Topspin Democratic attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul has launched a new TV ad in which he attacks former Gov. Pat Quinn's tenure as the state's chief executive. The 30-second spot began airing in the Chicago market Tuesday. It features black-and-white images of Quinn accompanied by headlines referencing various controversies in his administration, including a patronage hiring scandal at the Illinois Department of Transportation. "Quinn failed as governor, why would we make him attorney general?" the narrator asks. With eight Democrats vying in the March 20 primary for the right to try to succeed Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the race has become an effort to defeat Quinn, who enjoys wide name recognition from his decades in state politics. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Sharon Fairley called on Raoul to return campaign contributions from Senate President John Cullerton. Fairley took issue with Cullerton's financial support for state Sen. Ira Silverstein, who was cleared of sexual harassment allegations by the legislative inspector general but was found to have behaved in conduct "unbecoming of a legislator." "If elected, Senator Raoul would be indebted to one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois on Day One of his administration," Fairley said in a statement. Fairley helped establish the city's new Civilian Office of Police Accountability, an agency created in response to the scandal surrounding the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer. A Raoul campaign spokesman dismissed the attack, noting Fairley has put more than $420,000 into the contest. "We're not going to take campaign finance advice from someone who has donated nearly a half-million dollars to her own campaign," said spokesman Ron Holmes. (Monique Garcia) What's on tap *Mayor Rahm Emanuel will make an announcement with AT&T in the morning. He'll attend a Jewel-Osco groundbreaking in Woodlawn and later speak at an Illinois Holocaust Museum event. *Gov. Bruce Rauner will speak at an AT&T event in Chicago and attend an Illinois Holocaust Museum awards dinner. *Ald. Ed Burke will be at the City Club of Chicago. Emanuel will give opening remarks. *The Illinois House is in session. From the notebook *Ives wants more rights for accusers: Rauner primary challenger state Rep. Jeanne Ives called for a vote on her proposal to expand protections for those who accuse a state lawmaker or employee of ethics violations. "We want this done now," Ives said at a Tuesday news conference in Springfield. "We don't want this to sit until the end of May. We want this bill out and on the floor and operable immediately." The bill says that legislative and executive inspectors general must give certain information to people filing complaints, including a receipt when a complaint is filed, notification of an investigation, a summary of evidence and a report of decisions made during an investigation. It also gives the accuser the right to testify at hearings and would expedite the process if allegations concern sexual harassment. Appearing with Ives was victims right advocate Denise Rotheimer, who in October publicly accused Sen. Silverstein of sexually harassing her through text and social media messages while she was working with him to pass legislation. "Currently, we have no rights," Rotheimer said. "We need to make this process transparent, we need to make it fair and as just as possible, because complaints like mine are very personal." (Bill Lukitsch) *Ads fly in IL-3: Both Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski and challenger Marie Newman are being targeted by negative ads bankrolled by outside groups leading up to the March 20 primary. Super PAC United for Progress said it will begin airing an ad Wednesday called "Don't Be Fooled" to assail Newman. The spot criticizes her for dropping out of a race for library board in LaGrange, and it raises health code violations at Mancini's Italian Bistro, an Oak Park restaurant she and her husband owned from 2014 to 2017. United for Progress spokesman Ryan Clancy said the new buy is for a few hundred thousand dollars of cable TV ads and the new expenditure would be reported Wednesday to the Federal Election Commission. Meanwhile, a group called Citizens for a Better Illinois 3 has been running ads against Lipinski. The spot opens with an unflattering photo of Lipinski next to a picture of Republican President Donald Trump. The ad says Lipinski opposes marriage equality and has pushed to allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. "It's not Trump. It's your congressman, Dan Lipinski," the ad's narrator says. Lipinski is in his seventh term holding the 3rd Congressional District seat, which takes in a swath of the Southwest Side bungalow belt and dips deep into the south and southwest suburbs. Newman's challenge has drawn national attention. (Katherine Skiba) What we're writing *Speaker Madigan warns House Democrats to keep relationships with staff "strictly professional." *Kennedy wants Illinois to pull pension investments from gun companies. *Emanuel administration sues top drug distributors over opioid crisis. *Demolition of Lakeview buildings to begin this week for CTA "flyover" project. What we're reading *"Diabolical genius" given 25 years in prison for carrying out massive fraud, trying to flee to Ecuador *Chicago rock station WLUP to switch formats to Christian music Saturday under new owners. *Actor Michael Shannon watched his movie win an Oscar on a bar TV at the Old Town Ale House. Follow the money *Democratic governor candidate Chris Kennedy reported $164,400 in contributions, including a $50,000 check from attorney Myron Cherry. *Asset manager Fritz Kaegi reported putting an additional $250,000 into his campaign for Cook County assessor, bringing his self-funding total to $1.55 million. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *Trump economic adviser quits. *Democrats challenge Sen. Ted Cruz. *Investigator says Conway violated Hatch Act. *South Korea says North Korea willing to talk about getting rid of nukes. |
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