Democrat Rod Blagojevich flew a victory lap around Illinois Thursday, thanking voters for choosing him as the next governor and dismissing warnings from Republicans that Democrats will raise taxes once they take office in January.
Buoyant after becoming the first Democrat to win the state’s top job in three decades, Blagojevich started cobbling together a transition team led by his senior campaign adviser, David Wilhelm. But he already finds himself fending off questions about how he would handle a budget gap that could reach $2.5 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
“I was very fervent in the campaign that we don’t want to raise taxes,” Blagojevich said. “That’s my position today.”
Blagojevich’s comments came in response to a prediction by outgoing Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale) that the new governor would soon have to break his promise to avoid tax increases in the face of a huge budget gap.
“He has promised everything to everybody,” Philip said. “He’s going to restore this. He’s going to do that. I don’t know where the money’s coming from.”
Republicans lost control of the Senate in Tuesday’s election for the term that begins in January. Philip, the longtime DuPage County powerhouse, said he planned to stay on as minority leader in the Senate when Democrats take over.
But while Philip said he has yet to decide whether he will complete his two-year term, he signaled he will not be silenced even though Democrats will control both houses of the General Assembly.
“They’ll have to wear the collar,” Philip said. “They’ll increase taxes. There’s no doubt about that. They’ll pass a lot of things that the average Illinoisans will not like, and I think it will be a great opportunity for us.”
Guiding Blagojevich into that minefield–and, as the governor-elect surely hopes, leaving him in a position to navigate it successfully–will be Wilhelm, a former head of the Democratic National Committee who brings experience working with Democratic personalities such as former President Bill Clinton and Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Blagojevich will be working with a lineup of Democratic leaders whose priorities have sometimes been at odds with his own.
Philip predicted Republicans would soon be remembered fondly if Democrats raise taxes after squabbling among themselves and refusing to cut programs and services.
Blagojevich told reporters Downstate that after his transition leadership was in place, a separate group would study ways to streamline government and cut waste.
Wilhelm, who is also the co-founder of Loop venture capital and political consulting firm Wilhelm & Conlon, is unlikely to remain with Blagojevich after he takes office, and Blagojevich has been coy about who else will play leadership roles on his transition team.
“We’re going to have all kinds of announcements on priorities as the days and weeks unfold,” Blagojevich kidded reporters from the Midway Airport tarmac before kicking off his Illinois victory lap. “If I told you everything now, you’d stop covering me.”
Even so, the reality may be that Blagojevich’s team is essentially in place.
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Three likely members of his team are state Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), who is credited with helping Blagojevich secure Downstate and labor support; spokesman/adviser Doug Scofield; and former Blagojevich congressional chief of staff John Wyma. They climbed into the twin-engine propeller plane behind the governor-elect for his Downstate fly-around Thursday.
Still unclear is how Blagojevich would fulfill his desire to include Republicans and independents on his transition team and in his administration.
Still, he campaigned on an endorsement from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, a business lobby typically friendly to Republican candidates that swung into Blagojevich’s camp last September largely on the encouragement of IRMA president David Vite.
IRMA vice president of government relations Rob Karr said that if anyone from the association would work on Blagojevich’s transition, it likely would be Vite.
Blagojevich also has a working relationship with Dan Burkhalter, the director of government relations for the occasionally Republican-leaning Illinois Education Association. Among the other names likely to figure highly in Blagojevich’s transition plans are steadfast supporter and state Sen. Carol Ronen (D-Chicago); campaign manager Lon Monk; and Louanner Peters, who handled Blagojevich’s African-American outreach during his campaign.
Walter Knorr–who resigned last March as Chicago’s chief financial officer but stayed on because of the city’s financial problems–has been mentioned as a possible Blagojevich budget chief. Knorr’s current boss, Daley, was general chairman of Blagojevich’s general election campaign. Daley spokesman Jacquelyn Heard said Friday will be Knorr’s last day with the city.
Others unlikely to join Blagojevich’s transition team, but still likely to have his ear, include state AFL-CIO President Margaret Blackshere and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.).
Blackshere’s support for Blagojevich kept his profile high among state Democrats in the primary, while Gutierrez came out early in his support for Blagojevich and taught him enough Spanish to woo Latino voters.
Another who will play a leading advisory role is U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill.), a key ally of Blagojevich’s on the Southwest Side. Blagojevich was more than an hour late for his statewide fly-around in part because he was on the phone with Lipinski, he said.
“We’re planning ahead,” Blagojevich said of the conversation.