a lot of friends and acquaintances, you know, down at the county level throughout the state.

Uh, he understands the organization.

Uh, he was probably the most organized and the best funded going in.

Uh, but, you know, in a heavily democratic state, like, uh, like Illinois.

Uh, I think there's some sense that he's kind of the sacrificial lamb, uh, that's going to go up against the Democratic candidate, although, you know, uh, I'm not making any predictions here.

Uh, but, you know, in any given statewide race in Illinois, I think a Democrat goes in with a presumed five, six, seven point, uh, advantage over any given Republican.

Uh, so he, he has a, uh, an uphill climb ahead of him.

And I think he's probably aware of that.

Uh, but then again, you know, I think this race could turn on, you know, what's happening at the national level, uh, with the economy, with the war, with immigration enforcement, uh, with the price of gasoline and the price of food, uh, a lot of things could change between now and November.

Uh, so we'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.

>> With, with two fairly seasoned politicians, or at least with.

With political experience and background and knowledge of how the how the system, how the system works.

Do you expect money to play a big role in, in, in the general election in terms of them getting their messages out and getting in front of, of all of the, all the voters or will issues play some, some role you think in this one?

>> A little bit of both.

Uh, I mean, like I said, in a statewide race, uh, any given Democrat in Illinois goes in with an advantage over any given Republican.

Uh, and then the rest of the battle, you know, is fought on the margins from there.

Uh, money, I think will play a big role.

The Democrats, uh, have no shortage of money, but they're, you know, at the national level, there are certainly a lot of, uh, outside money there to be had.

Uh, it was kind of interesting, I think, uh, judging, you know, the influence of some groups like AIPAC, for example, the American Israeli political action committee that supports pro-Israeli candidates in years past and in decades past, you know, they were, uh, a very influential group.

Uh, but clearly with, uh, the recent war, uh, in Gaza and current events in the Middle East and the shift within the Democratic Party, uh, to the left in, uh, the split between kind of the moderate and progressive wings of the party, uh, support for Israel is kind of a contentious issue among Democrats.

So it was kind of interesting to see, uh, they didn't have sort of the universal, uh, approval rating and the universal influence that they have had in years past.

Uh, we also saw, you know, the influx of money from the cryptocurrency industry, which, you know, didn't exist in, uh, a lot of years past.

Uh.

So it'll be interesting to see, you know, how that, uh, influences the rest of the election.

Uh, the sports gaming industry, uh, put a lot of money into races.

So it's not just the amount of money that was going in, but at least, you know, to me as someone who has maybe seen a few too many, uh, election campaigns over the years, it was money from groups that, uh, you didn't used to see before.

Uh, and also some groups that have been very influential in the past that are maybe not as influential as they used to be.

>> Yeah.

Uh, well, as, um, Yogi Berra might say, it's deja vu all over again.

In the governor's race, Darren Bailey won the Republican nomination for governor again and will face, obviously, Democrat JB Pritzker again in in November.

Bailey Outdistanced, businessman Ted Dabrowski.

Um, I guess this one really wasn't all that close.

It was called fairly early.

Was again, was this kind of the anticipated outcome between these.

And there were there were there were two other candidates in the race also finished a distant third and fourth.

So.

>> Uh, yeah, I think overall it was sort of expected, uh, which was sort of surprising to me because Darren Bailey, as you mentioned, was the nominee in 2022 and lost by like 12, 13 percentage points.

And so when he got into the race this year, my first thought was, you know, who wants to back a horse that has that kind of a track record?

Uh, if your goal is to win the governor's office, uh, you know, this person, you know, clearly, uh, he didn't even come close the last time around.

And in fact, he, you know, in 2022, Darren Bailey was the candidate that JB Pritzker wanted to face, and he went through some effort to make sure.

Uh, that, you know, to help Bailey, uh, get the nomination over, uh, what were.

Then?

Seemed like maybe a more formidable candidate.

Uh, Richard Irvin, the mayor of Aurora.

So, uh, I, it was sort of surprising to me that this time around, he was kind of the presumptive winner, uh, or the presumptive favorite going into it, uh, especially given his track record in Cook County and the collar counties, which is where the votes are, uh, the suburban counties, that's where, you know, traditionally the Illinois Republican Party made their bread and butter was, uh, in the suburbs outside of Chicago.

And, uh, to a large extent in central and southern Illinois, uh, downstate.

Uh, but, uh, apparently, you know, and I was talking to some of his supporters because I was at the watch party last night.

And it wasn't just, you know, they weren't voting necessarily on the winnability of the candidate.

It was they share his values, uh, to a person.

They kept talking about his values, uh, his Christian background, uh, whether or not, you know, he's going to take down JB Pritzker, uh, almost wasn't really, uh, the top most thing on their mind.

It was more a, you know, an identity and an affinity, uh, sort of relationship that they have with him that maybe they didn't have with Ted Dabrowski, who really does kind of represent, I think the more traditional wing of the party, the pro-business, uh, suburban, you know, small, limited government, um, pro-business, lower taxes, uh, sort of, uh, candidate who stays away largely from divisive social issues.

Uh, so, but anyway, uh, the party was clearly, uh, behind, uh, uh, Mr.

Bailey, the former state senator, and he came out last night, uh, really?

With a unity message.

I mean, one of the first words that he spoke was, hey, you know, the primary is over.

No matter who you voted for, it's time for this party to get together.

Uh, whether you're from Chicago or the suburbs or deep southern Illinois, uh, he's really trying to unify the party.

And more than, you know, in contrast to the last time around.

Uh, he's not referring to Chicago as a hell hole.

He says he's going to spend more time in Chicago.

He's going to campaign there and in the suburbs, and he has a different running mate.

Uh, Aaron Del Mar, uh, the chairman of the Cook County Republican Party, who's, uh, got a little more street cred, uh, with Republican voters in that part of the state.

Uh, so it was kind of interesting last night here in Springfield, uh, Del Mar came out wearing boots and, uh, Darren Bailey came out wearing, uh, you know, business suit and loafers.

Uh, so, uh, and they made a had had some fun with that.

Uh, but, uh, yeah, I think you're going to see a different campaign from the Republicans this time around.

Uh, and, you know, Bailey was also sort of distancing himself a little bit from Donald Trump.

>> I was going to ask you about that.

Yeah.

>> He, uh, you know, he had the endorsement of Donald Trump four years ago.

Trump didn't really get that involved in the race this time around.

Uh, but he came out in his acceptance speech, said, you know, I agree with Donald Trump on some things.

I disagree with him on some things.

You know, when he's right on an issue, uh, we'll be right there with him.

Uh, but he says I'm my own man and, uh, he's trying to establish a little bit of distance between himself and the white House, which is probably a smart thing in a blue state like Illinois where Donald Trump is unpopular, to say the least.

>> Yeah.

Well, we have another top ticket race as we record this program.

The race for the Democratic nomination for state comptroller seems to maybe, maybe not be decided.

Um, state Representative Margaret Crook has declared herself the winner.

Uh, about two percentage points or so, at least as of last night.

Separated her from state Senator Karina Villa, while Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim and State Representative Stephanie Clifford finished a distant third and fourth.

Um, Peter, as we're talking here today, is this one still kind of up in the air?

Do you think it's kind of kind of settled?

>> Well, it seems to be going in Margaret Kroc's direction.

I just checked the numbers.

Uh, I think she's up by about 25,000 votes, or about 2.3 percentage points, with votes still coming in from Chicago and the surrounding the suburbs, uh, which is kind of her area.

So, uh, and again, you know, she went into this with the backing of Governor Pritzker.

She had previously worked in the Pritzker administration, I think, at the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, uh, before she ran for a House seat.

Uh, this was really a contest between, uh, two people who have, you know, fairly large presence here in the statehouse, uh, you know, not a speaker of the House or a president of the Senate, but certainly, uh, within the House.

Margaret Croak has been a very strong, uh, voice, especially, uh, on issues like reproductive rights.

Uh, Christine, uh, via, uh, has been a very strong voice, uh, when it comes to speaking for people of color and the immigrant community.

Uh, and she's a very dynamic speaker.

Uh, when you see her in public.

So there were two very attractive candidates, uh, two very powerful candidates.

One had the backing of the governor.

And so far, it looks like Margaret Crook is ahead as we sit here on Wednesday morning.

Uh, it's one of the cases where people watching this show, uh, may, in fact, know more than we do as we're sitting here recording it.

So, uh, I'll leave it to you to fill in the blanks there.

>> Sure, sure.

>> Um, any other races across the state, Peter, that that you thought might be interesting or drew your drew your attention as you looked at results come in last night.

>> Well, there were a series of votes.

I didn't I wasn't following the results real closely.

Uh, in several counties and other jurisdictions around the state, there were non-binding, advisory questions about whether or not the state should support new federal program of allowing, uh, tax deductible contributions or scholarships or vouchers, uh, for, uh, private school education.

This was the big school choice question, uh, that, uh, education conservatives kind of strategically placed on the ballot in counties and jurisdictions where they thought they had a good chance of winning Illinois up until very recently had a, uh, a scholarship program, uh, similar to that.

You got a tax deduction or a tax credit for contributions to scholarship funds.

So that, uh, ostensibly so that people, uh, kids from lower income backgrounds could afford to go to more expensive private schools.

The school choice thing, uh, the Democrats in the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker allowed that to expire.

There was a sunset on it really infuriated the private school, uh, interest groups and the school choice, uh, people who, uh, tend to not be Democrats to begin with.

Um, so it will be interesting to see how, uh, those advisory opinions came out across the state and whether or not there really was any sort of, uh, combined message or aggregated message from those votes.

>> Sure.

And I want to take a minute to just to mention some of our races here in the far southern part of the state, in the 59th state Senate race, a Republican, Dale Fowler's open seat, Republican state Representative Paul Jacobs, defeated Franklin County Treasurer Steven Uh Ricigliano for the Republican nomination.

Jacobs will face Democrat Tamiko Mueller and independent John McCarty in November, and then also in the 118th state House Republican primary that is for Paul Jacobs open seat.

Local radio personality Scott Duty defeated challengers Harold Visser and Dayton Lloyd.

Duty will face Democrat Chip Markle, who was unopposed in the primary and then also in the in the 116th state House race.

Here, incumbent Republican Dave Severin won nomination handily over his challenger, Angela Evans.

And as of at least right now, Severin will be unchallenged in the November election.

So Peter, with the 4.5 minutes or so that we have left this thing known as the spring legislative session kind of is been going on.

It kicks back up now.

The primary is is off the house is, is, is in this week, obviously, probably the budget and the budget related bills, all, um, top tier things going through.

What, what else are you looking at and are you expecting to, to see still see, get some action during this session.

>> Well, the budget is the main thing that's going on.

Uh, this is kind of a lean year for the state of Illinois.

Revenues are not growing.

Uh, we're not necessarily in a financial crisis at this point.

Uh, but with revenues flat and with, uh, federal revenue sources being very much up in the air because you never quite know from one day to the next, uh, what the Trump administration is going to do or try to do, uh, by cutting funding or just canceling previously appropriated money.

Uh, there's big question mark, uh, hanging over the whole session about what the budget is going to look like and what the state can rely on from the federal government.

Uh.

All that aside, there are not a whole lot of other, you know, big policy issues like there were in, uh, Pritzker's first term.

Uh, It's more of just kind of trying to keep things together.

Uh, Democrats are pushing some, a few items that fall under the category of their affordability agenda, uh, which, you know, is going to help them in the midterms as they try to contrast themselves with Republicans and the Trump administration.

One of those has to do with prescription drugs.

Mhm.

Uh, there is a program out there.

It's, uh, very, uh, most people have probably never heard of it called the 340 B program.

Uh, this is where, uh, drug manufacturers who, uh, supply medications for Medicaid, uh, programs, uh, they agree to provide huge discounts in supplying these drugs, basically maintenance drugs, you know, blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, uh, insulin, diabetes, medications provide them at huge discounts for safety net clinics.

Safety net hospitals are federally qualified health clinics.

Those sorts of things.

Uh, there is a big controversy going on right now over whether or not the recipients of, uh, those things should be allowed to mark the prices back up.

Um, it's going to be, you know, it's kind of a competition between the health care providers and the pharmaceutical drug industry.

Uh, that's, that's always kind of interesting to watch it play out.

Uh, but other than that, I think, you know, um, there aren't a whole lot of really ambitious policy issues, uh, out there except, you know, there could be some surprise legislation, uh, to help keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois.

>> I was going to ask about that.

>> Isn't that part of a larger, um, larger budget bill that that may that's drawn a little bit of controversy.

>> Yeah.

There there is legislation out there dealing.

They don't talk about the Chicago Bears.

They talk about mega projects, uh, big construction projects that are going to be, you know, billions of dollars in new investment and how they could basically negotiate the property taxes that they would pay or what are called the payment in lieu of taxes or pilot, uh, programs.

Uh, and, but that would in effect, uh, it would help the Chicago Bears with their property in Arlington Park and to help keep them in Illinois.

Uh, and it's kind of Illinois's counter proposal to, uh, taxpayer funded stadium across the border in Indiana, um, which a lot of people think, you know, would be, uh, very embarrassing move, especially for bears fans.

It would be kind of disheartening to see them, you know, move across the state line.

>> All right, Peter, we're out of time.

Thank you so much for joining us this week.

>> Thank you.

It's good to be here.

>> All right.

Peter Hancock's statehouse reporter for Capitol News Illinois.

And I'm Jeff Williams.

Thank you for tuning in this week for Capitol View.

Have a good week.

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