Rich Miller

Last year, the Democratic Party of Illinois and Gov. JB Pritzker targeted local school board races to defeat candidates who wanted to ban books and/or were receiving support from right-wing political organizations. The governor ended up claiming victory in more than 70% of those campaigns. The push was unusual because the state’s Democratic Party, like […]

For months now, Statehouse types have been talking about whether there’s a need for a fall veto session this year. The session is scheduled to run the two weeks after the November election. As one person put it, veto sessions are for things that the governor and legislators “have to do.” But with no gubernatorial […]

As I’ve been telling Statehouse types for a long while, lobbyists and legislators need to be paying very close attention to what’s happening in the corruption trials relating to and involving former House Speaker Michael Madigan. For example, lots of folks rely on lawyers to help guide them through the Springfield swamp. Then-AT&T Illinois President […]

It’s been an open secret for weeks that at least some members of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s intergovernmental affairs staff would be leaving after the Democratic National Convention, including its director, Sydney Holman. That happened last week. Holman quit and two others were forced out of the IGA office, which liaisons with both the city […]

“It seems crazy, but it’s true that when I serve out the end of this second term, I will be the longest-serving Democratic governor in the history of Illinois,” Gov. JB Pritzker said last month during the Democratic National Convention. I looked it up and it’s true. Pat Quinn served about six years as governor, […]

Several stories and columns appeared in the national news media shortly before and during the recent Democratic National Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris’ emphasis on the concept of “freedom” in her speeches and messaging. Convention delegates in Chicago hoisted signs with the word “Freedom” on them all week. Oprah Winfrey even talked about freedom […]

Since the 2022 election, far too many Illinoisans have been far too eager to pine for a repeat of the past. It started with non-stop rumors about Gov. JB Pritzker running for president. Every word he spoke, every position he took, every out-of-state trip he made was examined for signs of what everybody thought they […]

Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch has said he thinks he can flip somewhere between four and six Republican-held House districts to Democratic control, upping his super-majority to between 82 and 84 seats, from his current 78. Which Republican districts are flippable? I talked with a high-level source close to Welch’s caucus who pointed to the […]

A Facebook post last week by state Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, created a stir, caused one of his fellow Democratic Senators to bow out of a planned joint fundraiser and, ultimately, the entire fundraiser was canceled. It’s all a good illustration of the ill-informed, rapid-fire insanity of our social media-fueled era. Sen. Preston posted an […]

“I support Karina’s Law,” Gov. JB Pritzker emphatically told me. It’s the strongest statement he’s made about the bill, which stalled in the Senate last spring. The proposal would mandate that police remove firearms from a person who has been served with a domestic violence order of protection. But there still appear to be some […]

An oft-repeated $1.1 billion demand from Chicago’s mayor would actually wind up costing state taxpayers $5.5 billion. And Gov. JB Pritzker is turning a big thumbs down. Chicago Public Schools made the huge mistake of putting a ton of temporary federal pandemic aid into its permanent spending base for years and that money is just […]

A little-noticed bill passed both the Illinois House and Senate that will generate $300 to $400 million a year for local governments, including $95-127 million for the Regional Transportation Authority. The bill (SB3362) will help capture sales tax revenue from more out-of-state retailers and in-state retailers who ship to Illinoisans in out-of-state locations. The new […]