Page 23 - November2018

Midterm election results
It’s safe to turn your TV back on, now that the elections are behind us. A truly impressive amount of money was spent on these midterm elections in Illinois and throughout the country.
J.B. Pritzker gave his campaign more
than $170 million in his successful effort
to win the governorship. That is reported to be the most money any individual has ever giv- en their campaign in U.S. history. More than a
quarter of a billion dollars have been spent by all candidates for governor in Illinois this year. Pritzker defeated Bruce Rauner 54-39, with two other candidates receiving less than 5 percent each.
The other big statewide race to garner tons of money and attention was the open seat for Illinois attorney general, as Lisa Madigan is retiring. Chicago Democratic Senator Kwame Raoul won a difficult primary to then take on the Re- publican nominee, former Miss America Erika Harold. This race alone had around $20 million spent by the two candi- dates as well as outside groups. Raoul defeated Harold 54- 43. Democrats will hold all statewide offices next year.
In addition, more than two dozen state legislative races
saw more than $1 million spent by one or both candi- dates. As recently as 2010, there were only a half-doz- en million-dollar races in Illinois. This cycle began with the Democrats holding a 67-51 seat advantage in the House and a supermajority 37-22 lead in the
Senate.
After the election, both the House and Senate now
have supermajority Democratic numbers. As of this writ- ing, Senate Democrats have picked up at least two suburban seats to have at least a 39-20 margin. When the new Gener- al Assembly takes office, there will not be any GOP senators who live in Cook County. In the House, Democrats have won several suburban seats while only losing one downstate seat. Again, as of this writing, the House Democrats’ supermajor- ity will be at least 73 seats.
Now that the election is over, the focus will go back to leg- islation pending in Springfield. The legislature returns on Tuesday, Nov. 13 for their veto session. We will be working on legislation of importance to the Chicago police during session. They may return in early January for what is unof- ficially called a “lame duck session” before the new General Assembly takes office on Jan. 9.
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2018 23