Results tagged “democrats”

House Democrats passed a 50 percent income tax hike for the next two years today, but final approval is still questionable as the General Assembly moves one day closer to adjourning.The proposal was a move to get lawmakers who didn't approve of Quinn's permanent hike on board. Although Quinn has previously said he wouldn't stand for a permanent hike, he "backed off that position today," the Chicago Tribune reports. Republicans say they "aren't ready" to vote for a tax hike, noting it also includes increasing the cigarette tax and decreasing public pension plan payments.

Man, this thing is a mess and it's pretty tough to sort out, logistically and legally. Here's what we know: Blagojevich still has the power to appoint the seat - as he is still governor - and there may not be much legal ground for opposition, at least from the U.S. Senate. The Trib points out:

In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled the House of Representatives could not refuse to seat Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, a New York Democrat who was accused of putting his wife on the payroll and misusing travel funds to vacation in the Caribbean. Despite those charges, he was reelected by his constituents in Harlem.

Continue reading "Vacant Senate Seat Race Heating Up"

With Democrats hell-bent on dragging their primary season all the way to the convention, and John McCain all but the GOP nominee, the question of who is more electable is weighing on the minds of many voters. SurveyUSA, whose polling is usually pretty good, put together a couple of nice maps.

Yesterday's primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island saw John McCain assume the mantle of the Republican presidential nominee, with commanding victories in all but Texas, and Mike Huckabee's announcement that he's withdrawing from the race. "It's now important that we turn our attention not to what could have been or what we wanted to have been, but now what must be -- and that is a united party," Huckabee told told supporters in Dallas. After it became clear that McCain would sweep all four races, Barack Obama called McCain to congratulate him on winning the nomination, adding that he was looking forward to facing the Arizona senator in the general election.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners had a contentious meeting yesterday as they tried to resolve a looming budget shortfall of nearly $300 million. The board must pass a budget by Feb 29 or face a partial shut down of the county government.

Tony Rezko's rise to power in state politics didn't happen overnight. When got started as a strong advocate of grassroots Arab-American activism in Chicago and was often the largest contributor to Arab-American campaigns. But several years ago, Rezko’s name started showing up on campaign disclosure forms for prominent politicians in Chicago, Cook County and the state.

In a race that may be a precursor to the Ohio and Texas Democratic primaries in March, Barack Obama won a decisive victory in Wisconsin last night, leading Hillary Clinton by nearly 20 points. He also won Hawaii, taking over 75 percent of the vote in a state where he had campaigned as a "native son." His victories last night mark his ninth and tenth consecutive primary or caucus wins and put his pledged delegate count at 1,140. Clinton has 1,005 pledged delegates. When you add in committed superdelegates, Obama leads Clinton 1,301 to 1,239, with John Edwards's 26 delegates still in play. Chris Bowers at OpenLeft points out that Clinton has now surpassed Jessee Jackson's 1988 total of 1218 delegates. 1988 saw the highest number of delegates ever won by a Democrat who did not win the nomination.

Obama's landslide victories in the "Significant Saturday" contests - including Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington and the Virgin Islands, and his Sunday win in the Maine caucuses, could break the deadlock over pledged delegates for the Democratic nomination. Obama is hoping that these wins will generate the momentum that he needs to carry Ohio and Texas on March 4. Rhode Island and Vermont hold their primaries that day, too. Obama's wins this weekend were bad news for Hillary Clinton, who tried to inject a ray of optimism by announcing that her campaign had raised $10 million from over 10,000 donors. Obama's campaign quickly announced that over 350,000 donors had already contributed this year.

It wasn't just Presidential candidates that were running for nominations in yesterday's vote. A handful of local Democrats and Republicans also ran for their party's spot on the November ballot as well.

Today's the big day. Along with 24 other states, we're voting in Super Duper Tuesday. Up for grabs are 1688 pledged Democratic delegates, and 900 Republican delegates. Delegate-heavy states such as California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Georgia could play a deciding role in the outcome of both races. But with polling showing a tight Democratic race, and Obama working overtime to split votes in odd-numbered districts, tonight's results won't produce a nominee for the Democrats.

The United States isn't the only country that is having federal elections this year. In March a by-election will be held in Toronto's Toronto Centre Riding. And our sister site, Torontoist has been posting a semi-regular column by their Environment Editor, Chris Tindal, who is running for parliament as the Green Party candidate.

John McCain changed careers last night, from the candidate who was almost out of money (and the race) last summer to quite possibly the Republican presidential nominee. He's now the man to beat. The close but critical win in Florida gave him 57 delegates and a solid lead going into Super Duper Tuesday, (there are no superdelegates at the Republican National Convention). Hillary Clinton won the non-binding Florida race, a largely symbolic victory that featured virtually no campaigning and earned her no delegates to the convention.

With this year's presidential primaries perhaps the most exciting in recent memory, the media, and the nation, have paid very little attention to today's Democratic primary in Florida. Unlike the Republicans, who will let half of the state's delegates vote at the convention, the Democrats stripped Florida of its delegates to the August convention for holding a primary earlier than party rules allowed. As part of the party's castigation of the state, Democrats have agreed not to campaign in Florida, an agreement that has been honored until now.

The South Carolina Democratic primary could have been a footnote in this year's race to the nomination. The Clintons fought hard in South Carolina, hoping that Bill's popularity in the black community could divide the vote, giving an unexpected win to Hillary. By the time the exit polls indicated that Obama had carried the state by wide margins, the Clintons were dismissing Obama's win as a by-product of the racial demographics in this southern state, the "black candidate" that carried a mostly African-American electorate. But the large turnout yesterday (over half a million by some estimates) combined with Obama's strong showing among non-black voters give the freshman Senator from Illinois new momentum heading into the February 5 vote.

Thanks to Bill M, we know that it isn't just Chicagoists who read... Chicagoist. And if you are part of that select group of ex=pat Chicagoans who keep up with our city, you're probably interested in voting in the upcoming presidential primary. And now, for the first time, Democrats living abroad can vote in the upcoming presidential primary. Democrats Abroad, the official overseas branch of the party will hold a global presidential primary from Feb. 5 to 12. Americans living outside the US can vote in the Democratic primary via internet, fax, mail and in-person in 34 countries around the globe. (The Tribune says there are 100 countries, but the website managing the vote says 34.) To participate, you must join Democrats Abroad, register, and request a ballot from the last US state you lived in before February 1.

We know, you're a little disappointed that your short-lived run for the presidency never included any debates. If you've been waiting for the right time to speak up in public on your views, tonight Glenn Hurowitz discusses his new book, Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party.

Now that the Michigan primary is safely behind us, all eyes are focused on Nevada and South Carolina. For Democrats, who need at least 2,025 delegates to win the presidential nomination, Nevada's caucuses this Saturday offer 33 delegates. Not only is the nation looking at the Silver State, where early voting is a new experience for a mix of Latino, rural and urban voters, but so are the federal courts. Hillary Clinton has been polling well there, but Barack Obama has been endorsed by the state's largest union, the Culinary Workers. This endorsement is significant not only because it is the largest union in the state, but also because the state's Democratic party has opted to hold nine "at-large" caucuses, open to anyone within 2.5 miles of the Las Vegas strip, where the bulk of CWU members work. Intended to make voting easier for shift-workers in Nevada's casino industry, the move prompted a lawsuit by the Nevada Teachers Union. The lawsuit claimed that those voting in at-large precincts being held on the Strip would have too much weight compared with those voting at their polling places, infringes on the right to equal protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and violate state statute in the way they were drawn.

Michigan defied the conventional wisdom yesterday, giving Mitt Romney 30 delegates to the national convention and his second primary win.

There's more than just choosing candidates for President at stake when the Illinois Primary rolls around February 5. For instance, in our home 3rd Congressional district, puppet incumbent Dan Lipinski is facing an actual opponent this time in Assistant State's Attorney Mark Pera.

Last week, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly passed a law that would enable Illinois to bypass the Electoral College in future presidential elections. The move came just before New Jersey Governor John S. Corzine signed similar legislation on Sunday that would eliminate New Jersey's participation in the Electoral College. The only other state to have passed a similar law is Maryland, which was the first state to take up the cause.

For Michigan Democrats, the choices in today's primary are pretty stark. Late last year, Michigan Senator Carl Levin supported moving Michigan's primary up to January 15 in an attempt to make the state more relevant in this year's race. That move backfired, however, when the Democratic National Committee punished the state party by stripping it of all its delegates at the convention. Party rules mandate that Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina hold the first primaries.

senator Barack Obama some unsolicited advice on how to beat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. When that didn't work, you took him to task in an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal.

Congressman and mayoral wannabe Jesse Jackson Jr made some strange bedfellows this weekend when he announced that he's endorsing Larry Suffredin for Cook County state's attorney.

Last night marked the official beginning of the 2008 presidential season. The close of the Iowa Democratic caucuses saw Barack Obama with 37 percent, John Edwards with 30 percent, and Hillary Clinton in third place with 29 percent of the votes, with 99 percent of Iowa precincts reporting. On the Republican side Mike Huckabee was the big winner.

One of the races that we've been watching this winter is the Democratic Primary in the 3rd Congressional District. Incumbent Dan Lipinski is hoping voters will send him back to D.C. for a third term, but he's facing a tough challenge from Mark Pera, an assistant county prosecutor from Western Springs. That challenge may have gotten a little tougher yesterday when Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool endorsed Pera. If you don't remember the 2004 general...

What happens when the party you believe in, that you dedicate your political career to, takes a turn for the worse? If you're Dennis Hastert, you resign graciously, take your kudos, and become the elder statesman you always knew you could be. Hastert resigned yesterday, bringing to a close an era of congressional Republicanism marked by increasingly bitter partisanship, an unpopular president championing an unpopular war, and a rash of scandals, both political and personal...

Looks like we're not the only ones with a case of the Mondays: Things aren't looking so great for Blagojevich today, either. Over the weekend, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn blamed Blago for the firing of 17 veterans from security jobs within the Illinois Department of Military Affairs. "The governor proclaimed this 'Hire a Veteran Month.' He didn't say 'Fire a Veteran,'" said Quinn. All together now: Oh, snap! Blagojevich says it's a matter of federal...

With all the mudslinging in the presidential primary and the wrangling in the congressional races here, we almost forgot that the Green Party won a ballot line in Illinois last election. Unlike past elections, where Green candidates struggled to get on and stay on the ballot, this year marks the first time the Greens have had a state-wide ballot line, thanks to former gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney breaking the 5 percent threshold with 10.39 percent...

Tony Peraica, Cook County commissioner and state’s attorney candidate, is having the worst week ever. As if being a homophobe right-winger in Cook County wasn’t bad enough, now the rest of the local GOP combine has turned against him. Joe Birkett, Judy Baar Topinka’s running mate for lieutenant governor, is backing Mary McMahon, an assistant state’s attorney in Democrat Dick Devine’s office, as the GOP candidate for State’s Attorney. This after he spoke at a...

Jill Morgenthaler, Blagojevich's deputy chief of staff for public safety and homeland security tendered her resignation Tuesday, effective November 1. She apparently called Rich Miller to confirm speculation that she will challenge freshman 6th District congressman Peter Roskam next year. The retired Army Colonel and former psy-ops specialist has been the topic of speculation for while, circulating ballot access petitions and raising money.