Jim Dey: County auditor, circuit clerk announce candidacies for re-election in '24

Apr. 8—It's time once again to dive in to another round of quick takes on the people, places and events that were being talked about over the past week:

Making it officialTwo local Democratic officeholders in Champaign County got a head start this week on the 2024 election by announcing their candidacies for re-election.

George Danos, who is 58, said he's running for a third term as Champaign County's auditor, while Susan McGrath, 66, a longtime local lawyer and former assistant state's attorney, said she'll be running for a second term as circuit clerk.

Given Champaign County's transition from solid Republican to solid Democratic turf, both can be expected to be strong candidates.

Danos said he and McGrath decided to make a joint announcement of their intentions "to show unity in the Democratic Party."

Plus, he said it's important for incumbent officeholders to make early announcements.

"I want the public to know I have every intention of running for my third term," he said.

Danos was first elected in 2018 to fill a two-year vacancy in the auditor's office and then re-elected to a four-year term in 2000.

McGrath was elected circuit clerk in 2020 as part of a Democratic sweep of county offices. The only elected Republican countywide officeholder is longtime coroner Duane Northrup.

Neither Danos nor McGrath are expected to face any opposition in the March 2024 primary. Whether Republicans can find candidates to challenge them in the general election remains to be seen.

In addition to the auditor and circuit clerk, the two other county offices up for election are those of veteran incumbent Democratic State's Attorney Julie Rietz and GOP coroner Northrup.

Time was different back thenThe city of Chicago took another big step in a leftward direction this week when it elected rabid progressive Brandon Johnson to be the city's next mayor.

His tenure will be an interesting experiment in what happens when the city's political leadership targets businesses with higher taxes, maintains or accelerates the status quo of failing public schools and reduces police protection in the midst of a crime wave.

Make no mistake; what happens in Chicago affects the rest of the state. But the mayor of Chicago no longer is the dominant figure in how the state is governed.

Says who? Says longtime political reporter Charles Wheeler, longtime statehouse reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times and retired director of the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois-Springfield.

No dynasty lasts forever. That's why all the mayors who came after the longtime rule of the original Mayor Daley — Richard J. Daley — have fallen short of their goal to duplicate his vast influence.

The original Daley was a creature of Chicago ward politics and dominant Democratic Party rule.

He was both mayor of the city and chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party. That's why they called him "Boss."

During his tenure, Democrats, meaning Daley, slated candidates for statewide office, and few challenged his choices.

One who did was former Gov. Dan Walker, who ran as an anti-Daley candidate and defeated then-Lt. Gov. Paul Simon in the 1972 Democratic Party primary.

Daley got revenge by blocking Walker's agenda in the legislature and defeating Walker with his own candidate — Michael Howlett — in the 1976 Democratic Party primary. Howlett later lost in a landslide to the GOP's Jim Thompson.

Wheeler told the Bloomington Pantagraph that "the mayor of Chicago has about maybe 10 percent of the influence now, the impact in Springfield now, than when I started as a reporter 50 some years ago."

Daley's power was bolstered by a patronage system, then legal but now illegal. Politicians still try to game the hiring system, but not nearly as often and without nearly as much success as in the old days.

Daley was, in fact, the Democratic Party in Illinois. Since his death nearly 50 years ago, other Democrats have established their own political kingdoms, but none that matched that of the Boss.

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For example, former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan made the General Assembly his exclusive playpen. He worked with Chicago mayors but never took orders from them.

Times change, of course. Chicago's Democratic politicians still run the state, but no single Democratic politician runs the state like back then.

Bean counterPolitical analyst and consultant Frank Calabrese, a University of Illinois graduate, continues to make big splashes with his political analysis of voting trends.

He became a must-see source on the politics of gerrymandering during the 2021-'22 state and federal redistricting processes.

This month, he's the guy who can explain how Brandon Johnson defeated Paul Vallas to become the next mayor of Chicago.

Here's how Calabrese said Johnson claimed his win, as originally reported in CapitalFax.

"My big takeaways on why Brandon Johnson won big:

Johnson won Black precincts 80%+

Johnson did well w/ Latinos, winning Little Village and Pilsen

Johnson won big with lakefront liberals, winning the 44th Ward

Johnson won big margins in liberal areas like Logan Square

Alleged felons say the darndest thingsBut the jury doesn't always get to hear them. That's the situation with one of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan's most revealing quotes caught on FBI-secured audio.

Jurors will not hear the Madigan's now-celebrated quip he uttered while discussing no-show jobs his associates had landed at ComEd.

"Some of these guys have made out like bandits," Madigan said.

Defense lawyers persuaded U.S. Judge Harry Leinenweber to bar prosecutor's use of the recording during the trial of four former ComEd executives/lobbyists — lobbyists Michael McClain, John Hooker, Jay Doherty and former utility Anne Pramaggiore.

The government has charged ComEd put a number of Madigan associates in lucrative, no-show jobs in exchange for Madigan's favorable treatment of utility-supported legislation.

Prosecutors described the words — said by Madigan to McClain in 2018 — as "direct evidence" of the bribery conspiracy. Defense lawyers argued it referred to another individual who is not part of the prosecution case.

The quote generally refers to the payoffs by ComED for little- or no-show work but, the judge ruled, not directly to the alleged conspiracy at issue in the ongoing trial.

Prosecutors have indicated they plan to finish their presentation of evidence next week. Then the defense will get its turn.

The "bandits" represent a lost gem for prosecutors, but not a huge setback. The no-work contracts ComEd gave to win Madigan's favor have been the subject of extensive testimony that included tape recordings.

Not your father's election resultEquality Illinois had reason to be pleased with some of the results of Tuesday's municipal elections, so pleased it put out a statement drawing attention to the results.

Here it is:

"We are extremely proud of the historic electoral victories of Clare Killman for the Carbondale City Council and Jackie McKethen for the Crete Library Board. ... Killman will be the first Trans person to serve on a city council in Illinois and McKethen will be the first Trans person to serve on a library board in Illinois. With only five Trans people now elected to office in Illinois, Trans people remain severely underrepresented in all levels of government. Killman and McKethen will be powerful voices for change and will inspire more Trans people to run for office in their communities. Now more than ever, we need Trans voices in rooms of power. "