Illinois election 2022: See who the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board endorsed
The November election comes four months after the June 28 primary — the quickest turnaround since at least the Great Depression.
On Nov. 8, Illinois voters will elect their governor, junior U.S. senator, two Illinois Supreme Court justices, all 17 of Illinois’ representatives in the U.S. Congress, every state senator and state representative in the General Assembly, and county and judicial offices throughout the state.
Before the primaries, the Tribune Editorial Board posed a series of questions to the candidates to inform voters and make endorsements. Here’s the full list of those answers.
Here are the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board’s 2022 endorsements for the Nov. 8 elections.
Amendment One
We endorse a no vote. We support the rights of unions to represent their members and to bargain collectively for the best deal they can secure. But we do not see an Illinois threat to those rights and we see this endorsement as an opening to skew the balance of power in the public sector to an unacceptable degree.
Should the amendment pass, we anticipate serious negative consequences for the taxpayers of Illinois. Read the full editorial here.
Governor
When he was elected governor of Illinois in 2018, J.B. Pritzker was blissfully unaware of the COVID-19 crisis that would dominate his first term.
Even among those who did not support him politically, he engendered trust during some of the darkest hours in the history of this great state.
We need to remember that. It is crucial to Pritzker’s case for a second term. Read the full editorial here.
US Senate
Of all the Republicans on the Illinois ballot in the 2022 election cycle, Kathy Salvi, an attorney from Mundelein, surely has the hardest job.
She has to try to unseat Tammy Duckworth, a heroic American who was awarded the Purple Heart after she lost her right leg and much of her left leg during her military service in Iraq in 2004, when the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a grenade. And if that piece of Duckworth’s remarkable biography was not daunting enough, she was the first woman with a disability to be elected to Congress, and then became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office, following the birth of her second daughter, Maile, in 2018. Read the full editorial here.
Secretary of state
Over the last two years, drivers heading north on Elston Avenue in Chicago, to cite one example, could see a snaking line of freezing Chicagoans, just trying to make it inside to get their plates renewed.
For this reason, it’s absurd to see the office of secretary of state through a partisan lens. It makes more sense for voters to try and figure out which candidate will best improve this most customer-service oriented of public offices. Read the full editorial here.
Alexi Giannoulias vs Dan Brady vs Jon Stewart
Attorney General
Nine sitting or recent members of the Illinois General Assembly have been charged with federal crimes since 2019. State Sen. Emil Jones III is the latest. He faces bribery charges in connection with the state’s notorious red-light camera scandal, and has entered a not guilty plea.
Preceding him are four former Senate Democratic colleagues, Thomas Cullerton, Terry Link, Annazette Collins and Martin Sandoval (who died in 2020); a former GOP state senator, Sam McCann; former House Speaker and Democratic kingmaker Michael Madigan; and onetime Democratic state Reps. Luis Arroyo and Eddie Acevedo.
If nothing else, that list should serve as a sobering reminder that dismantling the culture of corruption staining Illinois politics must be a top priority for prosecutors at every echelon of government. That includes the office of Illinois attorney general. Read the full editorial here.
Cook County Board president
We believe Toni Preckwinkle has been an effective fiscal steward of Cook County, overall, and a competent manager in the massive county’s various areas of jurisdiction, from corrections to transportation to public health. Given that the county has more 800 governmental units, that’s a crucial quality that voters must keep in mind. Read the full editorial here.
Treasurer
Incumbent Democrat Michael Frerichs has had this job since 2015. Since then, he has managed this office skillfully, making sound investments for the state’s portfolio that have earned taxpayers more than $1 billion. One of the treasurer’s core responsibilities is managing Illinois’ 529 college savings program, known as Bright Start. Under Frerichs, Bright Start has gone from one of the nation’s worst-rated college savings programs to one of the best — it has gotten a “Gold” rating from independent investment analysis firm Morningstar for five successive years. Read the full editorial here.
Comptroller
If the treasurer is Illinois’ primary investment manager, the comptroller is the state’s main bill payer, with control over Springfield’s checking account. So financial acumen is a must, and both candidates bring strong money oversight credentials to the race. Read the full editorial here.
U.S. House
For Illinois Senate
Illinois is staring down many important issues, including the state’s support for abortion, the ongoing instability of state pensions, a looming recession, the lingering impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the perennial issue of violent crime, an especially potent concern in the larger cities but with statewide impact.
In this first slate of endorsements, most of the contested seats are longtime Democratic strongholds in Chicago, as gerrymandered to serve incumbents, and few are likely to be close races. Read the full editorial here.
Read part two of the Tribune’s endorsements for Illinois Senate here.
Read part three of the Tribune’s endorsements for Illinois Senate here.
For Illinois House
In Springfield’s post-Michael Madigan era, how much of a dent can Republicans make into the viselike grip that Democrats have on the Illinois House of Representatives? To what extent will candidates’ stances on pivotal national issues such as abortion, gun control and inflation hold sway in these races?
Of the House’s 118 seats, 78 feature contested races. Here’s the first installment of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for Illinois House contests. Read the full editorial here.
Read part two of the Tribune’s endorsements for Illinois House here.
