I wanted to get back into campaign mode. We’re about three months from the Illinois gubernatorial election, and we’ve heard nary a peep from Republican nominee Darren Bailey. Meanwhile Governor J.B. Pritzker has been making noise about President Donald Trump and signaling his own 2028 ambitions.
Recently Al Salvi sat down with Jeff Berkowitz on Public Affairs for a half-hour worth watching if you care about Illinois at all. The title is blunt: Should ex-State Rep Al Salvi run Bailey’s IL Gov Campaign. The conversation is less about staffing charts and more about whether Bailey can actually beat Pritzker in November.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is more than likely to win a third term as Illinois' governor, however, I find myself wondering if he's going to take a serious beating for his ongoing feud with our 47th POTUS Donald Trump.
In a recent wide-ranging interview with POLITICO at Chicago's iconic Manny's Deli, Pritzker sat down for a candid conversation covering everything from the 2024 election fallout to his sharp criticisms of Trump, his influence in state politics, and speculation about a potential 2028 presidential run. The governor didn't hold back, framing Trump's leadership in stark terms and doubling down on the confrontational style that's defined much of his time in office.
Pritzker has positioned himself as one of the leading Trump antagonists among Democrats. In the interview and recent statements, he highlights what he sees as damage from Trump's agenda to working families, farms, retailers, and more—while criticizing policies on tariffs, immigration enforcement, and broader governance. He portrays the current administration in strong language, calling out tones of political violence and authoritarian tendencies.
[VIDEO] CBS News had broadcast this debate (and aired on all the major news networks) between US Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN).
Unlike the debate last month between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris I will show this one today. That debate will come later.
This wasn't a particularly exciting debate, but I didn't detect any attacks or even any baits between these two candidates. There were some common ground seen between these two men, especially when on some issues there were a stark divide.
Both men by my eyes came off very well. I'm not so sure about Gov. Walz but then again I have no real issues with Sen. Vance. I'm glad to see Vance would be supportive of Walz if he gets elected. Hopefully Walz would do they same.
What was noted by some pundits and by my eyes Walz seemed very nervous. I would day say for me Walz at times seemed to have the "deer in headlights" look. Some will say he didn't belong on that stage, and well who am I to judge as I'm not up there. And nor is anyone else saying that although many of them are on TV and I'm not.
What I would say is that both VP Harris and Gov. Walz come from states that are most favorable to them as far as electoral process. Especially the Vice President. I don't know what the margin of victory for Walz in his elections for the Governor of Minnesota, however, that state is considered a solid blue state so who knows being on that national stage for a debate might be new territory for him.
I didn't see this debate from the beginning, missed out on the main event for NXT on The CW network (not a major network). So there were some portions of the debate that was missed but I'm glad I saw it.
[VIDEO] The Republican Nat'l Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin wrapped with Trump's Thursday nite speech accepting his party's nomination for the presidency.
Having watched this speech he mentioned the assassination attempt in Butler Township, Pennsylvania in addition to his many accomplishments as President including securing the border. He made hardly any mention of the incumbent President other than some of his opponents failures in office.
This is a pretty long acceptance speech which was about an hour and one-half. Any thoughts on Trump's Thursday nite speech?
[VIDEO] US Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks on Wednesday nite at the Republican Nat'l Convention in Milwaukee, WI. He's former Pres. Donald Trump's choice for a VP running mate which he announced on Monday. We seem him speak to a nat'l audience in prime time last nite.
A 36 min speech airing which showed without interruption and without commentary on C-Span.
[VIDEO] Time to re-activate the Shedd School of Pol. Sci.
The GOP Nat'l Convention is this week in Milwaukee, WI and we got the excitement of former President Trump - oh and remember he had just narrowly survived an assassination attempt on Saturday - making his pick for a VP running mate. His pick is freshman Republican US Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio who has been in his seat since 2023.
I know he made the rounds on FOX News and remember him making a number of appearances on the program of one Tucker Carlson before he had been released from that network. There are some dredging up his "anti-Trump" rhetoric from the past. However, he has often been painted as a "populist" sort of like Trump himself. Especially the 2016 campaign was viewed as a populist campaign.
Some other interesting facts about Vance. He's currently only 39 years old born in 1984. He also currently sports a beard. The last president to have any facial hair - beard or mustache at least - was William Howard Taft. Although I can't say the last V.P. to have any facial hair, have to do some research on this.
Thus as you see Mr. Beat above in a live stream point this out, he's the first "millennial" V.P. candidate. And time will tell how the public will further view Sen. Vance once he hits the campaign trail.
[VIDEO] I didn't know this but yesterday was election day in Kentucky. They have their own statewide elections in off years - neither midterm nor presidential years. So last night Republicans voted in a primary an elected their Attorney General Daniel Cameron as their nominee for Kentucky Governor.
Above from a Kentucky TV station is Cameron's victory speech. You may know Cameron from his findings with regards to those police officers who were involved in the tragic death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky during a raid back in 2020.
Also last year I heralded that three Black Republicans were running for Governor last year. In our state - Illinois - Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin who had a significant financial advantage being backed by billionaire Ken Griffin was edged out by nominee Darren Bailey in last year's Republican primary. In Michigan the former Detroit Police Chief James Craig was knocked off the ballot. In Georgia, former state Representative Vernon Jones actually withdrew from the Governor's race to instead make an unsuccessful run for U.S. Congress.
I'd be curious to see how Daniel Cameron will fare against incumbent Kentucky Governor Andy Breshear in November of this year.
Meanwhile there is currently one sitting Black Governor in America who was elected in the 2022 midterms, Democrat Wes Moore in Maryland.
I don't think Illinois has heard much from the previous Governor a man by the name of Bruce Rauner. In 2018 he lost his bid for re-election to our current Governor J.B. Pritzker. If you read these two posts from this year regarding any interviews Rauner has given he has a different idea of his accomplishments as Governor.
Problem is that in my view and the views of many others has been of being very ineffective. Gov. Pritzker I may not agree with his many policies especially his pandemic policies but he's been a far more effective Governor as of late. Especially as far as bad luck with a couple of governors. His one defeat has been as far as trying to change the income tax structure of this state.
During last year's Presidential Race a referendum was on the ballot that would change the state's constitution to allow for a graduated income tax. The state's income tax is currently a flat tax and if it wasn't the pandemic economy I do think this amendment probably would've passed. It didn't and this was one major defeat for the Governor and so far I doubt that any candidate in the growing Republican field can defeat the Democrat Pritzker.
BTW, a new candidate a venture capitalist who's firm reputedly is based in San Francisco has joined the race. And he has to answer charges of being from San Francisco although he's from downstate Illinois.
Regardless I wanted to share one interview former Gov. Rauner had with Dartmouth Alumni Magazine discussing how he would run for office again. This other one that came out recently I haven't had the chance to listen to it however he blames then President Trump for his loss to Pritzker in '18 and paints himself as a guy who wanted to make things better.
After his electoral defeat Rauner has since moved to Florida and even has donated money to the campaign of future Republican superstar Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. It was even reported that Rauner has allowed his voter registration in Illinois to lapse. And still says people have asked him to run for various offices in a variety of locations.
Well good luck to our former Governor. In his case, just as many of us had to learn how to do our jobs it's probably time he learns about politics.
Allow me to start with this video from WTVP a PBS affiliate for Peoria/Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. It shows the old state capitol which according to this vid has connections to two future presidents. It's not a very difficult guess for one of them. Also bear in mind the old state capitol of Illinois is connected with the 44th POTUS Barack Obama who announced his candidacy for the Presidency there in 2007.
[VIDEO] It's been a while since I took on regularly the issues of education. It's not a very huge passion of mine anymore and since I've really have little interest in becoming a part of this establishment. Whenever I write about this subject my conclusion is that there needs to be some changes that hopefully will benefit the students and their families.
With this said I've been a public school student, obviously, I've attended Bennett/Shedd and moved on to Harlan Community Academy - GO FALCONS. Also I've attended one of the City Colleges of Chicago another public education system. I have few regrets about them other than having never taken advantage of the many opportunities that exists within those systems. It's a bad habit of mine admittedly.
So today I share with you this John Stossel video, Stossel a longtime journalist who's worked for ABC News and FOX News evolved from a consumer advocate reporter to one with a libertarian bent. This is one of the issues he's tackled and in the video you see above shows how the public education system in America needs some serious changes.
When I graduated from 8th grade my teacher at the time lamented that we'd better hope Republicans don't get elected because they'll cut public education. My naive mind may have believed that, however, also in naive mind the question arose - why do Republicans want to cut public education?
A few years ago a debate raged in Chicago, why are we closing under-performing and underutilized schools in primarily minority (Black and Latino) communities? While arguments raged from now young students will have to traverse more gang territory to get to school it was also understood that the Chicago Public Schools couldn't afford to keep these schools open any longer. We've just reached another thing that has been said with regards to public education - they always need more money.
Recently it was in the news that from the city of Chicago, CPS needs another $269 million for its $5.7 billion budget. So public education in Chicago remains for whatever reason cash strapped.
