Good morning, Illinois.

We’re offering a major discount this week in honor of our sixth anniversary. You can join The Illinoize as a paid subscriber for just $6 per month for a year. If you want to support independent, critical, fair journalism that takes no prisoners, join us today. The offer runs out tomorrow.

It’s worth it. Paid subscribers get exclusives like our story yesterday on GOP Lt. Governor candidate Aaron Del Mar likely committing a felony.

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That said, we’re planning to take next week off from the newsletter. It’ll be a little recharge before the sprint to November. Thanks for all of your support.

There’s nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL

(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)

NITA is in the driver’s seat for public transit with $8 million assist from consultants (Daily Herald)

Officials switched on NITA, the newly empowered agency overseeing Metra, Pace and the CTA, Tuesday.

Riders seeking information about the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, which replaces the Regional Transportation Authority, can visit the just-launched nita.illinois.gov website.

Transit reform legislation, passed in 2025, gives control of fares, finances and capital planning to NITA with the understanding the CTA, Metra and Pace would run day-to-day bus and train operations.

Much is expected of the incoming NITA board, whose responsibilities include introducing a universal fare and reducing crime on the CTA, as well as cutting costs.

The 20-member panel will be advised by the Boston Consulting Group, a firm hired by the Illinois Department of Transportation for up to $7.9 million over two years with options to renew their contract.

The consultants, who started Aug. 17, will assist with centralizing certain functions such as procurement, finding efficiencies, searching for an executive director, and organizing the reinvented system.

Seventeen NITA directors also will serve either on the CTA, Pace or Metra boards, and be paid a $25,000 annual stipend. Those on just one board will receive $15,000.

The NITA Act also delivered more than $1.2 billion in operating revenues to public transit in the city and suburbs through an increase in the RTA sales tax and diverting a chunk of gas sales taxes.

Related: Northern Illinois Transit Authority takes over for RTA (WGN-TV)

RTA chief announces retirement amid launch of new transit agency (Daily Herald)

S&P Global upgrades Illinois’ credit rating (Capitol News Illinois)

S&P Global Ratings upgraded Illinois’ general obligation debt to an “A” rating on Tuesday and said the state’s credit outlook is “stable.” The Wall Street firm’s first upgrade since February 2023 follows a similar increase last week by Moody’s and marks the 12th overall upgrade since Gov. JB Pritzker took office.

WHY IT MATTERS: Credit upgrades are good news for the state’s finances. A higher credit rating shows bond investors have more confidence in Illinois, which means the state can borrow money at lower interest rates and ultimately save taxpayers money.

S&P Global also raised ratings for moral obligation-supported debt to BBB, Build Illinois bonds to A+ and Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority bonds to A+.

WISH GRANTED: Pritzker was hoping for another upgrade just last week after receiving a positive review from Moody’s. It turns out rubbing the nose of the bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln outside his Springfield gravesite does bring good luck.

“I just rubbed Lincoln’s nose,” Pritzker said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois at Oak Ridge Cemetery last week. “I can tell you I was praying for a 12th upgrade.”

The credit upgrades are among Pritzker’s proudest achievements as the state has risen above borderline junk status from when he took office and reversed a trend of about two dozen consecutive downgrades. Earning two upgrades with Election Day two months away gives Pritzker more bragging rights on the campaign trail.

WHY IT HAPPENED: “The outlook also reflects our view of the state’s recent history of conservative budgeting and proactive management of the fiscal gap during consecutive budget cycles,” S&P’s report said.

Related: S&P upgrades Illinois’ credit rating (Crain’s Chicago Business)

Douglas County measles outbreak prompts vaccination reminders, precautions (Champaign News-Gazette)

East Central Illinois health providers and school officials are reviewing vaccination records and reinforcing precautions following an outbreak of measles in Douglas County.

The Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that at least four linked cases of measles have been confirmed in Douglas County.

The state agency is working with local health departments and healthcare providers to identify people who may have been exposed, offer vaccinations to those at high risk and provide guidance to people who have been exposed.

“We haven’t seen any measles cases in our” emergency room, said Tim Ditman, an OSF media relations coordinator.

Dr. Melissa Zak, a family-medicine physician in Monticello, described early measles symptoms as including high fever, runny nose, fatigue, red eyes and cough. A rash typically appears later, beginning on the face before spreading to the neck, arms, legs and torso, she said.

Because measles is highly contagious and can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, Zak echoed Ditman’s advice, encouraging people who suspect they have the disease to stay home and contact their healthcare provider.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine remains the best protection against measles, according to the state health agency. Two doses of the vaccine are 97 percent effective at preventing measles, while one dose is 93 percent effective.

People who are not immune are encouraged to consult a healthcare provider about vaccination. For people who have been exposed to measles and are not vaccinated, post-exposure vaccination may be administered within 72 hours of first exposure.

Immune globulin also can be provided to certain high-risk people who cannot receive the vaccine or who miss the 72-hour window, including infants, pregnant people and people who are immunocompromised, the state agency said.

With the school year underway, local schools also are reviewing student immunization records and preparing to identify anyone who could be at higher risk if a case were reported.

TOP STORIES SO FAR THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM

• Del Mar Shooting Video Was Likely Felony, Experts Say

• Del Mar Accuses Illinois GOP of Withholding Funding from Bailey

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• DCFS audit finds some improvement but persistent problems under 2020 law sparked by Decatur toddler’s death (Chicago Tribune)

• Pritzker pledges to stay on ‘Team Fight’ as he asks Illinois voters for 3rd term (Capitol News Illinois)

• Takeaways from campaign tours by JB Pritzker and Darren Bailey (Capitol News Illinois)

• Illinois spent nearly $50M on a South Loop research HQ that was never built (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• Illinois treasurer to put millions of dollars behind affordable housing projects (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• To Live and Die (With Dignity) in Illinois (Chicago Magazine)

• ComEd customers pay billions to keep the lights on during storms. Will it be enough? (WBEZ)

• Editorial: Pritzker to CTU and IFT — ‘One-time money should be used for one-time needs.’ Correct. (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: Federal scholarship program can build the workforce suburban businesses need (Daily Herald)

• Opinion: All these years later and Legislative Inspector General is back in the news (Shaw Media)

• Opinion: Loose SAFE-T Act release rules continue to challenge courts (Champaign News-Gazette)

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Good morning, subscribers.

Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association just called to tell me he had given me the wrong name of the company hosting this weekend’s event, so we’re sending an update. We’ll reach out to them for comment.

DEL MAR SHOOTING VIDEO LIKELY VIOLATED STATE LAW, EXPERTS SAY

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Good morning, subscribers.

Thanks for all of you who reached out on our sixth anniversary yesterday. We’ve published something like 1,500 newsletters in that time and we’re ready for more.

Thank you for being part of this community.

There’s nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

DEL MAR SHOOTING VIDEO LIKELY VI…

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Good morning, Illinois.

We launched this newsletter September 1, 2020.

This whole effort started as a bit of an experiment. I decided to stop doing campaigns after the 2020 primary and that whole pandemic thing dried up my PR and marketing business that summer. I was encouraged to start writing a little about politics and thought I could use my existing rolodex to put some thoughts about politics out into the ether leading up to the 2020 election.

Little did I know it would turn into this.

Thank you for your support.

There’s nothing on Governor Pritzker’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

DEL MAR ACCUSES GOP OF WITHHOLDING FUNDING FROM BAILEY

Republican candidate for Lt. Governor Aaron Del Mar unloaded on the Illinois Republican Party infrastructure Monday, accusing the GOP of “abandoning” statewide GOP candidates.

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Good morning, Illinois.

Happy college football week to those who celebrate. Illinois kicks off its season Thursday night at 8pm (on a school night!) against Alabama-Birmingham. Governor Pritzker’s alma mater (and where he’s paying tuition right now) comes to Champaign next weekend. We’ll ask who he’s rooting for.

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There is nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL

(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)

Flock license plate readers turn Chicago suburbs into ground zero for bitter fight over surveillance (Chicago Sun-Times)

William Copp was given broad access to Flock Safety’s powerful license-plate reader system as a part-time police officer in Prairie Grove, a small village about an hour northwest of Chicago.

Flock’s cameras track every driver that passes them, logging billions of license-plate scans in databases that can potentially be searched by any law enforcement agency that pays for access.

Prosecutors in McHenry County now say Copp was using Flock to stalk his former partners and others in his orbit, conducting hundreds of searches tracking their movements.

“He knows everything about me,” one of them said in a petition for a protective order. “It scares me to death that he could still be using another system to track me.”

Law enforcement officials say Flock’s system helps crack cases by allowing them to easily pinpoint crime suspects. But critics argue the technology has largely gone unchecked and is ripe for abuse.

Copp, who also served as chief of the Holiday Hills Police Department, is among the dozens of police officials across the country who have been charged with making unauthorized Flock searches.

By the time Copp was taken into custody this summer, the Chicago suburbs had already emerged as ground zero in a nationwide fight over Flock.

Some municipalities have jettisoned the technology, while others have bought in. And as activists raise awareness about a policing tool they say tramples on their constitutional rights, some have been charged with stealing and defacing Flock’s cameras and sensors.

In Illinois, Flock’s massive cache of license-plate data has been accessed by out-of-state officials monitoring abortions and by federal immigration agents whose coordination with local police is restricted under state law.

But amid fears that rapidly evolving mass surveillance technology like Flock is outpacing regulation, legislation aimed at bolstering protections has stalled in Springfield.

“There’s so much information collected in a day, we want to make sure that information won’t just sit there and be available because there has been misuse,” said Khadine Bennett, director of advocacy and intergovernmental affairs for the ACLU of Illinois.

Related: Editorial: Legislation, community leadership needed to calm growing concerns about risks of license readers (Daily Herald)

Pritzker pours cold water on using Meta windfall for Chicago Schools funding (Capitol News Illinois)

Gov. JB Pritzker poured cold water Thursday on Illinois Federation of Teachers President Stacy Davis Gates’ call to spend the state’s $768 million cut of a multi-state settlement with social media giant Meta for education, saying that “one-time money should really be used for one-time needs.”

“And while I understand that some people may view the shortfall in the budget in Chicago as a one-time need, it’s not,” Pritzker told reporters in Springfield following a stop on his five-day campaign bus tour. “There’s an ongoing need.”

Meta, owner of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, reached a $17 billion settlement with nearly all U.S. states, including Illinois, earlier this week that resolved claims that the company designed its platforms with addictive features and knowingly exposed children to serious mental health harms.

Davis Gates, also the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, has said for years that Illinois “owes” Chicago Public Schools the nearly $1 billion necessary to achieve the 90% adequacy target under the state’s Evidence-Based Funding formula.

While annual state funding has increased by $3 billion since EBF’s adoption, more than 63% of school districts, including CPS, remain below the adequacy target, with officials estimating that it will take additional $3 billion to achieve that goal statewide.

Related: Illinois will spend Meta settlement cash on social media harms, AG says, after union pushes education funding (Chicago Tribune)

Illinois to receive up to $768M in Meta settlement over teen social media addiction (Capitol News Illinois)

Goodell signals Arlington Heights is still alive in Bears stadium race (Crain’s Chicago Business)

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is signaling that Illinois remains in the running for a new Chicago Bears stadium, even as team executives publicly focus their attention on a potential move to northwest Indiana.

Goodell said this week the Bears are still considering both Arlington Heights and Indiana and confirmed that he recently met with Illinois lawmakers about the team’s long-running stadium search, according to published reports.

“There’s no specific timetable from my standpoint, other than we know that they are looking at the alternate groups, Indiana or Arlington Heights,” Goodell told reporters yesterday following an NFL owners meeting in Atlanta. “We want to make sure that Arlington Heights and Illinois have an opportunity, as well as Indiana, to put their best foot forward.”

The comments are notable because they contrast with the Bears’ increasingly public embrace of Hammond. Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said Aug. 13 that the team’s “sole focus at this point in time” was developing a domed stadium and mixed-use development there.

The Bears’ board voted in June to advance the Hammond project, and the team has been studying two potential sites there. The Bears have completed due diligence on the Lost Marsh property and determined it is viable, while also evaluating the nearby Wolf Lake Terminal site.

But Goodell’s remarks suggest the NFL is not yet prepared to close the door on Arlington Heights, where the Bears own 326 acres at the former Arlington International Racecourse.

Goodell also confirmed he recently met with Illinois lawmakers, although he played down the significance of his personal involvement.

“I’m involved in a lot of stadium efforts,” he said, according to USA Today. “It’s not unusual for me to be involved in conversations with either public officials or others.”

Related: Goodell confirms Bears still ‘looking at’ Illinois despite team’s ‘sole focus’ on Indiana (Capitol News Illinois)

TOP STORIES LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM

• Pritzker and Bailey Likely to Make One Joint Appearance at TV “Forum,” not Debate

• Let the Mudslinging Begin

• Is Bailey Improving in the Suburbs?

• Opinion: A Lot of Silly Hand Wringing About Michael McCuskey

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• Lobbyist says Illinois ethics watchdog breached confidentiality in Harry Benton sexual harassment investigation (Chicago Tribune)

• Illinois’ high vaccination rate has stemmed measles tide amid nationwide spike (Daily Herald)

• Gov. JB Pritzker appoints Jim Montgomery to head Illinois natural resources after Prisoner Review Board stint (Chicago Tribune)

• ‘It’s all teed up’: Dillard’s last stop as RTA chief comes as new agency rises (Daily Herald)

• Alexi Giannoulias says he won’t raise property taxes if elected Chicago mayor (Chicago Tribune)

• Kiss-cam scandal brewing in Lyons Township between elected officials (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Editorial: Why Illinois should not let elected officials hold multiple public offices (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: Illinois has a low-profile, but still huge, financial problem (Champaign News-Gazette)

• Corbett: Illinois’ ethics oversight system is broken. Here’s how to fix it. (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: Leaders say state is ready for new Opportunity Zone framework (Shaw Media)

• Opinion: Illinois solar farms aren’t viable without your tax subsidies (Champaign News-Gazette)

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Good morning, subscribers.

Happy Friday.

U.S. Senate candidates Juliana Stratton and Don Tracy will meet, it appears, for one debate before November. In the same path of the Governor’s race, Stratton accepted a “forum” with WTTW TV in Chicago. Tracy wanted three debates statewide, but Stratton only wanted one. It will be October 20, WTTW c…

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Good morning, Illinois.

One of my favorite barbecue joins in the Chicagoland area is finally finished with a multi-year renovation in Evanston. Soul & Smoke has some delightful brisket and is “cheffing up” their dinner service. The best barbecue in the state is Green Street Smoked Meats in the West Loop. I’m also partial to 17th Street BBQ in Murphysboro and Black Dog Smoke & Ale House in Champaign. Send me your favorites!

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Governor Pritzker continues his bus tour in Springfield and Urbana. Darren Bailey appears tonight in the suburbs.

Let’s get to it.

YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL

(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)

Gov. JB Pritzker pounces on President Donald Trump in campaign bus tour kickoff (Chicago Tribune)

Gov. JB Pritzker took aim at a familiar political target Wednesday as he kicked off a statewide campaign bus tour, blaming Republican President Donald Trump for many of Illinois’ struggles during the Democratic governor’s nearly eight years in office, while focusing less attention on his actual GOP opponent in the November election.

His bid for a rare third term as governor is “about working people, about affordability, about making sure that people have what they need to get ahead, and also that we’re protecting them from the damage that Donald Trump and his administration is doing in Washington, D.C.,” Pritzker said outside the Adler Planetarium, flanked by Christian Mitchell, his running mate for lieutenant governor.

Pritzker has intensified his criticism of Trump, his most ardent political foe, with some 70 days until the Nov. 3 election to hammer home for voters in deep blue Illinois that the race for governor is just as consequential as a presidential election, arguing that Trump’s policies have had an adverse effect on the state.

Pritzker has also sought to use second-time opponent Darren Bailey’s association with Trump to his advantage. The conservative former lawmaker from southeastern Illinois has, in the past, enthusiastically supported the president, who endorsed Bailey in his first run for governor in 2022 — a race Bailey lost to Pritzker by nearly 13 percentage points.

Trump has lost Illinois by more than 10 percentage points in each of the last three presidential elections and has this year seen low approval ratings, with the war in Iran taking a toll on the U.S. economy.

“We’ve done a great job of fending off the very difficult circumstances that Donald Trump and his administration have put on the state of Illinois, continuing to balance budgets, for example, while also providing people with backup support for, well, healthcare and for food assistance that’s been taken away by the federal government,” said Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, who is considered a possible 2028 presidential contender. “So, in this campaign … we’re talking a lot about both protecting the state from that onslaught, but also about advancing the cause of getting jobs.”

Pritzker didn’t mention Bailey in his brief opening remarks outside the planetarium, only invoking his opponent by name in response to questions from reporters.

“Donald Trump is very unpopular because he’s put an enormous burden on the people of this country and the people of Illinois, and I think that the fact that he’s still got a little bit of power within the Republican Party is maybe evidence that Darren Bailey won his primary with Donald Trump’s support,” Pritzker told reporters.

Bailey and his running mate, Aaron Del Mar of Palatine, meanwhile, appeared outside a Tyson Foods plant in northwest Illinois on Wednesday after the company earlier this month announced it was laying off about 2,500 workers at its beef facility in Rock Island County. Bailey wasted no time attacking Pritzker and his policies, saying “his administration has failed” on replacing lost jobs.

Related: Bailey implores Republicans to improve turnout as he plans to shift focus to Chicago (Capitol News Illinois)

Pritzker, Bailey offer different visions for Illinois education (Capitol News Illinois)

Illinois joins suit against Postal Service mail ballot rule (Chicago Sun-Times)

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and 24 other Democratic attorneys general on Wednesday filed suit against the U.S. Postal Service over what they are calling an unlawful attempt to interfere with mail voting in the fast approaching midterm elections.

But the new legal challenge came just as a federal judge in Boston gave the Trump administration another procedural win — lifting an order that prohibited the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out Trump’s mail ballot executive order.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote that she was “compelled” to do so after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled a similar injunction she granted in a separate case was premature. Talwani, however, said the executive order could unleash “chaos” and referred to it as “likely unconstitutional.”

The Trump administration can now move forward to implement the Postal Service rule, which was published Friday. The rule would require states to follow a uniform envelope style for mail ballots and give the Postal Service a list of voters eligible to receive them. Under the rule, the Postal Service will not deliver ballots to voters who do not appear on the Postal Service-generated lists, and will not deliver ballots in envelopes that fail to comply with the rule’s new standards.

That would leave local election officials scrambling, with some states expected to send out their mail ballots as soon as next week.

The rule is at the heart of the attorneys general suit filed on Wednesday, and the coalition wants the court to strike down the rule and issue a temporary restraining order preventing the rule from taking effect while the litigation proceeds. They also argue that the rule will prevent states from effectively administering their mail voting programs, which will ultimately put voters at risk of being disenfranchised.

“The rule I am challenging today is yet another unlawful attempt by the Trump administration to control state voting systems. We are asking the court for emergency relief because the administration is trying to undermine our citizens’ access to voting within weeks of the midterm elections,” Raoul said in a written statement.

Related: Illinois joins lawsuit to block Postal Service from deciding mail-in voting eligibility (Chicago Tribune)

Mail ballots are secure, Illinois election officials stress after Supreme Court ruling (Chicago Sun-Times)

Illinois attorney general joins suit against Postal Service over mail voting rules (Capitol News Illinois)

Illinois joins renewed push to stop Trump mail-ballot curbs (Crain’s Chicago Business)

TOP STORIES SO FAR THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM

• Pritzker and Bailey Likely to Make One Joint Appearance at TV “Forum,” not Debate

• Let the Mudslinging Begin

• Opinion: A Lot of Silly Hand Wringing About Michael McCuskey

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• Moody’s upgrades Illinois credit rating ahead of September bond sales (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• Putting on the brakes: New Illinois law establishes rules for e-bikes, scooters (Capitol News Illinois)

• Immigration judges in Chicago deporting abused, neglected children in violation of their due process: attorneys (Chicago Tribune)

• Editorial: Data centers should lower homeowners’ property taxes, not raise them (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: From a staid courtroom to a nasty political food fight (Champaign News-Gazette)

• Opinion: Group working to reduce school mandates showing progress signs (Shaw Media)

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Good morning, subscribers.

I had a few questions over the last few days of how the Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley shows at the Illinois State Fair had the exact same attendance. There have even been some WWE-esque allegations of cooking the books. (The rasslin’ company has been accused for decades of making up their attendance figures.)

S…

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Good morning, Illinois.

First, a congratulations to Darren Bailey’s campaign manager, Jose Durbin and his wife, Gabriella, on the birth of their third child. McKinley Isabel was born Friday. We’re told everyone is doing great. We saw Jose at the State Fair Thursday as he was leaving the Fairgrounds immediately to head to the hospital and said he “may take one day off.” Campaign babies, man.

The federal corruption case against Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) and her husband, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, has been reassigned to a federal judge in Springfield.

There’s nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

MORE ON WTTW DEBATE/FORUM

It appears Governor JB Pritzker and former Sen. Darren Bailey will hold one debate this fall, and it won’t be a debate at all.

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Good morning, Illinois.

Well, it was quite a week last week.

We did live radio shows from the State Fair last Wednesday and Thursday. You can listen to the whole stack of interviews here.

I taped an interview for WGN-TV’s The Point that ran Friday night.

We also did our podcast from the Fair last week. (LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE)

Also, our interview last week with Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey raised some eyebrows last week. It was even the subject of a Chicago Tribune editorial this weekend. I’ll have some thoughts on the hand wringing class of our politics on the radio today and maybe a column tomorrow.

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There’s nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL

(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)

Illinois Democrats tout party dominance at State Fair but it’s clouded by harassment scandal and fraud case (Chicago Tribune)

Democrats celebrated their one-party political dominance at the Illinois State Fair heading into the fall campaign season on Wednesday, but their cheers fell against the backdrop of recent House scandals that have sullied their brand.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s controversial handling of former state Rep. Harry Benton’s sexual harassment of three women, including a former staffer, has left the chamber’s leader grasping to keep control and facing Republican criticism.

For the actual Democrat Day festivities featuring party leaders, candidates and officeholders, Welch was a notable no-show.

An aide explained the Hillside lawmaker was accompanying his child to their first day of school. But Welch was in Springfield the day before for scheduled appearances that included hosting a fundraiser and making brief remarks at a Democratic Women’s event.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker — seeking reelection in November while also eyeing a potential 2028 White House campaign — welcomed Democrats to the fair by excoriating Republican President Donald Trump, saying “what he and his MAGA Republicans are doing to this nation is disgraceful.”

“By the way, this is the government that Darren Bailey rooted for. This is the vision that he and his Illinois Republicans want to impose on working families across Illinois,” Pritzker, the billionaire businessman and heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, who recently pumped $65 million into his reelection campaign, said of his second consecutive race against his GOP opponent, former state lawmaker Darren Bailey.

Democrats in Illinois face few electoral headwinds in a state deeply opposed to Trump, where the state GOP has fallen to near irrelevance under its fealty to the president, fielding candidates who have sought right-wing martyrdom over electability.

Related: Illinois Democrats focused on Trump as they seek third sweep of statewide races (Capitol News Illinois)

Welch skips Illinois State Fair, where Democrats focus on Trump instead of harassment scandal (Chicago Sun-Times)

In Illinois, Warren urges Democrats to unite behind all party nominees (Capitol News Illinois)

Gov. JB Pritzker pours $65M into his campaign fund ahead of November elections (Chicago Sun-Times)

Gov. JB Pritzker accepts a state teachers union endorsement while casting doubt on $150M CPS funding push (Chicago Tribune)

With Trump barely mentioned, Illinois Republicans focus on common enemy: Pritzker (Capitol News Illinois)

President Donald Trump has been the dominant political force within the Republican Party for more than a decade.

But as Illinois GOP faithful gathered Thursday in Springfield for their annual day at the Illinois State Fair, their party’s national leader was barely mentioned. Instead, the GOP candidates were laser-focused on Gov. JB Pritzker and Democrats who hold all statewide offices and supermajorities in the General Assembly.

“Everywhere we go, we hear the same thing: Illinois is too damn expensive, and it’s time to change it,” said Darren Bailey, the Republican gubernatorial nominee. “Property taxes, they’re crushing homeowners. Electric bills are exploding. Groceries, insurance, gas, childcare — they all cost more. Everything costs more under JB Pritzker. After nearly eight years in office, the excuses are over.”

It was a stark contrast to Democrats Day at the fairgrounds on Wednesday, where Pritzker and other statewide elected officials focused their ire on Trump while barely mentioning their underdog Republican opponents.

On Republican Day, Trump’s name was conspicuously absent, with GOP leaders blaming the state’s Democrats for soaring energy costs, high property taxes and other affordability concerns on voters’ minds. Unlike the previous day, there was no mention of the impact of Trump’s tariff regime and the war with Iran on the price of consumer goods and gasoline.

Related: Illinois Republicans set state fair sights on Gov. JB Pritzker and ‘flat-out crazy’ Democrats (Chicago Sun-Times)

GOP Day is a metaphor for a party short on money and message discipline (Chicago Tribune)

Amid Democratic scandals, Illinois Republicans hoping to flip legislative seats (Capitol News Illinois)

Darren Bailey took campaign money from sex offender who’s now a pastor, went to service at his church (Chicago Sun-Times)

Darren Bailey tries to stay on message on GOP Day at Illinois State Fair (WGN-TV)

13 takeaways from political days at the Illinois State Fair (Capitol News Illinois)

Editorial: Free Illinois tollways? Show us the math, Darren Bailey. (Chicago Tribune)

TOP STORIES LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM

• Bailey’s State Fair Message Goes the Way of the Dinosaur

• Democrats Preach Unity, Strength at State Fair

• UPDATED: Will there be gubernatorial debates?

• UPDATED: Pritzker Reloads for November

• McCuskey Addresses Benton, Welch, Ammons

• The Illinoize Podcast: Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove & Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield)

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• Illinois Tollway OKs first rate hike in nearly 15 years (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Gov. JB Pritzker announces his appointments to the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority board (Chicago Tribune)

• Transportation overhaul taking shape with toll increase, new board appointees (Capitol News Illinois)

• Complaint deemed unfounded against state lawmaker surfaces in downstate legislative race (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Possible ComEd 4 retrial up in the air months after 7th Circuit ordered prison release for 2 (Capitol News Illinois)

• Chicago Teachers Union sues Illinois Policy Institute, citing ‘toxic’ branding, ‘defamatory’ audit claims (Chicago Sun-Times)

• No Democratic National Convention repeat for Chicago in 2028 (Chicago Tribune)

• Editorial: The Illinois GOP just got a chance to hit reset. Take it, beleaguered Republicans! (Chicago Tribune)

• Editorial: Talks between Bears, state officials on summer siesta (Champaign News-Gazette)

• Editorial: The growing political isolation of the Chicago Teachers Union (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: Pritzker pledges DCFS ‘will show up’ in court next month ... finally (Shaw Media)

• Opinion: Responsible data center growth should be pro-worker and community focused (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• Opinion: Illinois Supreme Court makes lower-court judges play ‘blind man’s bluff’ (Champaign News-Gazette)

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Here’s the YouTube version (and you should click ‘subscribe’ while you’re there:

Good morning, subscribers.

Between Governor’s Day and Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair this week, we had 16 different political day or Fair related segments on the radio. Go listen to them all.

We’ll have a podcast out later today. We taped visits with Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield). Listen, I came up in radio, so State Fair video ain’t gonna be perfect, but it’s the content that counts. (Subscribers, stand by for more.)

I’ll also be on WGN-TV’s “The Point” tonight at 6:45 wrapping up State Fair political days.

There is nothing on Governor Pritzker’s public schedule today.

Is that it? I think so. I’m ready for the weekend.

Let’s get to it.

BAILEY’S STATE FAIR MESSAGING GOES THE WAY OF THE DINOSAURS

Former State Senator Darren Bailey, the Republican nominee for Governor, hoped a captive audience of Republican faithful, TV cameras, and reporters looking for some juice in the Governor’s race would help him lob attacks at Governor JB Pritzker at the State Fair Republican Day Thursday.

Instead, Bailey’s pivot to the fall campaign was distracted by private school curriculum, cagey answers, and dinosaurs.

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Good morning, Illinois.

We’re making this State Fair newsletter free for everyone. Consider becoming a paid subscriber, would you, please?

Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) went up on TV this week. It appears she’s up on both broadcast and cable. She has a ton more money than her Republican opponent, Sangamon County Recorder Frank Lesko.

It’s Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair. The State Central Committee and GOP County Chairman’s Association meets this morning and they’ll have their Director’s Lawn rally at noon. They haven't announced any headline speaker.

I’ll be on the radio from the Fair at 3pm. I’m scheduled to have Darren Bailey, Aaron Del Mar, Don Tracy, Illinois GOP Chair Bob Grogan and more on the show. Our Governor’s Day show is here.

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There’s nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

DEMOCRATS PREACH UNITY, STRENGTH AT STATE FAIR

Democrats took over the Illinois State Fair Wednesday for Governor’s Day, expressing the utmost confidence ahead of a November General Election where they already hold all of the statewide constitutional offices, supermajorities in the General Assembly, and face, in many cases, nominal Republican opposition in November.

It was a State Fair political day that, in many ways, felt like going through the motions.

More than 3,000 Democrats, an all time crowd, gathered for the Illinois Democrat County Chair’s brunch at the BOS Center downtown Wednesday morning, headlined by progressive Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and was essentially a conduit to honor retiring U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

Durbin, the 81-year-old who will complete his fifth term in the Senate before leaving the chamber in January, summed up his time in politics referencing an old line by Arizona politician Morris Udall.

“Politics is in my bloodstream, and as Morris Udall once said, ‘If you have politics in your bloodstream, only embalming fluid will replace it.”

One consistent out of most Democrats Wednesday was mostly ignoring their General Election Republican opponents, highlighting Democrats are more interested in running against President Donald Trump in November than they are even mentioning the names of their Republican opponents.

Governor JB Pritzker mentioned his opponent, former Sen. Darren Bailey by name a couple of times, launching most of his jabs at Trump.

“At a time when Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans and his entire freak show are demonstrating how the government can be distorted to satisfy the greed of the wealthy and the greed of Donald Trump’s own pockets, while robbing working families blind, Illinois Democrats are showing what it means to truly fight for the people,” Pritzker said at the Governor’s Day rally on the Director’s Lawn at the State Fairgrounds.

“This is the [federal] government that Darren Bailey rooted for,” Pritzker said. “This is the vision that he and his Illinois Republicans want to impose on working families across Illinois. I think it’s instructive for us to put side-by-side two visions of Illinois.”

Pritzker spoke for the first time since infusing his campaign with $65 million in personal dollars for the final stretch, far outpacing the fundraising totals of Bailey and independent candidate Collin Corbett.

Pritzker’s total personal contributions to his campaign since 2017 now total around $439 million.

“I love how you take multiple years and put it all together,” Pritzker quipped after we asked the question. “What you’re saying is the fact that I don’t take special interest money is a negative for the people of Illinois? I think that’s wrong. You don’t want special interests buying politicians.”

But asked if he was a politician buying the Governor's office, he responded its an argument media members would like to make, but isn’t true."

“It’s about values. It’s about fighting for working families. I have proven for 8 years that I have done that time and time again,” he said.

Chicago reporters were focused on the ongoing ethics scandals among House Democrats. House Speaker Chris Welch, who attended Springfield fundraisers Tuesday, did not attend any State Fair activities on Wednesday.

Good morning, subscribers.

It’s Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair. The Democratic County Chairman’s Brunch is at 9am at the BOS Center downtown, headlined by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. I’m told they’ve sold over 3,000 tickets for the event. That would be a record.

The Governor’s Day rally (weather permitting) is at noon …

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Good morning, Illinois.

See you at the State Fair tomorrow and Thursday. I’m told tomorrow’s Democratic County Chairman Association brunch at BOS Center is likely to break an attendance record again.

There’s nothing on the Governor’s public schedule today.

Let’s get to it.

PRITZKER RELOADS FOR NOVEMBER

Billionaire Governor JB Pritzker has reloaded his campaign fund with another $65 million in personal dollars for the final stretch of the fall campaign.

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Good morning, Illinois.

We’re short on child care today and I need to get to bed early tonight to leave for Springfield, so I think we may do a Q&A newsletter for tomorrow. Send your questions by replying to this e-mail or shooting me at note at patrick@theillinoize.com. You’ll remain anonymous.

Here’s the podcast that came out Friday, in case you missed it. You can subscribe to the audio feed on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon.

We’re scheduled to record some things at the Fair this week, so we’ll plan to put out a podcast at the end of the week.

I’ll be down and doing the show from the State Fair Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll be at the WMAY gazebo near the Midway between 3-6 each day. Come say hello. But, if you’re coming to boo, go find the Chicago TV reporters for that.

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Gov. Pritzker is expected to be endorsed by the Illinois Education Association this afternoon. So, water is wet, I guess.

Let’s get to it.

YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL

(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)

Pritzker tours storm damage, signs flood relief bill expanding local Chicago programs (Capitol News Illinois)

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill on Friday that allows more Chicago homeowners to access financial relief for flood damage locally while many communities in the state cleaned up from damaging storms.

Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3925, which allows home equity assurance programs to establish a temporary three-year rebate program that certain Chicago homeowners can tap into to repair flood damage. The state law says municipalities must have at least 1 million residents to create such a district, meaning only Chicago qualifies.

There are two such programs within the city — one known as the Northwest Home Equity Program, the other the Southwest Home Equity Program — that are created by state law but governed by local commissions and funded by special property taxes levied within the districts.

Eligible homeowners who live within the districts can apply to be reimbursed for half of their flood remediation costs up to $1,000.

The legislation was passed in response to significant flooding on the Southwest Side of Chicago last summer. The federal government denied Illinois’ request for disaster assistance following the event, leaving many homeowners short on financial resources.

“The Trump administration turned their back,” Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago before signing the bill. “Relief for Illinois families whose homes were damaged by severe storms, crucial assistance that could have helped them rebuild their homes and their lives, was denied.”

Pritzker characterized the legislation as the latest example of the state trying to fill gaps while federal programs, ranging from disaster relief to food and healthcare assistance, are reduced. The governor said he hopes financial help from home equity assurance programs will provide residents short-term money to make repairs and long-term financial “breathing room.”

Related: Amid latest Illinois storm damage, Gov. Pritzker says Trump administration ‘turned their back’ on past storms (Chicago Tribune)

Gov. JB Pritzker tours Lansing storm damage, signs flood relief legislation (Chicago Tribune)

Missed opportunities, incomplete investigations preceded discovery of 56 bodies at funeral home (Chicago Tribune)

After city and state officials discovered 56 decomposing bodies in a Chicago funeral home, Gov. JB Pritzker defended the state’s response to complaints against the husband and wife in charge of the facility.

Pritzker’s message, delivered during a downstate event, was simple: State government did its job.

The comptroller’s office, he said, “did what they should do” in shutting down a notorious crematorium run by the same family in the south suburbs where mishandled bodies and hundreds of unreturned remains were discovered in 2025.

The licensing board, he said, “did what it is supposed to do” about the pair who also were running South Chicago Chapel, where the most recent discovery was made.

The people who didn’t do what’s right, Pritzker said, were the couple, Clark and Johanna Morgan.

“We’re talking about some really bad actors,” Pritzker said. “The process was followed, the process that’s in the law now, and obviously there was no report that came in that would lead anybody to discover this” until late last month, he added at another recent news conference.

A Tribune investigation, however, found regulatory shortcomings that allowed those apparently bad actors to persist, with the state failing to fully shut down Clark and Johanna Morgan’s businesses or take their licenses even after they were found to have mishandled human remains at their south suburban facility, Heights Crematory.

This story is based on a review of business licenses, hundreds of pages of court filings across two states, police reports, inspection documents and interviews with more than two dozen people. The Morgans did not return repeated messages seeking comment.

At several key moments, the Tribune review found, government and law enforcement failed to stop them from operating in the industry — despite discoveries along the way of an altered state credential, and allegations in a barrage of lawsuits.

State licensing regulators visited South Chicago Chapel funeral home at least twice in the wake of problems at its owners’ crematory business. But there is no indication in state paperwork that the problems found at Heights Crematory or other red flags triggered aggressive regular inspections of the Morgans’ businesses, or their ongoing operating practices.

Because that’s not how the system is set up: Illinois investigations of funeral homes typically come only after complaints are made, according to state guidance.

Related: Opinion: Why Pritzker should form a South Chicago chapel task force (Crain’s Chicago Business)

TOP STORIES LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM

• Pritzker, Bailey Trade Barbs in Front of Ag Audience

• Pritzker Names Historic Armory Building After Late Gov. Jim Edgar

• The Illinoize Podcast: Independent candidate for Governor Collin Corbett

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• DCFS: ‘Significant miscommunication’ within the agency led to missed court dates (Capitol News Illinois)

• Bears turn up the volume on Hammond stadium push (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• Bears president says Illinois stadium talks ‘minimal’ as Indiana is ‘sole focus’ (Capitol News Illinois)

• Mayor still hopeful Bears will ‘reverse this ship back toward Arlington Heights’ (Daily Herald)

• Illinois audit: State agency paid staffing firm $78.5M for contractors not actively working (Chicago Tribune)

• State Board of Elections pays off-duty SPD officers to oversee records examinations (Illinois Times)

• Mike Quigley says he’s ‘willing to risk the job to save the city’ if elected mayor (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Editorial: Illinois has rules against harassment. The Harry Benton scandal shows the system still isn’t working. (Chicago Tribune)

• Editorial: Bears, call us when you have a stadium deal (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• Editorial: Press conference’s main message was that Illinois leaders had better wake up (Daily Herald)

• Editorial: Illinois has a jury problem (Shaw Media)

• Editorial: Illinois Realtors offer locals smart ideas to boost housing (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: Government keeps close tabs on delis, on funeral parlors not so much (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Opinion: Bears need to bluff much harder to be borderline believable (Shaw Media)

• Opinion: Why Illinois should restart data center program (State Journal-Register)

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You can subscribe to the audio feed on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon.

Here’s the video:

Here’s the preview of today’s podcast with Independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett. The whole episode comes out later.

(Just a note: yes, Corbett and I are friends, which I have often disclosed. He did not ask for questions beforehand (which we would not have provided). The interview, other than camera cuts, is comp…

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Good morning, Illinois.

Happy opening day of the Illinois State Fair.

Governor Pritzker unveiled the Butter Cow yesterday and she’s a beaut.

The ribbon cutting is this morning and the Twilight Parade steps off at 5:30, weather permitting.

If you were paying attention to Twitter last night (and, let’s face it, you probably shouldn’t), you’ll have seen a ton of speculation about a Bears stadium “announcement” today. I’m told it’s the annual preseason media availability for Bears owner George McCaskey and Team President Kevin Warren. The stadium will surely come up, but they ain’t breaking ground in Hammond today or anything.

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Governor Pritzker cuts the ribbon at the State Fair at 10 and makes about 100 appearances on the grounds throughout the day.

Let’s get to it.

YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL

(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)

JB Pritzker, Darren Bailey spar over Trump tariffs, farm economy at ag forum (Chicago Tribune)

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and his Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Darren Bailey, sought to woo Illinois’ agriculture industry Monday, with Bailey, a veteran farmer, accusing the two-term Democrat of hating President Donald Trump “more than he loves Illinois” and Pritzker blaming the Trump administration for the economic strain on the state’s farmers.

Speaking for nearly an hour at an agriculture industry event in rural central Illinois, Pritzker blamed the war in Iran and ongoing trade disputes for driving up the cost of fertilizer, diesel and other farming expenses — but he broke from his usual criticism of Trump to agree with the president’s call for oil companies to return some war-driven profits to consumers.

“Strangely, even though everyone else is suffering from all of this, the big oil companies announce that they’re raking in record profits. That’s war profiteering if you ask me. And it’s got to stop. President Trump the other day said that Big Oil should give some of that back to the public. Well, take note of what I’m about to say: I agree with President Trump,” Pritzker said to a few laughs. “That’s why last week I called on the CEOs of the seven biggest, large oil companies in the world to return windfall profits to the people of Illinois.”

The Illinois Agricultural Legislative Roundtable hosted Pritzker, Bailey and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy at the forum, about 140 miles southwest of Chicago. Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, running for U.S. Senate, skipped the event for another engagement in Martha’s Vineyard, drawing criticism from Tracy for what he called a “misplaced priority.”

Historically a strong supporter of Trump, who endorsed his unsuccessful bid for governor against Pritzker in 2022, Bailey told the audience of more than 50 people at the event that he’d speak out “on behalf of agriculture” while defending Trump’s tariffs on imported goods, and said he’d be a governor who works with any president regardless of their party affiliation.

“Let’s be honest. We know there’s a problem with JB Pritzker and President Trump. And it’s very obvious that he hates President Trump more than he loves Illinois … These tariffs that came on, yes, we’re farmers. We go out, and we plant our seed, and we put on this expense, (and) then we have to wait … for the harvest. And I do believe that these tariffs that are imposed are, I called it the same from day one as I do now, ‘a short-term pain for a long-term gain,’ and I believe it’s the only tool that we have to get competitive again.”

Related: Pritzker, Bailey seek to convince farmers at forum they’re the best candidate for agriculture (Capitol News Illinois)

Pritzker, Bailey address farm estate taxes, data centers at candidate forum (Bloomington Pantagraph)

‘Miles of Smiles’ is State Fair’s theme in celebration of Route 66 (Capitol News Illinois)

The 2026 butter cow invites Illinois State Fairgoers to “Take a Spin on Route 66” in honor of the Mother Road’s centennial.

The grand marshal for the fair’s Twilight Parade this year is Route 66, and the fair’s theme is “Miles of Smiles” as a send-up to the Mother Road. This year’s cow is accompanied by a girl eating ice cream. A companion sculpture shows a dog and a scooter “heading out on a Route 66 adventure,” per Gov. JB Pritzker.

“It recognizes the 100th anniversary of that historic road that started right here in Illinois,” Pritzker said.

Route 66 was established in 1926, beginning in downtown Chicago and ending in Santa Monica, California. The Mother Road is also commemorated elsewhere on the fairgrounds via the “Route 66 Experience,” a self-guided educational exhibit located at Gate 2.

“Illinois is the birthplace of this iconic highway and ours is the only fairgrounds in the nation to sit on Route 66,” said Jerry Costello II, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Pritzker and Costello were joined by first lady MK Pritzker, fair manager Rebecca Clark, Kendra Anderson of Midwest Dairy, and Illinois State Fair Queen Krista Phillips of Effingham.

Related: Illinois State Fair Butter Cow plays on Route 66 themes (State Journal-Register)

Illinois State Fair’s 2026 Butter Cow honors Route 66’s 100th anniversary (Chicago Tribune)

TOP STORIES SO FAR THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM

• Pritzker, Bailey Trade Barbs in Front of Ag Audience

• Pritzker Names Historic Armory Building After Late Gov. Jim Edgar

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• Judge orders DCFS director to answer for repeated failures to release public documents in child death (Capitol News Illinois)

• Firms Linked to 2 Men Convicted of Public Corruption Have Gotten Campaign Business from JB Pritzker and the CTU (Illinois Answers Project)

• Illinois will not change child vaccine guidelines after Trump executive order (Capitol News Illinois)

• Potential class-action lawsuit filed against South Deering funeral home for mishandling 56 bodies (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Second House Democrat declines to participate in Welch’s harassment working group (Capitol News Illinois)

• Who’s on first at Metra? Directors coming and going as transit reforms gel (Daily Herald)

• Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth among congressional Democrats investigating efforts to deport US military members (Chicago Tribune)

• Colleges scramble after court strikes down in-state tuition for Illinois undocumented students (WBEZ)

• As Trump proposes deregulating Head Start, Illinois providers worry what the changes could mean for families (Chicago Tribune)

• Editorial: Where do Democratic House candidates stand on Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch? (Chicago Tribune)

• Faces change in politics, but (mis)conduct remains pretty much same (Champaign News-Gazette)

• Opinion: Illinois and Chicago campaigns defy conventional monied wisdom (Chicago Tribune)

• Opinion: AI produces answers. Leaders still have to own them. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

• Opinion: Still need a better system for keeping deceased out of jury pools (Shaw Media)

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Good morning, subscribers.

I was up way too late watching Wisconsin gubernatorial returns. Yeah, I know, I’m a sicko. The AP finally called the Democratic primary for Governor around 2:30 this morning.

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Governor Pritzker unveils the Butter Cow at 3pm at the State Fair. The Fair opens officially tomorrow.

Let’s get to it.

PRITZKER NAMES RENO…

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