Page 22 - January 2018

New year will bring new faces in Illinois politics
2018 is an election year. As such, the up- coming legislative session could be an inter- esting one. With the entire Illinois House
of Representatives, a third of the Senate
are several other candidates in that race, including Sha- ron Fairley and Jesse Ruiz.
In legislative races, House GOP Leader Jim Durkin, who has been very helpful to the FOP, has a prima- ry race. While Durkin is the favorite, expect this
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and all of the statewide Constitutional officers up for reelection, it will be a roller coaster of a year in Illinois poli- tics and government.
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The primary election is set for Tues- day, March 20. As you know, Governor Rauner is fac-
ing primary opposition from GOP State Representative Jeanne Ives of Wheaton. The governor is the favorite, but Rep. Ives is mounting a strong conservative challenge. The Democratic primary has JB Pritzker leading the pack, followed by Chris Kennedy and State Senator Daniel Biss of Evanston. If the general election is billionaire vs. bil- lionaire, it will most likely be the most expensive gover- nor’s race in the country.
In addition, there is a heated race to replace retiring Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Former Democratic Gov- ernor Pat Quinn is running and will be the first name on the ballot. Much of the Democratic Party leadership has endorsed State Senator Kwame Raoul of Chicago. There
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contest to become heated and expensive.
There are several others primaries throughout Illinois, as more than 30 current legislators are not seeking reelection to their current office. That is an un- usually high number and speaks to the discord we see in
politics today.
The legislature will return in late January for the 2018
legislative session. On Wednesday, Jan. 31, the governor will deliver his State of the State address, followed by his budget address on Wednesday, Feb. 14, which as you know is also Valentine’s Day. (I’m sure there is a creative comment there, but I will leave that up to your interpre- tation.) As always, we will be in Springfield working dili- gently on your behalf as you courageously work to keep the streets of Chicago safe.d
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22 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JANUARY 2018