Free Republic

During his roughly hour-long, thunderstorm-shortened speech, Trump was typical Trump, airing his false grievance about the “rigged” 2020 presidential election that he lost, jabbing at President Joe Biden’s handling of the inflation-savaged economy and rejoicing at Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the 49-year-old Roe v Wade abortion-rights case. But the biggest Illinois-centric news to come from Trump’s rally was his decision to finally make a splash in the state’s gubernatorial primary three days ahead of the election, where Bailey appears to be holding a commanding lead.

Every political campaign’s dream is to get potential voters to glance at piece of mail they find in their mailboxes, then their hearts pound quicker if those voters stop and read the mailing cover. Then they hope the voter will open the piece and read what they want those voters to know – either good stuff about their candidate or bad stuff about their opponent. And that’s all besides the great money the printer gets for doing the mailer, the piece designer gets for putting it together and the political consultants commonly get for, well, being campaign consultants. That’s the...

On Saturday, February 12, Freedom Initiative Now hosted a GOP Gubernatorial Town Hall, featuring four of the announced Republican candidates for Governor of Illinois, with a couple hundred activists in attendance at the Embassy Suites in Naperville. State Senator Darren Bailey, former State Senator Paul Schimpf, businessman Gary Rabine, and attorney Max Solomon were seated on the dais. Three other candidates believed to be in the running - Chris Roper (who at some point had accepted), Jesse Sullivan and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin – were not in attendance. Co-hosts Nick Richmond and Kelly Dittmann kept their introduction to a minimum,...

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), one of former President Trump’s most vocal Republican critics in Congress, said he sees himself as “the only candidate” capable of defeating Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) in next year's election. “If I ran for governor, I think I’m the only candidate that could win, at least that’s out there now,” Kinzinger said in an interview on Crain’s “A.D. Q&A” podcast.

Former Illinois Democrat Governor Rod Blagojevich says Democrats are stealing votes in Philadelphia and says voter fraud in big Democrat-controlled cities is a "time-honored tradition." "If the question is, 'Are Democrats stealing votes in Philadelphia?'" Blagojevich began, "my answer is, 'Is the Pope Catholic?' It's a time-honored tradition in big, Democrat-controlled cities like Chicago and my hometown, Philadelphia, to do precisely what they're doing." According to Blagojevich, voter fraud is likely happening in other Democrat-controlled cities too, such as Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Las Vegas. Blagojevich explained how the Democratic apparatus allegedly operates to steal votes. "They control polling places, they...

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, his wife and his brother-in-law are under federal criminal investigation for a dubious residential property tax appeal that dogged him during his gubernatorial campaign last year, WBEZ has learned. A law-enforcement source familiar with the investigation confirmed to WBEZ that the probe, which has not been revealed publicly until now, began last October and remains active. There are no signs that criminal charges are imminent. WBEZ has also confirmed that Illinois First Lady MK Pritzker’s personal assistant who was involved in the property tax appeal, Christine Lovely, is being represented by one of Chicago’s most...

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, his wife and his brother-in-law are under federal criminal investigation for a dubious residential property tax appeal that dogged him during his gubernatorial campaign. The billionaire governor and his wife may face a serious legal threat arising from their controversial pursuit of a property tax break on a 126-year-old mansion they purchased next to their Gold Coast home. A Cook County inspector general’s report found MK Pritzker directed workers to remove all toilets from the mansion in order to have it declared “uninhabitable,” which gave the Pritzkers a huge property tax break. “Neither the Governor...

Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner on Friday called President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration a “great start” to “get the dialogue going” on immigration policy changes. The comments came as Rauner addressed more than 900 advocates for the Latino community in Rosemont. Rauner told the crowd he supports “comprehensive immigration reform,” which he acknowledged will take more work. Immigration reform 'opens doors' NIU student and undocumented citizen, Laura Ramirez, faces daily challenges of living without citizenship. “The real way to do it is on a bipartisan basis, through Congress, through the legislature, with the president, with the states all working...

One of the most colorful Governors in U.S. history, at least since Huey Long, Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, was just removed from office by a unanimous vote, 59 – 0 in the Illinois Senate. The vote was followed by another vote to prevent the Governor from ever holding Public Office again. Can they do that? On January 29, 2009, the colorful Governor who has held the fickle attention of the American public for the last few weeks, goes home to his wife and family without a job, a car, or any idea of the source of his next paycheck....

Why I’m going to a Jim Ryan fundraiser tonight Monday, September 16, 2002 By Jill Stanek (Jill@illinoisleader.com ) I thought after the primary I would just ignore the governor’s race this year. My guy, Patrick O’Malley, didn’t win and I had a big problem with the guy the Republicans of Illinois picked, Jim Ryan. I also had a big problem with conservative leaders and groups that I thought should have supported O’Malley during the primary but either didn’t or put their feet in both camps to hedge their bets. I blamed them for O’Malley’s loss. I thought to myself,...

WASHINGTON -- As he campaigns to be elected governor, Democratic U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich quietly has cut back on one of the defining duties of his current office: voting on legislation. Since the beginning of the year, Blagojevich has missed half of the roll call votes on the House floor. The votes he has skipped cover such key issues as the federal budget for the coming year, a tightening of corporate auditing standards in response to the Enron scandal and an overhaul of immigration enforcement procedures spurred by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Ironically, shortly after the Tribune contacted Blagojevich's...