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Fair season. Illinois politicians stumped at the Illinois State Fair this week. Noticeably absent from Democratic Party gatherings was embattled House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.

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Cash-strapped. Illinois Tollway board members ushered in major — ongoing — toll hikes this week. Separately, the governor has made it clear that demands for millions and millions of extra cash for Chicago schools aren’t in the cards.

DSA gator. In deep red Florida, Democratic Socialists of America candidate Angie Nixon defeated the establishment in her race for the U.S. Senate.

  1. “If you’d like, I can pull the pockets out of my trousers to show you that the state does not have the dollars that are just laying around. And so the question is: Where can we find those dollars?” — Gov. JB Pritzker responding to demands for more money for Chicago Public Schools
  2. “It brings to mind what happened when we reported on House Speaker Mike Madigan’s political machine. He subpoenaed members of our team after we released a documentary exposing his abuse of power. It was a bullying tactic meant to divert attention. The judge rejected his effort.” — Illinois Policy Institute in response to a Chicago Teachers Union lawsuit 
  3. “Don’t toy with Illinois.” — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul 
  4. “These unions could be disagreeing on who should lead the school board because they’re also disagreeing on who the next mayor of the city of Chicago should be and they feel the two positions should be aligned.” — University of Illinois professor Robert Bruno on SEIU, CTU and Operating Engineers Local 150 backing competing Chicago school board president candidates
  5. “We have proved that everyday people are more powerful than corporations and billionaires. We went up against the political establishment, against millions of dollars of outside spending — we were outspent 16 to 1, and we won. This win was for the little guys and girls.” — Florida state lawmaker and democratic socialist Angie Nixon in victory remarks after securing the Democratic Senate nomination in Florida
  6. “I disagree with my mom, cousins, aunties and friends. Why do we treat lack of total alignment as a bad thing?” — State Rep. Marcus Evans Jr. on Democratic Party unity