In the 2022 primary on Tuesday, three contests will serve up intriguing insights on the state of democracy in the Prairie State. Two provide fresh twists on the ever-present topic of money in politics, and a third will give us the latest litmus test for former President Donald Trump’s ability to influence elections.
To an unusual degree, Democrats nationally this year are taking the risky step of spending money in Republican primary races trying to push Republicans they think they can beat in the fall. It’s also happening in Illinois.
And it’s taking place in the most high-profile race, the so-called battle of the billionaires between two of the state’s wealthiest people. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Citadel founder Ken Griffin, a Republican, are squaring off over control of the Governor’s Mansion.
Pritzker is injecting himself directly into the Republican primary, apparently in an effort to thwart the chances of Griffin’s candidate, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, to take him on in November. Together with the Democratic Governors Association, they’re reportedly spending upward of $30 million on the Republican primary in hopes that conservative state Sen. Darren Bailey will be Pritzker’s opponent in November.
Ads they are buying seem to condemn Bailey, of downstate Xenia, while actually boosting his popularity among conservative voters. Bailey is “too conservative for Illinois,” one ad states. It then focuses on Bailey’s opposition to abortion, support for gun rights and fealty to “the Trump agenda” — in other words, the sort of stances that many conservatives these days just can’t resist.
Meanwhile, the Democratic spending is seeking to weaken Irvin. One shows video of Irvin complimenting Pritzker, then asks of Irvin, “Why is he even running?”
Call it the “Game of Thrones” strategy, minus the dragons, sex and bloodshed. Call it, too, a calculated effort to manipulate the Republican primary outcome and smooth Pritzker’s path to reelection.
There is hand wringing among Democrats nationally that this recent trend of seeking to control Republican primaries could backfire. While it’s unlikely a candidate as conservative as Bailey could win in Illinois, if the midterms turn into a “red wave” election nationally, anything could happen.
And we voters have little choice but to stay tuned and vote, knowing the next four years of Illinois government hang in the balance.
The Illinois congressional races are providing their own unique dramas.
The one in the 1st District — also known as the race to succeed Bobby Rush after his three decades as congressman for the South Side district — puts a new twist on the issue of money in politics. In this case, cryptocurrency is the money in question.
Several crypto-backed political action committees are supporting Jonathan Jackson, son of legendary civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The younger Jackson apparently is a big believer in cryptocurrency, so much so that he lists “regulatory clarity (for) digital asset markets” at the top of a list of issues on his campaign website.
Surely, this has no connection to the fact Jackson has received more than $1 million in campaign contributions from those crypto-related PACs.
Yet, still. The Jackson name has pull. A new ad features Jonathan Jackson with his father.
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There are serious issues facing the district, but the Jackson name and the crypto backing are crowding out discussion of just about anything else.
And, finally, there is the political question of our time: Just how much pull does Trump have among today’s voters?
The race for the 15th Congressional District seat, in southern Illinois, seems likely to provide one data point.
Gerrymandering is partly responsible for the closely watched contest. The new 15th District lumbers from east of St. Louis to Indiana, then back again to Quincy, then north and south along the Mississippi River. The Democratic mapmakers drew the district in a way that ultimately pitted two sitting Republicans against each other, a sort of triage for the GOP.
One candidate, U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, made her name at a Washington rally the day before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. It was there that she said good things about Adolf Hitler.
Miller is up against a candidate she calls “RINO Rodney Davis.” All he is, is a five-term congressman with a battle-tested campaign track record, along with success attracting federal money to his district.
But in Miller’s telling, Davis is a Republican in name only. Proof positive: He once posed for a photo with U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the lead Republican on the Jan. 6 committee.
Trump is expected in downstate Illinois on Saturday for a live re-endorsement of Miller. Davis remains loyal to Trump, too, but Trump won’t anoint him in this election.
Illinois voters will have a chance to distill it all and give the nation the latest update on Trump’s current pull at the ballot box.
Our state faces serious issues, criminal violence, structural pension and debt issues, and a still crumbling infrastructure among them. Elections have consequences — for these concerns and many others. And in this year’s primary, in these particular races, it’s U.S. dollars, and Trump, and cryptocurrency that will help determine the result.
David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association.
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