Page 22 - 2018 July Newsletter

Big turnover ahead
While the legislature is not scheduled to be in session until after the election, that does not mean there is a break in the action. Most of the focus now is on the fall campaigns.
But even before we get there, two more legislators have announced their retirements. That brings the number of incumbent legislators not seeking the of- fice they currently hold to 40. That is a turnover of 20 percent of the legislature in this cycle...and we are not even at Election Day yet. GOP Senator Karen McConnaughay from Kane County has announced
that she will be leaving office to enter the private sector. In addi- tion, Chicago Democrat Representative Silvana Tabares has left to replace Alderman Zalewski in the City Council.
In the governor’s race, the ads are out there and look to be cre- ative so far. This race is shaping up to be the most expensive gu- bernatorial race in U.S. history. To make the competition more interesting, two new candidates have filed for the governor’s race. In addition to a Libertarian candidate, downstate Republican Senator Sam McCann has filed to run under the Conservative Party banner.
Senator McCann has had a rocky relationship with Governor Rauner. Both of these new candidates are seen to be unhelpful to the governor’s re-election chances. On the campaign trail, Gov- ernor Rauner is touting the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision, which is seen as a big blow to public employee unions. J.B. Pritz- ker is blasting the court decision.
All seats in the Illinois House of Representatives are up for elec- tion this fall, as well as about a third of the Illinois Senate. d
DAVE
DAVE
SULLIVAN
SULLIVAN
22 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2018
LEGISLATIVE Report