Rich Miller

For the first time, a statewide poll has included state Sen. James Meeks in the gubernatorial mix, but the results are not yet encouraging for the potential third-party candidate. Meeks, an African-American minister and state legislator from Chicago, has been threatening to run for governor for the past several weeks. The poll, conducted by the […]

I’m not sure how long it will last, but black voters in Cook County are united and fired up right now in a way they haven’t been for a long time. It goes back to Barack Obama’s 2004 Democratic primary victory, but the flames were stoked again in January, when Chicago’s historic Pilgrim Baptist Church […]

Alexi Giannoulias has big trouble ahead. The wealthy and telegenic young candidate, who handily won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for state treasurer over downstater Paul Mangieri, has repeatedly claimed that his experience working at his family’s bank qualifies him to be state treasurer. But recent questions about some loans the bank made to an ex-mobster and […]

After reading the sworn statement by Marty Kovarik for the Jim Oberweis campaign last week, I came to the conclusion that his story has more holes in it than Dick Cheney’s hunting buddy. Kovarik was deputy treasurer to Judy Baar Topinka in 1995. Before that, he was her Senate-office chief of staff for several years. […]

Through his inept handling of a silly little matter last week, Gov. Rod Blagojevich managed to make a real mess of things at the Illinois Statehouse, pitting black legislators against Jewish legislators and Jews against each other. This all started back in August, when Blagojevich appointed members to his Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes. […]

It would have been almost unthinkable several months ago that if Gov. Rod Blagojevich had a Democratic challenger, he would emerge from the primary stronger than when he went in. The scandals are never-ending, his poll numbers suck, the discontent with his tenure is wide and deep, even among many in his own party. He […]

The Ron Gidwitz campaign had a stark warning for Judy Baar Topinka last week: “If you think this ad is tough, just wait.” Gidwitz, who is running for governor as a Republican, aired the first negative ad of the campaign last week, then dismissed Topinka’s rebuttals as mere whining and vowed that he would ignore any […]

The latest Chicago Tribune poll appears to track closely with recent polls conducted by two Republican statewide contenders. The poll found Judy Baar Topinka leading the GOP governor’s race with 38 percent, followed by Jim Oberweis at 17 percent, Ron Gidwitz finally breaking into double digits with 11 percent, and Bill Brady bringing up the rear […]

For years, the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois has been one of the most successful lobbies at the Statehouse. The victory that comes immediately to mind was when ABDI teamed up with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to prevent direct sales of out-of-state wine to consumers. The argument then was that underage kids could buy their […]

On pure style points, Jim Oberweis won last week’s Republican gubernatorial debate. His performance was Reaganesque. He had the Gipper’s head movements down pat, but also his forthrightness and optimism, his overly simplistic solutions, and the classic use of a real person to make a very good point (a trucking-company owner who promised to move […]

Democratic gubernatorial challenger Edwin Eisendrath has been using some startling poll results to recruit his top staff, and the numbers appear encouraging. But the big question — how much money he will spend — has not been answered. Eisendrath commissioned a benchmark poll in November. His pollster is Dave Fako, founder of Fako & Associates. […]

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that John Wyma is lobbying for GTECH. The Illinois Lottery contractor will most likely operate the state’s proposed keno network. Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to put electronic keno gambling games in 2,000 taverns and restaurants to help fund a construction plan for schools. Wyma was the governor’s chief of […]