7 days and counting: More than 840,000 ballots counted; candidates make last pitches

Months upon months of political campaigning will come to a head in one week, as Illinois voters head to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 8.

Already, more than 841,000 pre-election ballots have been counted statewide as of Monday according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. In Sangamon County, there have been 19,412 counted with 11,803 by-mail, 3,676 voting early, and 82 during the grace period — when voters can register to vote or change their voting address through Election Day.

Voters still can cast early votes at the Sangamon County building until Monday with expanded hours for this week. Through Friday, voters will have from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to vote early at the Sangamon County Elections office at 200 S. Ninth Street – Room 101. Over the weekend, Saturday hours go from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Candidates in local, state, and national races are using these final seven days as their last chance to connect with voters and have gone full-tilt with events, advertising, and spending.

Campaign winds down, attack ads continue

Making their way on television screens across Illinois and respective legislative districts, candidates are reaching out to voters in ad spots — selling their accomplishments and agenda or attacking their opponent.

For the Pritzker campaign, it's been a mixture of both. One of Gov. JB Pritzker's latest ads featured a host of voters detailing achievements he has touted throughout the campaign such as the $15 minimum wage and expansion of health care.

A more recent ad, however, has Lake County state's attorney Eric Rinehart saying Pritzker's Republican challenger Darren Bailey has "no solutions" with specific regards to the SAFE-T Act.

Related:Advocates and opponents of Pretrial Fairness Act in Illinois spar in local town hall

"You deserve to know the facts about the Illinois SAFE-T Act," he said in the 30-second spot. "There is no such thing as a purge law in Illinois. We will be able to keep violent offenders behind bars, where they belong. And convicted criminals will not be released. I’m tired of politicians trying to fool you."

With less money on hand, Bailey has not had the same ad presence as his Democrat opponent but is still active on the campaign trail. Monday evening he was set to hold a conference with former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard in an event in Glen Ellyn.

Gabbard, a former presidential candidate, recently announced she planned to leave the Democrat Party.

Pritzker's presence is being seen also in local races such as Illinois Senate District 48 and Illinois Congressional District 13. Over the weekend, the governor and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin joined state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and Democratic candidate for Congress Nikki Budzinski in Springfield for a rally held at the AFL-CIO.

The state senate race for the 48th has been the focus of much campaign fundraising and contentious advertisements, where Turner and Republican state Rep. Sandy Hamilton have accused each other of corruption and being a sell-out respectively.

Hamilton's earlier attack ads claim Turner had doled taxpayer funding for items such as a Hummer and a trip to Las Vegas to paint her opponent as corrupt, but Turner replied in-kind with ads associating Hamilton with Illinois Minority Senate Leader Dan McConchie's anti-abortion stance.

In the 13th Congressional District race, Budzinski followed an earlier statement and press conference with a new political ad against her Republican opponent Regan Deering's comments regarding Social Security.

Deering remarks in a WMAY interview with Jim Leach earlier in October suggesting means testing, where benefits would be determined based on income, constitute cuts to the Social Security program along with Deering's personal wealth, makes her "not for us" a recent ad from Budzinski claims.

The Deering campaign has maintained that the characterization of the interview was untrue and the attention drawn to it was to distract from recent reporting from the Better Government Association revealing Budzinski earned more than $500,000 as a consultant.

A recent ad from Deering looked into her opponent's role in the Biden administration, where she served as chief of staff in the Office of Management and Budget. By working with President Joe Biden in canceling the Keystone Pipeline, the ad claims Budzinski and Biden had made food prices and debt skyrocket.

Campaign contributions roll in

According to the Reform for Illinois' Sunshine database, the 48th Senate District continues to rack-up contributions in the dwindling days to the election. As of Monday, more than $5.6 million is in the race which is the third-highest amount of total funds in any race in the Illinois General Assembly.

The governor's race remains one where Pritzker holds the advantage in terms of financial backing. Last week alone, the governor secured more than $1 million in in-kind contributions from the Democratic Party of Illinois. On the other side, Bailey received more individual contributions last week but none surpassing $10,000.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: 7 days: Campaigns firing on all cylinders in lead-up to Election Day