Topspin One day after calling for bipartisanship in his State of the State address, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner returned to bashing Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan during a stop in southern Illinois. The governor's appearance at packaging manufacturer Com-Pac International was billed as a recap of his speech, but it turned into more of a campaign pitch as he seeks a second term. He sought to tap into regional politics, pitting the more conservative and rural Downstate communities against the more liberal Chicago. "Mike Madigan's been in power over you guys for 35 years. He's run your property taxes up. He's pushed companies out of the state like Com-Pac. He's made corruption rampant through the state of Illinois," Rauner said. "He needs to get out as speaker." Rauner then made a familiar pitch, asking employees to make sure their legislators won't support Madigan for another term as speaker of the House. "Now, you cannot elect him because he's elected on the Southwest Side of Chicago, you can't vote him out of office. But your legislators can," Madigan said. He repeated the call during a second stop at automotive technology company Vibracoustic USA in Carmi, while also calling for term limits on lawmakers. For his part, Madigan has accused Rauner of blaming others "instead of being the leader he was elected to be." "For the good of our state, maybe it's better the governor continue sitting on the sidelines and pretend he is 'not in charge,'" Madigan said in a statement released after Wednesday's speech. That's a reference to a comment Rauner made in December in which he said Madigan is in charge of the state, but he's "trying to get to be in charge." The statement has dogged Rauner ever since and has even been put to use by Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, who is challenging the governor in the March Republican primary election. (Monique Garcia) What's on tap *Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be at Wintrust Arena to announce the WNBA's Chicago Sky will play home games there. *Gov. Rauner continues his post-State of the State tour with stops in Decatur and Rock Island. *Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker will start a four-day bus tour, with stops in Bloomington, Champaign, Monticello and Clinton. *Democratic governor candidate state Sen. Daniel Biss will do meet-and-greets at Roosevelt University in Chicago and the University of Chicago. *The SEIU Illinois State Council make an announcement in the primary battle between Democrats U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski of Western Springs and Marie Newman of La Grange. The union is holding a morning news conference in Chicago. *The Chicago Electoral Board will have a morning hearing on Democratic state Sen. Ira Silverstein's ongoing attempt to stay on the March primary ballot. A hearing officer will report Silverstein has four more signatures than the 1,000 he needs to run. Either side can challenge the board's decision in court. *Republican attorney general candidate Gary Grasso will hold a news conference to call on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Cook County's flawed property tax system. *Little more than an hour before the previous presser, Bob Fioretti, a Cook County Board president challenger, will hold a news conference to ask where a study of the county property tax system is. He'll be joined by Andrea Raila, who is running for county assessor but fighting to stay on the ballot. They're jumping on this Tribune/ProPublica Illinois story. From the notebook *Fundraising in IL-10: Republican Sapan Shah of Libertyville started the year with $602,000 in his campaign fund after campaign receipts of $647,000 in 2017, including $200,000 the congressional hopeful gave his campaign, according to new FEC reports. He's one of three Republicans running to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider in the north suburban 10th Congressional District. Republican Jeremy Wynes of Highland Park reported about $217,000 in his war chest after receipts of $331,000 in 2017, including $2,700 he gave his campaign. A full-time candidate, he formerly served as Midwest director for the Republican Jewish Coalition and previously directed the Chicago office of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. And Republican Douglas Bennett of Deerfield reported almost $102,000 in cash after receipts of about $145,000 in 2017, including a loan of $115,600 he made to his campaign. He formerly worked for Oracle and is an independent consultant providing Fortune 500 companies with technology solutions, his spokesman said. Schneider, meanwhile, opened the year with nearly $1.79 million in his treasury after raising $2.55 million since he won election in 2016. He took in about $564,000 during the last quarter of 2017. (Katherine Skiba) *IL-4 fundraising totals: And now a quick look at who has campaign money in the abbreviated race to replace U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez in Congress. In the bank at the beginning of the year: Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia had about $163,000, community activist Sol Flores had about $78,000 and Chicago police Sgt. Richard Gonzalez had about $5,000. What we're writing *State Rep. Jeanne Ives cancels fundraising speech by pundit who says whites superior to blacks. *Pritzker launches first attack ad against Biss -- not Kennedy. *Quigley: Trump's White House wants memo released because they're "freaked out" over Mueller probe.
*Illinois Supreme Court finds state gun ban near parks unconstitutional. *ICE detains man at traffic court after DACA status expires, then frees him after outcry. *As March primary nears, study on Cook County property tax system still under wraps. *Lawyers for cop charged in Laquan McDonald shooting subpoena newspapers. *On day of Metra fare hike, online tickets don't work. What we're reading *Will driverless cars mean the end of the road for the Chicago Auto Show? *Suspected bomb at Merrionette Park shopping center turns out to be potato chip can. *Wrigley sues over vape flavor names it calls "confusingly similar" to Skittles and Starburst. Follow the money *Late Thursday night, Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker reported putting another $7 million into his campaign fund. That brings him to more than $49 million total. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *Trump expected to approve releasing Republican memo. *The Republican National Committee has far more campaign cash than its Democratic counterpart. *Ryan to try again on entitlement changes. *Polar bears lose weight as Arctic ice melts. | 
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