Friday, March 2, 2018

“The Advantage Goes to Pritzker”

Chicago, IL – At the fourth Democratic gubernatorial debate, JB Pritzker laid out his detailed plans to bring real change to Illinois while holding his opponents accountable for rhetoric that doesn’t match their records and taking Bruce Rauner to task for his damage to Illinois. Here’s what Illinoisans are reading and seeing in the news about the WBEZ/Politico/IOP debate:

From WGN:

From WMAQ:

From WBBM:

From Chicago Sun-Times:

State Sen. Daniel Biss – who promises to be the “Middle Class Governor” in ads running throughout the state — endured a “The Price is Right” question Thursday night at a gubernatorial forum in Chicago.

And he didn’t quite pass the test.

Biss, D-Evanston, was asked by WBEZ reporter Dave McKinney what the full price of a monthly CTA pass is during a lightning round of questions to test the six Democratic candidates on their knowledge of prices regular voters pay in everyday expenditures.

“This campaign has been framed as a battle for the heart of middle and low-income voters, and since that’s the case, we’re going to do a simple test to see how connected each of you is to average Illinoisans,” McKinney said.

Biss’s response?

“A monthly CTA pass. Now, let’s see. My Metra pass now comes pretty close to $50 a month. So A monthly CTA pass I would guess is probably around $35.”

The actual cost is $105, according to the CTA’s website.

From NBC 5 Chicago:

With JB Pritzker leading in the polls, the others were looking for that breakout moment.

Pritzker was ready with attacks Thursday night’s debate as well.

So, who won Thursday night? Kennedy’s performance was more focused but no knock out punch. Pritzker still has the advantage. […]

Pritzker questioned Kennedy’s leadership as chairman of the the University of Illinois board of directors.

“Well it’s kind of ironic that Mr. Kennedy is raising the issue of universities,” Pritzker said. “He raised tuition five times when he was the chairman of the University of Illinois.”

From WGN:

At a gubernatorial forum for Democratic candidates Thursday at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, Daniel Biss and Chris Kennedy came out swinging, looking to mix it up with JB Pritzker, but Pritzker also showed up ready to fight.

Right out of the gate, JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy, both wealthy businessmen, fought over who’s created the most jobs. Later, Pritzker attacked Kennedy for voting to raise tuition as Chair of the Board at the University of Illinois. […]

Pritzker also attacked State Senator Daniel Biss, saying he hasn’t stood up enough for the middle class. […]

This week, Pritzker is highlighting late endorsements from Chicago newspapers, unions and suburban mayors. 

From CBS 2 Chicago:

This week has also been the biggest drive for new gun laws Springfield has seen in years. The candidates offered their solution to gun violence in Chicago: […]

“I want to ban bump stocks, I want to ban assault weapons, I want to ban high capacity magazines,” Pritzker. […]

Candidates were also asked about the cost of everyday items to test how relatable they were. Sen. Biss said the cost of a monthly CTA pass was $35 when, in reality, it’s $105.

From Capitol Fax:

* As of yesterday at noon, Chris Kennedy’s campaign said that it had not yet conducted sexual harassment training for its campaign workers. As you know, Kennedy made a big media splash with his own proposal to combat sexual harassment in Illinois politics. That plan requires “sexual harassment training by a third party provider.”

Yesterday at noon, a Kennedy spokesperson claimed the campaign is “bringing in an outside expert to lead sexual harassment training for our campaign staff.”

At tonight’s WBEZ debate, Kennedy said “everyone has to go through sexual harassment training in our campaign.” Click here for a video clip.

* From the Pritzker campaign’s live debate reality check e-mails…

REALITY CHECK: Chris Kennedy Lies About His Campaign’s Sexual Harassment Training

Tonight, Chris Kennedy claimed that his campaign staff have received sexual harassment training, but just yesterday the Kennedy campaign admitted it had failed to hold such a training. The Kennedy campaign needs to tell voters the truth.

From Chicago Maroon:

Pritzker attacked Kennedy for his proposal, citing Kennedy’s previous actions as Chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois, which resulted in increased tuition and forced many students to seek education out of state. […]

Pritzker…said he firmly believed that the state can negotiate in areas like federal aid. “States fought the federal government when it came to saving Obamacare, and we can fight it to save student aid programs too,” Pritzker said. 

In an interview with reporters after the debate, the candidates largely criticized their opponents’ views and past actions, but also voiced their other plans if they are elected. Pritzker promised to unite Illinois residents and to get them more involved in the state’s affairs.  

“Many ventures like 1871 [a digital startup incubator that Pritzker helped found], which helped build Chicago’s digital startup community, came from getting people’s ideas together, and as a governor I will get people from all walks together and build upon their ideas,” Pritzker said during the conference. 

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