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April 22, 2008
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
From the Trib:
•6th District: Freshman Republican Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton had $967,286 left while Democratic challenger Jill Morgenthaler of Des Plaines had $127,304.
•10th District: Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park had $2.2 million after raising $627,000 since mid-January, while Democratic challenger Dan Seals had $745,000 left after collecting about $513,000.
•11th District: Democratic state Sen. Debbie Halvorson of Crete said she raised more than $581,000 and had nearly $682,000 left. The Republicans are looking for a replacement candidate for the seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Weller.
•13th District: Republican Rep. Judy Biggert of Hinsdale reported $511,741 left while Democratic challenger Scott Harper of Lockport had $103,463.
•14th District: Newly-elected Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Geneva had $262,939 compared with $132,717 for Republican Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove.
At this point in the race, Seals is running incredibly strong and while any challenger will have a cash-on-hand deficit, this is going to be a full out fight with the DCCC and the RNCC (if it has any money) come November.
Halvorson is off to a good start and Harper seems to be doing better than last cycle (I haven’t checked, but he does seem to be running a stronger campaign this time). Morgenthaller is falling flat, probably due to her general right wing stance on the war and civil liberties.
Comment (1)
February 22, 2008
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
It’s not just that they attack each other over everything, they just have candidates who seem to be oblivious:
New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann, whose campaign was dogged by fundraising woes, didn’t gain much momentum in his campaign to succeed Weller in the GOP-leaning exurban Chicago district.
Leading Republicans in House leadership gave money to Baldermann’s campaign, but he never was able to garner much financial support from individual contributors.
Baldermann told his local newspaper last month that he had “done very little fundraising,” raising concerns among the party establishment.
“I have done very little fundraising. It makes me sick to my stomach. My campaign people gave me a list of people who gave money to [Weller]. I told them, ‘If you think I’m going to call somebody who’s never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that’s insane.’ I fight with them every single day over it,” Baldermann told the Southtown Star newspaper in January.
‘If you think I’m going to call somebody who’s never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that’s insane’
I think it’s insane to run for Congress and not think you are going to do that. Apparently the turnip truck dumped him at Jerry Weller’s door?
You could see this coming:
* This is not good news for Republicans hoping to hold onto retiring Congressman Jerry Weller’s seat…
“I have done very little fundraising,” [GOP candidate Tim Baldermann] said. “It makes me sick to my stomach. My campaign people gave me a list of people who gave money to (Weller). I told them, ‘If you think I’m going to call somebody who’s never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that’s insane.’ I fight with them every single day over it.
“They wanted my Christmas card list. I’m not doing that stuff. I refuse to do it. The Republican Party wanted me to run; the Republican Party should help fund my campaign.”
So, he’s only gonna raise money from people he knows, except he won’t even do that? Yeah, that’ll work out well.
Campaigning is not a pretty business, but there are things that just have to be done unless you’re wealthy. Cold calls, putting the arm on friends and family are all necessary if you want to compete in a game where contributions are capped and the competition is stiff.
Debbie Halvorson and the Democrats must’ve smiled broadly when they read that passage. [See update below.]
=======
*** UPDATE *** A representative from Tim Baldermann’s campaign just called. I was assured that while Baldermann doesn’t love fundraising he is diligently making calls and doing what it takes.
Just thought I’d let you know.
No one enjoys fundraising, but most people kind of understand it goes with the process.
To add to the fun, The Hill has this:
One source said Baldermann was disappointed with the amount of fundraising support he was getting from the party.
The Party? You mean the Party that has a broke House Campaign Committee?
Currently the net Cash on Hand minus Debts for the NRCC is around $4 million and the DCCC has about $30 million. Let’s make this clear to the GOP candidates for the House–you are on your own. Just suck it up and deal. On top of this the number of Republican retirements is huge leaving a ton of Districts with open seats such as Illinois 11.
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September 19, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
Everyone has been coy for a few days about a lot of weird signals, but Kristen McQueary put them all together and Rich confirms them today.
If U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller runs for re-election, he may face two feisty gals: Debbie and Emily.
Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete) is considering running for the 11th District congressional seat, in part because of hot pursuit from Emily’s List, a prominent fundraising group in Washington, D.C., that supports pro-choice Democratic women. Halvorson is meeting with Emily’s List recruiters this month to discuss a possible congressional bid.
Rumors are circulating that Weller may decide against another term, particularly in light of the bad press he is receiving over his Guatemalan financial interests. Phone calls, I’m told, have been made to his top donors indicating he may be preparing to “hang it up.” His family, after all, lives in Guatemala. That’s a long commute.
Halvorson, meanwhile, is halfway through her current term. She could challenge Weller or any GOP hopeful without giving up her Senate position. The question for Halvorson is: Does she want it?
“I don’t know if I want to be one person out of 435,” she said Tuesday. “Compared to, possibly, being the first-ever woman Senate president, I don’t know. It’s a big decision.”
Weller still has time to pass petitions, but it’s odd that he isn’t yet. Given he is now in the minority and has not done well advancing within the Party, he may well opt out.
And while no top tier or even second tier opposition is for sure, getting named to CREW’s list of most corrupt members of Congress doesn’t help.
The subpoena is less of a big deal, though it does add to the noise. Most likely the subpoenas are fishing expeditions, though it could theoretically expose widespread problems in the appropriations process. I would expect the subpoenas to be quashed though and so don’t expect that to be anything. I think it is safe to say, he’s making the Illinois GOP nervous.
On the other hand:
Run, Debbie, Run.
Via Faithfully Liberal
From the Almanac of American Politics:
| 2004 Presidential Vote |
| Bush (R) |
162,779 |
(53%) |
| Kerry (D) |
140,619 |
(46%) |
Pavich came in at 45% of the vote with a fairly low spending campaign. Halvorson should enter the race with a money advantage over any Republican candidate given the RNCC is not raising much and is playing defense in a number of districts. Retirements are high this cycle and there won’t be enough money to go around. On the other hand DCCC is raising a ton as is EMILY’s List and Halvorson can fundraise on her own. Once you have the District, there is only one cycle left under the current map and the new maps will likely be created to help Democrats. This might well be a good reason to retire for Weller as well since he has few protectors amongst the Republican establishment to try and carve out a safe District with what little capital Republicans will have for the remap.
Comment (1)
September 17, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
I guess it makes sense, the announced opposition is underwhelming.
Right now there appears to not be a serious candidate who can take on Weller, but letting these issues just swim around in the press in a very, very bad Republican year isn’t wise.
From the Trib article:
Instead, Weller issued an e-mail statement through a spokesman: “Mrs. Weller is often asked to play a role in improving rural health care and fighting poverty in her native country. Friends encouraged her to set up this type of organization for this purpose. The congressman thought it was a good idea too.”
So thoughtful of her after attempting to return her father to power after he did the following to the country’s rural people:
The former dictator, who governed Guatemala from March 1982 to August 1983, is facing legal action in Guatemala for human rights crimes committed during his time in office, considered the bloodiest period of the 1960-1996 armed conflict that left more than 200,000 — mainly rural indigenous people — dead, including 50,000 victims of forced disappearance.
She didn’t just try to return him to power, her father was on the ballot with her again as a candidate for the National Assembly and won. She will serve her next term with her father because as a member of the Guatemalan Congress, he has immunity from civil and criminal accountability for his crimes. And Jerry Weller was down in Guatemala helping.
Isn’t the fact that a Member of the US Congress was working to gain a legislative seat for a genocidal dictator enough to be a scandal? Yeah, I know…
Comments (2)
September 12, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
As I pointed out, Jerry Weller is back and so he can comment on the Tribune investigation on his financial disclosures regarding Nicaraguan properties.
He’s not talking.
Impressive arrogance.
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September 07, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
Another interesting tidbit from the Chicago Tribune:
When asked about the discrepancies, Weller’s office first insisted that questions be given to the congressman in writing. After a week passed with no response to the written questions, The Tribune requested to talk to Weller in person. On Thursday afternoon, Weller’s spokesman said he would not answer questions and had no comment.
The congressman missed all recorded House votes in Washington this week. His spokesman said he was out of the city, caring for his 1-year-old daughter.
I’m generally sympathetic to the effort it takes to care for a 1-year-old daughter, but doesn’t he have a cell phone? I’m sure the Trib is happy to talk to him over a little crying and giggling.
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September 07, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
Jerry Weller story in the Trib:
Uneasy fit within GOP caucus
Weller’s emergence as a real estate developer near the booming beach resort just north of the Costa Rican border is another step in the political and personal migration by the one-time University of Illinois agriculture major who grew up on a hog farm.
Elected to Congress as part of the Republican landslide in 1994, Weller has been an uneasy fit within the Republican caucus. He has lost numerous intraparty races for leadership posts, and has never achieved the high profile he hoped for when he arrived in Washington.
Increasingly, Weller has focused on international issues, notably in Latin America, a region that has come to dominate his personal life and his private business dealings.
In January 2002, Weller made his first government-paid trip to the region, including a stop in Nicaragua to attend the inauguration of newly elected President Enrique Bolanos. In November 2004, Weller married Zury Rios Sosa, a member of the Guatemalan Congress and the daughter of Efrain Rios Montt, a general who ruled Guatemala in 1982-83, at the height of a brutal, nearly four-decade civil war during which an estimated 200,000 people were killed.
Between 2003 and 2006, Weller served on the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the International Relations Committee and quietly made himself into a go-to guy for interests seeking a conservative advocate on Latin American issues in the Republican-controlled House.
Cass Ballenger, a retired North Carolina Republican representative, claimed credit in a recent interview for helping to guide Weller’s career.
Ballenger, who headed the Western Hemisphere panel, said he told Weller, “If you want to get on some codels [taxpayer-funded overseas congressional travel] you ought to get on this committee. It’s something legal where you can live like a king.”
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September 07, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
From National Journal’s Congress Daily
With President Bush taking 55 percent of the vote in the district in 2004, it’s not the most vulnerable Republican seat in the state –the district of GOP Rep. Mark Kirk owns that distinction. It’s not eventhe one with the fairest playing field, which falls to the district of GOP Rep. Jerry Weller. But the goings-on in Hastert’s 14th District will tell us how seriously we should take Democratic pickoff attempts in more-Republican leaning districts, like that of GOP Rep. Don Manzullo or the open contest for LaHood’s seat.
For Democrats, winning a seat like Hastert’s isn’t a pie-in-the-sky proposition. First, the district represents suburban Chicago, and any northern suburban seat — especially an open one — should warrant attention.
But second, according to the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voter Index, the district has the same presidential performance as that of Reps. Dan Boren, D-Okla., Charlie Melancon, D-La., and Dennis Moore, D-Kan. All three sit in pretty rocky territory, but have managed to hold on for a couple of election cycles. So it’s possible for Democrats totake Hastert’s seat, but it will be an uphill climb.
Three Democrats are vying for the nomination: 2006 nominee John Laesch, attorney Jotham Stein and scientist and businessman Bill Foster. Laesch spent nearly $300,000 in 2006 in an effort to defeat Hastert, but took only 40 percent of the vote. For this contest, Stein has raised $73,000 and Laesch only $13,000.
So far, Foster has been fundraising and acting like a frontrunner. He has raised more than $130,000 and some Democrats believe Foster’s background as a scientist will help in an environment that is looking for change.
Until 2006, Foster worked as a scientist for Fermilab, a Batavia company that employs nearly 2,500 people. The company is well-known throughout the district, and campaign manager Tom Bowen said it gives Foster a base of support he normally would lack since he hasn’t been on the ballot before. Foster plans to spend $1 million in the primary, and he appears to hold a strong position heading into that contest.
The reason panic is setting in with activists and party regulars in Districts like these is that the scope of the problems on messaging are starting to hit home. The war and the President are only supported by about 30 percent of the public so even in a +5 Republican District such as this (IL-8 is more Republican), the sentiment against the war is strong and the Republican primaries are virtually guaranteeing a candidate who supports Bush’s policies or thinks they are too liberal.
That’s why many Republicans are starting to refer to 1974, the post-Watergate election that resulted in huge losses for Republicans.
Read the rest of this entry »
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February 07, 2007
By: ArchPundit
Category: Uncategorized
Since the beginning of January I’ve been following the different attacks on Obama. They have something in common in that they start as rumors on the great internets. I’m the last person to say the internet isn’t useful for information, but the problem is that the stories start and then migrate.
Eric Zorn at one point said something to the effect that it isn’t 1997–but in 1997 this had already been occurring for several years, just with different technology and it was a bit slower. The Elder Bush having an affair. Clinton doing just about everything and anything.
Already this crap started to infiltrate the regular news media. Now, it happens really fast–take the Obama’s church advocates black supremacy. I found it in late December and posted it on January 2nd pointing out how incredibly dumb the story was, but that it would be the next story after the madrassa lies.
Some of it is simply decentralized crap–I take my Jerry Weller story as that and still feel like a huge dumbass for it. But I apologized, corrected it and bring it up to point out I don’t expect people to be perfect, but the serial lying that is going on isn’t just a bunch of isolated mistakes, but a clear and coherent strategy to attack politicians and get the press to put the allegations into print even if as denials.
Look at Tom Roeser and Illinois Review as great examples. Only yesterday, Illinois Review had John Ruskin claiming that Obama never fully explained his attendance at a madrassa. Of course, Obama attended a public school referred to as a sekhola and there couldn’t have been any Wahhabist funding as Ruskin claimed because that didn’t start happening in foreign schools (and the school in question is public anyway) until years later. Roeser is still blaming Obama for not being forthright even though Obama had written about the school in his books and only some crackpots raised any concern about it.
Look at the claims that Obama attends a black supremacist church. It was started by Fran Eaton at the Illinois Review and it made it into a Trib article with people warning that Obama had to fully explain the beliefs–even though I found an explanation on the Church’s web site.
Look at the smear yesterday on Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson from the same site.
There’s a theme here and it’s replayed over and over again in different settings. There is an infrastructure that gets right wing memes covered and the press covers it. As I’ve said, the Weller thing happened the other way and I was largely at fault for that, but there’s a key difference in that I issue corrections and apologize and don’t keep the lies alive. How many more times during this campaign are we going to be hearing about Obama having some tie to Islamist elements? Or that he attends a far left church? Or that the Democrats had some guy who stood with Paul Wolfowitz say a prayer and so clearly the Democrats are crazy?
UPDATE: And let’s not forget the post comparing Obama to Barbaro on Illinois Review just as they were putting Barbaro down/Update
Part of this is Democrats’ fault for not fighting back consistently, but part of it is a realization of what the game is on the right wing now. We had the attacks on Kerry with Malkin claiming Kerry got his purple heart by shooting himself. Chris Mathews called her on it, but she still shows up on my teevee. Why?
We have CNN covering a lie about Nancy Pelosi and ‘her’ requests for a bigger jet even though non-partisan House staff already pointed out the story is false.
Why is this crap being allowed to make the news? It’s not that some innocent mistakes are made, it’s that even when shown wrong, the stories continue along without ever being corrected and make it into the news over and over again.
The Tribune did a long rebuttal to the Swift Boating of Kerry. It was authoritative. How many of these sites still tell that story is true?
Comments (31)
November 01, 2006
By: ArchPundit
Category: Uncategorized
An oldie, but a goodie brought back by a Tribune story that covers the issue today
Ed Markey (MA-07)
I’m not kidding either. While El Geraldo has been tramping around the world getting married to genocidal dicator’s daughters, it appears he’s been letting things slip around the District.
Exelon is seeking a renewal from the NRC for Dresden II and III reactors near Morris. In 2004 the Radiation Public Health Project pointed out evidence that Grundy County had seen increases in the incidence of child cancer rates in the mid to late 1990s and several people in the community approached their legislative leaders for help. The Tribune reported on the issue in a brief article in January of 2004.
Constituents approached Weller about the issue in an attempt to figure out the cause of the increases and try to determine if Exelon was at fault. Weller and staff ignored them.
So they kept trying to find help and it turns out Ed Markey of Massachusetts helped them out with a series of inquiries to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I’m trying to get ahold of his correspondence now, but Weller was absent.
The story turns more problematic today when we now know that Exelon had several tritium leaks that were never reported to state authorities and only informally reported to the NRC. The information we have now from Exelon indicates the tritium in the groundwater isn’t at unsafe levels though it is above typical levels for the area, but the information surrounding the tritium leaks is scarce.
These sorts of cases are very difficult to sort out–environmental exposure to cancer causing agents is fraught with difficulties. I’d say it is safe to say there isn’t enough evidence to determine the cause of the increased incidence in childhood cancers for the period, but it sure would be nice to have had someone looking into it–especially since Exelon wasn’t being forthecoming to the public. However, given the elevated incidence was known two years ago and constituents were asking for help, where was Jerry?
And why the hell did Ed Markey, a Congressman from Massachusetts have to go to bat for Jerry Weller’s constituents?
But don’t worry, now that it’s a big deal, Jerry’s on the scene. He’s now demanding action from Exelon to pay for the costs from the leaks.
Two years later after it made the news. Not only that, but Obama was ahead of him on the issue after he found out about it–and he wasn’t even in office in 2004. More later–I’m working on getting the Markey correspondence.
Here was the Markey correspondence
Markey is known for his work on some issues and was the guy who took the lead pointing out the President’s genius move of abbrogating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by sharing nuclear technology with a non-signatory country — India.
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October 20, 2006
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
They were all screwed by rumors that were amazingly widespread and false.
First, I’m sorry–my judgment held up in the first two, but this time it didn’t. Read below in another post for how it unfolded and feel free to remind me from time to time.
From Sweet:
Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), hit with rumors that he was somehow involved in the page scandal, issued a statement Thursday saying he was not a factor — but a former page or intern he sponsored was subject to some questionable behavior by another lawmaker.
With rumors racing across a number of left-wing blogs naming Weller, his campaign manager Steve Shearer said there were no facts to back up any story.
This has “nothing to do with Jerry Weller doing anything,” Shearer said.
With the blogosphere pushing unsubstantiated rumor, Shearer said “it is a new way of political assassination.”
Shearer released the statement after the blog entries were multiplying and he was flooded with calls from reporters.
“There have been all kinds of wild rumors circulating over the past week,” Shearer said.
“We believe we have now gotten to the bottom of this and other reporters who have researched this agree — that what we have been told is that a page or intern who was sponsored by Cong. Weller was inappropriately invited to a social event with another congressman.”
I checked this out with a few folks and that seems to be the consensus. And the Weller campaign handled this pretty much textbook wise by just rolling with the punch and keeping on the facts instead of trying to blame anyone.
Comments (19)
October 17, 2006
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
Pretty much using Pavich’s words:
If voters in the 11th Congressional District believe in holding politicians accountable for their promises, they won’t re-elect Republican incumbent Jerry Weller, who got swept into Congress with the legendary Contract With America class of 1994.
Instead, they should vote for Democrat John Pavich, says the 30-year-old attorney from Beecher. Weller and others who signed the contract that launched the historic GOP takeover of the House have not kept their end of the bargain, Pavich says. They haven’t returned fiscal discipline to Capitol Hill – see record deficits – haven’t restored ethics to government – see Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Mark Foley, etc. – haven’t imposed term limits – see Weller seeking his seventh term. Meanwhile, the GOP Congress has allowed itself to be steamrolled by the executive branch into little more than a rubber stamp.
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October 07, 2006
By: ArchPundit
Category: Illinois Congressional Races
Jerry Weller jumps in with both feet:
Fuller said the congressman also wants an investigation into who leaked the e-mails to the news media.
“The bigger question for my boss is, who sat on these messages for three years,” and leaked them just weeks before the Nov. 7 election, Fuller said. Particularly, he said, Weller wants to know “who put them up” to releasing the damaging information, and suspects Democratic sources. “He thinks it needs to be looked into.”
Weller’s stance was, in tone and substance, close to that of House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Boehner, second in command to Hastert, also questioned the source of the revelations in a letter to the conservative Washington Times that responded to its call Monday that Hastert resign.
“We also need to know why these messages surfaced only last week, on the final day of legislative business before the November elections,” Boehner said, according to Congressional Quarterly.
.?
Who sat on the information? It sure looks like some young Pages who were harassed by a Member of Congress sat on it and given their age and the attacks on them by the right wing media outlets, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t have come forward before…not to mention how difficult it is for young people of that age to deal with their sexuality.
Strangely, the evidence and by that I mean the very clear statements by ABC contradict this bullshit. It’s a hysterical failed attempt at jijutsu to try and say the Democrats must have been sitting on evidence of wrong doing when Republicans themselves refused to tell Democrats about the initial concerns.
Will the press do their job?
There are many Republicans who have taken responsible positions–I can point to below with McSweeney who I think is giving Hastert a pass, but is taking the story very seriously and wants a full report on it by election day. He even has some ideas about reforming the ethics committee that are interesting. What he and other decent human beings aren’t doing—trying to create fictional stories or blame the victims.
This didn’t need to be highly partisan. On Friday the 29th, a simple admissions that they screwed up would have killed the story by now. Perhaps a little bit of discussion about why Democrats weren’t included in the discussions 3 years ago, but not much else.
Comments (2)
