Jim Dey: Former lawmaker won't toss hat into 2024 ring

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

COUNT HIM OUT

Former Bloomington area state Rep. Dan Brady has had all he can stands, and he can't stands no more — at least for now.

The veteran pol didn't put it exactly that way when he announced Friday that he won't run for either the U.S. House of Representatives (17th District) or the Illinois House of Representatives (88th District). But in making his announcement "after much consideration," Brady said today's take-no-prisoners politics is not for him.

"My style of public service has been driven by service to my constituents, and that has become lost in today's political rhetoric, where politics by political destruction has become the norm," he said in a statement announcing his non-candidacies.

Brady, who celebrated his 62nd birthday on July 4, was not ready to declare that he'll never seek public office again. But he said he's enjoying his post-political life and that he wants to "continue focusing more of my attention on the funeral home business."

A former county coroner, he served 22 years in the Illinois House from the McLean County area before running for secretary of state in 2022, losing to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

Brady said he's still having "flashbacks" from his 2022 candidacy because of "promises made that were not kept."

"I think many candidates can relate to that," he said.

Before rejecting both electoral options, Brady considered challenging 17th District incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, a former television weather forecaster as well as the Illinois House seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Dan Caulkins.

Both would have required primary contests.

Decatur's Regan Deering, a Republican who ran and lost for the 13th District U.S. House in 2022, is seeking the state House seat. Brady said McLean County lawyer Chuck Erickson, a current county board member and former county party chairman, may throw his hat into the state House race.

"I don't have any names for the congressional (office) right now," he said.

Rockford businessman Ray Estrada, a first-time candidate for public office, has announced he is running for the GOP nomination to take on Sorensen. Party officials are looking for an alternative to Estrada, hoping to find someone with a stronger political pedigree.

Brady, who recently visited Washington, D.C., to listen to political sales pitches, said he considered a number of factors before deciding not to run. He said raising sufficient money was one because Democrats have unlimited campaign funds.

"There's going to be lots and lots and lots and lots of money pouring in from the other side if it becomes a Tier 1 race," he said.

That's why Brady decided "resources need to be in place" before he got into the contest.

Former President Donald Trump also played a role in his decision. Brady said "not knowing who might be at the top" of the GOP presidential ticket was a disincentive to run.

ANOTHER GOP SETBACK

While Brady was choosing not to run again in 2024, the Republican who led the GOP's disastrous 2022 statewide ticket announced he's back in the game.

Downstate farmer and state Sen. Darren Bailey said he's going to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost for the party's nomination in the 12th congressional district.

Bailey's entry into the contest will be a replay of the 2022 intra-party blood-letting where U.S. Rep. Mary Miller defeated U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in the GOP party primary.

That race featured uber-conservative Miller and against traditional conservative Davis. They were thrown into the same district by Democrats who gerrymandered the state's congressional maps to give themselves political advantages and sow dissent among the Republicans.

Bailey's decision to run, however, is separate and apart from gerrymandering. He's challenging Bost on the grounds that Bost is not conservative enough.

The 12th District is solid Republican, thanks to Democrats packing Republican voters into Bost's and Miller's districts. So the winner of the primary most likely will win the November 2024 general election.

Nonetheless, Bailey's brand of tolerate-no-dissent conservatism and his public embrace of former President Trump, whom Democrats despise, has been political poison statewide for Illinois Republicans.

Apparently, the Illinois GOP just can't consume enough political hemlock. The outcome of the Bailey/Bost primary win may indicate if the GOP has figured out when or if to say when.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Got to give Illinois Playbook's Shia Kapos credit for this scoop.

But she reports that Saturday (today) is the 95th birthday of now-retired but longtime Democratic state Rep. Helen Satterthwaite. She was a game-changing Democratic politician in what was then Republican Champaign County before that was cool.

BACK WITH A VENGEANCE

It's been a while since this pseudo-intellectual provided a recommendation of pseudo-intellectual books to read, meaning books read and liked by this poseur.

But I'll throw out a couple today that are very different but well worth the time.

The first is no joy ride. It's "The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World" by Jonathan Freedland.

Winner of the National Book Award, it's a compelling but sickening and infuriating story of one of the two men to break out of the Auschwitz murder-of-Jews factory and try to tell the world what was happening.

It's a grimly fascinating description of what went on at Auschwitz, where Jews and others were murdered by the thousands with assembly line, Nazi-like efficiency.

In the midst of it was Rudy Vrba, a precocious teen when he first arrived at Auschwitz and a brilliant but badly scarred adult when he escaped.

This is great World War II history that should never be forgotten, as told through the eyes of a man largely lost to history.

The second book is far different fare, a biography of Hall of Famer Casey Stengel. It's "Casey Stengel: Baseball's Greatest Character" by Martin Appel.

The Yankees' skipper won 10 pennants in 12 years before being summarily dismissed. But there's more to this than Casey's time managing the Yankees.

He was, for starters, a great player who started his career with a team in Kankakee. He got his "Casey" nickname because he was from K.C. (Kansas City.) His first name was Charles.

What a character he was and what a sense of humor he had. No wonder sportswriters couldn't get enough of him, even if his players often chafed under his tough leadership.

Veteran baseball fans will appreciate this well-written book about a baseball legend. As for the newbies, they should check it out because they don't know what they're missing.