Sieben to retire early, help Bivins UPDATED X2

4 comments January 23rd, 2008

Sen. Todd Sieben said Wednesday that he plans to retire shortly after the Feb. 5 primary election, paving the way for Republican party bosses to fill his seat with Tim Bivins.

Republican Bivins would therefore enter the Nov. 4 general election as the incumbent, potentially giving him a significant edge over Democrat Marty Mulcahey.

Since the Senate seat is held by a Republican, the district’s GOP chairmen get to pick Sieben’s successor. The district covers much of northwestern Illinois, stretching from western Winnebago County through Freeport to Galena and south to Geneseo.

“Certainly, an individual who is an incumbent senator has an advantage in an election,” said Sieben, R-Geneseo. “That’s been proven over and over again.”

Mulcahey said the move smacks of insider, old-school politics — an attitude he claims he would counter as a legislator.

“This falls into that politics as usual, that backroom, you know, cigar mentality of how we do things,” he said.

Sieben noted he’s just doing what Democrats do all the time.

“I learned how to do this from the Democrats,” Sieben said. “This is nothing new in their playbook. This is a typical way that the Democrats would handle the same situation.”

Sieben is retiring after serving more than 21 years in the General Assembly — six in the House and 15 in the Senate.

Mulcahey, the son of former Rep. Dick Mulcahey and a former legislative staffer, works for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. He lives in Galena.

Bivins, a retired Lee County sheriff, lives in Dixon. He is excited about Sieben’s move.

“It’s a probably a two-edged sword right now,” he said of the prospect of incumbency. “If we have another year like last year (in Springfield), where the session lasts until August and into September and there’s numerous special sessions, it could be a disadvantage.”

Update 1

The Senate district leans strongly Republican, so this development seems like bad news for Mulcahey. It’s largely rural with scattered urban pockets. In the 2004 presidential race, George W. Bush won 56.2 percent of the vote. Democrat John Kerry won just 43.8 percent.

It’s tough to say at this point whether the November general election will be good for Democrats around Illinois. If this state’s own Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president, Democrats and independents probably will head to the polls en masse.

On the other hand, all-Democratic control of state government has been nothing short of a trainwreck for a solid year. Party infighting has been so severe and so consistent, it’s hard to imagine that voters won’t unleash some level of anti-Democrat sentiment once they get to the polls.

Then again, Illinois simply is an increasingly Democratic-leaning state. The Democrats control literally every statewide office, as well as both U.S. Senate seats. And it’s hard to imagine the Republicans winning any of those statewide seats back in the next two years. Their own state party infrastructure is in shambles.

UPDATE 2

More from my conversation with Sieben:

“I’ve let it be known to the county chairmen, the eight county chairmen in my Senate district, that my intention is after the primary, after the Feb. 5 primary, that I intend to retire as state senator,” he said.  “Once I do retire, then that obviously creates an opening and my hope is that the county chairmen would then appoint Tim Bivins to complete my term.”

He continued, “Since the office is held by a Republican, the Republican county chairmen are notified of the vacancy and they convene a meeting, elect a chairmen and a secretary, and each county chairmen then casts a weighted vote for a candidate to complete my term.”

Mulcahey surpasses Bivins in campaign dollars

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

Democrat Marty Mulcahey didn’t waste any time catching up with his opponent’s fundraising in the race to represent the northwestern Illinois 45th Senate District.

Mulcahey ended 2007 with$11,205.18 in his campaign fund. However, on Jan. 14 he reported a $10,000 donation from the Northwest Illinois Central Labor Council. If he hasn’t spent that money already, then he has more than his opponent, Tim Bivins. Republican Bivins ended the year with $20,007.88 on hand.

(Mulcahey reported two other contributions since Dec. 31, but he filed those statements on paper. That means I can’t give you those details until tomorrow, when the State Board of Elections opens.) The State Board of Elections just called and said the two reports are blank.

The two men are racing to succeed Sen. Todd Sieben, R-Geneseo, who is not seeking re-election.

Mulcahey, who works for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, is the son of former Rep. Dick Mulcahey. He lives in Galena.

Bivins, a retired Lee County sheriff, lives in Dixon.

The 45th Senate District runs from western Winnebago County through Freeport and Galena to the Mississippi River, then south to Geneseo. The district is pictured here in yellow.

Sacia’s Campaign Fund Flush

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, is on a roll with fundraising. He had $64,142.58 on hand on Dec. 31 after raising $25,280.34 and spending $19,501.45 during the semi-annual reporting period.

His larger contributions include:

Sacia has no opponent in the upcoming election.

Steinberg Fires Back at Sacia

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

Remember when Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, practically breathed fire on the House floor over a column authored by Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times? If not, start by reading this background.

Well, Steinberg today fired back at Sacia. His column:

“Neil,” a colleague whispered over a crackly cell phone. “You’re being denounced on the floor of the General Assembly. I thought you should know. Jim Sacia is ranting and raving about your column.”

That would be Rep. Jim Sacia (R-Pecatonica, wherever that is). And relax, it’s Springfield. Nothing they do matters. Nobody cares. No one else mentioned Sacia’s comments to me, nor do I expect them to. Speaking to the General Assembly is like shouting down a well.

What got Sacia so worked up was being referred to here as a “hick.”

I’m not sure why he was upset. “Hick” is such a positive, friendly word. In “Hey Country,” Montgomery Gentry sings exuberantly, “He’s a hick, jes’ like me!” They make it sound like a good thing.

Sacia is using the old ploy of complaining about the least objectionable charge. My colleague Eric Zorn, for instance, usually politeness incarnate, called Springfield “a dysfunctional cesspool.” Yet I don’t expect Sacia to rise to deny that. Or if I call legislators there, oh, for instance, “invertebrate, ineffectual lapdogs licking the boots of their autocratic leaders,” my bet is, he’d be mum about that, too. And why not? A drier, more factual journalistic description can’t be imagined.

I just talked to Sacia. He’s laughing out loud.

Tuite Besting Wait in Fundraising

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

Democrat Greg Tuite has roughly three times as much money in his campaign fund as Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere. Tuite challenged Wait in 2006, nearly taking him out.

From the State Board of Elections, here are the vote totals from 2006:

COUNTY WAIT TUITE
BOONE 8091 7266
DeKALB 1702 1215
WINNEBAGO 10689 10618
Totals 20482 19099

This year, Tuite is challenging Wait again.

Tuite had $62,825.81 on hand on Dec. 31 after raising $70,504.22 and spending $8,980.32. The cash includes a $50,000 loan that Tuite gave to his own campaign.

Wait, by contrast, had just $20,978.48 on hand after raising $20,600.00 and spending $13,927.46.

Winters v. Little v. Woods UPDATED X1

1 comment January 23rd, 2008

Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, finished last year with $28,011.90 on hand after raising $27,952.81 and spending $21,198.03. Winters faces two challengers in the Nov. 4 general election, so watch for him to step up fundraising in the coming year.

Winters’ biggest contributions include:

The challengers are Democrat Clint Little, a Loves Park alderman, and Gerry Woods of the Green Party.

Little has not registered his campaign fund with the State Board of Elections. He told me Wednesday that he will not start fundraising until after the Feb. 5 primary election.

“I’m going to start everything after the primary,” he said. “And even that’s going to be limited (fundraising) because I’m going to watch who I take money from. I think that’s half of the problem, half of what’s wrong with our government as a whole. I haven’t really been doing a lot with the lobbyists or different organizations.”

He added, “I usually raise a lot of the funds out of my own pocket. I’m going to be very selective who I take money from.”

Woods also has not registered a campaign fund with the state. I could not reach Woods.

UPDATE 1

Winters responded to Little’s fundraising plan: “That’s good to hear. We hadn’t heard much out of him.”

Jefferson: Steady as She Goes Updated X1

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

Rep. Chuck Jefferson’s fundraising seems relatively light. In the last six months of last year, Jefferson, D-Rockford, raised $17,806.72 and spent $17,774.26.

He had $28,676.76 on hand at the close of the reporting period.

Then again, Jefferson has no challenger in the next election. He doesn’t need gobs of money to defend himself.

Jefferson’s biggest contributions include:

Yes, Jefferson’s campaign apparently misspelled the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association on its disclosure statement. Either that or Jefferson is getting substantial support from lawyers who practice on trails.

Syverson raking in the dough Updated X2

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

It’s time once again for local pols to report what their campaign funds are raising and spending. Over the course of the day, I’ll be trudging through those reports and bringing you the highlights.

Let’s start with Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, who had a fundraiser on Monday.

On Tuesday, Syverson reported the following contributions, according to the State Board of Elections:

Dial Machine Inc.
Individual Contribution
2902 Eastrock Dr.
Rockford, IL 61109
1/22/2008 - $1,000.00

DPS General Contractors
Individual Contribution
6367 Sebring Way
Loves Park, IL 61111
1/17/2008 - $1,000.00

First Ranger Petroleum LLC
Individual Contribution
P.O. Box 4745
Rockford, IL 61110
1/17/2008 - $2,500.00

Kaney Aerospace Inc.
Individual Contribution
801 Airport Dr.
Rockford, IL 61109
1/17/2008 - $1,000.00

Separately, but also on Tuesday, Syverson reported these contributions:

Dial Machine Inc.
Individual Contribution
2902 Eastrock Dr.
Rockford, IL 61109
1/22/2008 - $1,000.00

AT&T Illinois Employee PAC
Transfers In
225 W. Randoph St.
27B
Chicago, IL 60606
1/22/2008 - $1,000.00

Swedish American Health Management Corporation
Transfers In
1401 E. State St.
Rockford, IL 61104
1/22/2008 - $1,000.00

Update 1

Syverson’s campaign fund was practically empty on Dec. 31, the last day of the most recent semi-annual reporting period, so the $8,500 in donations listed above certainly will help him get back on his game. Syverson traditionally is one of the region’s top fundraisers.

Syverson’s report for the period ending Dec. 31 said he had just $3,249.50 on hand after raising $54,078.25 and spending $69,271.01 during the six-month period.

Update 2

During that semi-annual reporting period, Syverson’s biggest contributions included:

Note to Guv: You Bought the Tax Hike

Add comment January 23rd, 2008

Now comes word that Gov. Blago is pretending he vetoed a sales tax hike for Chicago and surrounding communities. I was on the road yesterday covering an aging murderer, so I’m playing a little catchup here. Anyway, here goes:

According to a report in the Quad-City Times, Blago insisted he actually vetoed the sales tax hike, which was the central component of a plan that lawmakers crafted to bail out Chicago-area mass transit agencies.

After the Moline event, though, Blagojevich distanced himself from the tax increase. “I didn’t (give in). I vetoed it. I rewrote the bill,” he said when asked if since he gave in on this tax increase he might do the same to get a capital construction bill passed.

Yes, the governor rewrote the bill in the sense he suggested the addition of a free-rides-for-seniorsplan. And yes, he did use his power of amendatory veto to facilitate that change to the bill. But he did not veto the tax hike. No, he did not veto the tax hike. (For background on the amendatory veto, go here.)

The original bill proposed a sales tax hike for Chicago and surrounding communities to generate more cash for Chicago-area transit agencies. The governor has long pledged to veto such tax hikes on “working people.” So before he accepted this one, he used an amendatory veto to propose additional language for the bill — language requiring mass transit agencies around Illinois to grant free rides to folks age 65 and older.

In doing so, the governor did not in any way propose altering the tax-hike language of the bill. You can read the governor’s veto message here. As you can see, he did not make any attempt to delete the tax-related language from the bill. Instead, he suggested adding his free-rides-for-seniors plan to the bill, while preserving the bill’s core tax hike.

Lawmakers then voted to accept the governor’s proposed change to the bill. Then just one step remained before the bill could become law: The governor needed to certify that the Legislature’s action complied with the intent of his veto. The governor did indeed certify the bill, as you may see at the bottom of this page. The bill then became law.