The Spin: Biden-Harris vow relief for cash-strapped states | Reports of Emanuel in Biden White House stir controversy | Chicago doctors tapped for Biden-Harris for COVID-19 team

Republican President Donald Trump, his family and some close advisers, including Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are saying the race for president is too close to call, but Democrat Joe Biden’s transition efforts already have begun to take shape.

A just-released plan includes a call to fund local and state governments. It also includes the addition of two physicians with Chicago ties to a COVID-19 advisory board.

They are: Dr. Zeke Emanuel, an architect of the Affordable Care Act who was a health adviser in President Barack Obama’s White House. He is an oncologist and ex-Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s older brother. The list also includes Dr. Julie Morita, the former Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, the first Asian American woman to lead the office.

Even before the election, speculation was running rampant about what a Biden Cabinet — the advisers who will carry out his domestic and international agenda — might look like and who from Illinois might get the call.

Speaking of former Mayor Emanuel, the mere mention that he might be considered for a post in the Biden-Harris White House is stirring controversy. Emanuel was chief of staff in the Obama-Biden White House. New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offered a preemptive strike calling Emanuel “a pretty divisive pick,” according to a New York Times piece out today. It’s a reminder that the divide doesn’t just exist between Republicans and Democrats.

There’s also chatter that Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, once a contender to be Biden’s vice president, might be up for secretary of defense or Veterans Affairs. U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia has been rumored to be a consideration for Housing and Urban Development.

And the desire for weed was loud and clear this election season as voters expanded recreational marijuana use to more locations, my Tribune colleague Robert Channick writes. It comes as we learn the state hit a one-month high of $100 million-plus.

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Biden-Harris transition team vows financial aid for state, local governments

The Biden-Harris transition team released a COVID-19 response plan — similar to what they’ve talked about on the campaign trail — that on paper has to be music to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ears as they both grapple with budget shortfalls. Or at least it strikes the right political note.

The incoming administration is pledging to “(e)stablish a renewable fund for state and local governments to help prevent budget shortfalls, which may cause states to face steep cuts to teachers and first responders,” according to a newly launched website.

Lightfoot’s going to hold them to that: On Saturday the Democratic mayor, who has battled with Trump, cheered the Biden-Harris victory at a few different points, but also told an enthusiastic crowd — through a bullhorn — “As much as we love Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they need to be true to the promises that they made. ... We need resources to fight this plague, we need resources to stop people living on the streets, we need resources to make sure people aren’t evicted.”

The mayor also said it’s time to bridge political divisions where we can, recognizing the disappointment of Trump supporters evidenced by the relatively narrow margin of Biden’s victory. Lightfoot repeatedly said “no” as people booed as she said Trump’s name.

“We have to figure out a way to unite as a country,” Lightfoot said. “We need to be gracious winners and make room at the table of governance for those people of goodwill who we may not agree with. ... That is the only way we’re going to move forward. We need to build bridges to them and they need to come over those bridges to us.”

Data point: A reminder that each candidate set popular vote records with Biden getting 74 million to Trump’s nearly 70 million, according to unofficial results.

New York Times: Senator Mitch McConnell threw his support behind President Trump’s refusal to concede the election, declining to recognize Joe Biden’s victory — Read the full story here.

Much at stake as Supreme Court weighs future of ‘Obamacare’ starting tomorrow: “Arguments will revolve around arcane points of law like severability — whether the justices can surgically snip out part of the law and leave the rest, but what’s at stake has real-world consequences for just about every American, as well as the health care industry, a major source of jobs and tax revenues,” The Associated Press reports.

“The argument against the law from the Trump administration and conservative states is that the 10-year-old statute was rendered unconstitutional in its entirety when Congress dialed down to zero a penalty on those remaining uninsured,” The AP notes. A look at what’s at stake here.

Lightfoot wants U.S. mayors ‘at the table’ in Biden-Harris response to COVID-19

Lightfoot today hailed the appointment of Dr. Morita, who served in the city’s public health department including as its commissioner until 2019, to the Biden-Harris COVID-19 advisory board.

“Dr. Morita obviously knows the city very well. She’s a national expert, (and) there’s already been some communications with her,” the mayor said during a news conference.

The mayor said she’ll be urging the Biden administration to bring mayors into their discussions on COVID-19 response, considering policies and procedures are implemented at the local level, saying, “We have not been at the table.”

Biden met with the COVID-19 advisory panel, then held a news conference imploring the public to wear masks as cases surge nationwide. His approach represents a shift from President Donald Trump’s upbeat approach to the pandemic, The Associated Press notes in a piece. They emphasis on a virus response underscores the virus is likely to dominate the early days of his administration.

Over the past two weeks, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen nearly 65%.

DuPage and Kane among counties in Chicago and southern Illinois to face 10-person limit on gatherings as COVID-19 surges – Positivity rates on coronavirus tests in the suburban and southern Illinois regions have continued to increase even after Pritzker ordered the shutdown of indoor dining and bar service and capped gatherings at 25 people in those areas roughly two weeks ago. Many establishments have flouted the governor’s orders, and local officials in some areas have refused to enforce them, The Tribune’s Dan Petrella reports.

Mayor Lightfoot said she is planning a series of mitigation measures that are more limited than the options used by city and state officials in the spring and will share information about it later in the week, the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt reports.

Data points: Statewide, the test positivity — the share of positive tests out of all tests taken in a 24-hour period — was at a seven-day average of 12.4% as of Sunday, up from 8.2% when the state began reporting the figure on Oct. 29.

Pfizer: early data signals COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90 % effective: read The Associated Press story here.

TOMORROW - A virtual conversation with the mayor about what her life looks like amid the pandemic: The “Chicago Ideas” series has gone virtual and tomorrow night it will feature a conversation between Chicago Ideas founder Brad Keywell and Mayor Lightfoot. Sounds like it may be lighter on policy and more personal, according to the website. Questions will range from how she stays “calm” to ho she spends her free time. More information, including how to tune in to the 7 p.m.-8 p.m. event Tuesday, here.

Mention of Rahm Emanuel in a Biden-Harris Cabinet sparks controversy

The New York Times reports today: “The former mayor has been floated by some in Mr. Biden’s inner circle to lead a department like housing or transportation.”

During the campaign, Emanuel was having regular conversations with Biden and his top advisers about everything from economic policy to the selection of a running mate, the Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart reported in May. That proved true, too, during the debates when Emanuel, doing the TV pundit rounds, seemed to have the best crystal ball for predicting Biden’s approach.

Asked via text whether he was interested in a Cabinet post or had spoken to Biden, Emanuel replied to The Spin: “Chill. Relax.”

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Fran Spielman talked to him in recent days, writing that he “did not slam the door on serving in the Biden administration in some capacity.”

“If the president calls, that’s one thing. But, I don’t expect that,” Emanuel told Spielman.

But New York U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez blasted him as a “pretty divisive pick,” pointing to his battles with the teachers unions and racial justice. “And it would signal, I think, a hostile approach to the grassroots and the progressive wing of the party.”

Matt Martin, the Chicago alderman in the North Side ward Emanuel calls home, applauded the criticism on Twitter: “Rahm’s Alderman here. Also the guy who helped write the consent decree after the murder of Laquan McDonald. Chicagoans already retired Rahm. Let’s keep it that way.”

Emanuel has for the bulk of the presidential campaign season been preaching the gospel of moderate Democrats, saying that the far-left, which includes Democratic socialists such as AOC, would hurt the party’s chances of winning swing votes.

It may be a fissure between ideological wings in the party, but as Politico reminds, if he was picked, confirmation hearings would include an examination of how he handled the aftermath of the Chicago police killing of Laquan McDonald, a case widely believed to have prompted him to scrap a bid for a third term as Chicago mayor.

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Armchair quarterbacking the election

Illinois' Bustos won’t seek second term as head of congressional Democrats' campaign arm: The Hill newspaper and other news outlets are reporting that U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, of Moline, "will not run for a second term leading House Democrats' campaign arm following a disappointing election where her party saw at least seven vulnerable incumbents go down to defeat.

“In a statement Monday, Bustos confirmed that she would not run for chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for the 2022 cycle, saying that the party would be in good hands next year with a House majority and Joe Biden in the White House.” Read the rest of the story here.

Underwood-Oberweis race in Illinois' 14th Congressional District still too close to call: With mail-in ballots now being counted, freshman U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, a Naperville Democrat, is leading state Sen. Jim Oberweis, a Sugar Grove Republican. Little more than 1,000 votes separated them. NBC5-Chicago has the details here.

Pandemic, lack of trust in government and Madigan effect help send graduated tax amendment to defeat: The Tribune’s Rick Pearson, Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks have the details here.

Data points: The proposed graduated-rate tax amendment was defeated with 55% of voters rejecting it. Unofficial vote totals showed the measure only got a majority in one of the state’s counties — Cook — with 62.5%. Downstate, 80% of voters rejected the change; opposition topped 60% in 88 of the state’s 102 counties.

The loss is "yet one more sign Michael Madigan’s grip over Illinois and its beleaguered citizens is growing weaker,” Denise Crosby writes in an Aurora Beacon-News column. “And the governor’s loss has given Republicans, who had been wringing their hands over Trump’s negative influence on their party, a much-needed shot in the arm in their quest to wrestle control of Springfield from the Democrats.” Read the full story here.

Blue wave drenches DuPage County, aiding Democratic transformation of onetime Republican stronghold. But will it last? Once known as one of the most solidly Republican areas in the country, DuPage County appears to have given Democrats control of the County Board for the first time since the 1930s, the Tribune’s John Keilman reports.

Trump vs. Biden: Inside Chicago’s politically split 41st Ward — ‘I don’t talk about it, you know?’ — The Tribune’s Alice Yin and John Byrne have the story here.

Illinois crosses $100 million threshold in weed sales as election victories pave way for more growth

The Tribune’s Robert Channick writes: “There was no blue wave or red wave during Election Day, but the green wave rolled on as voters expanded recreational marijuana use to more locations just days after the industry’s most lucrative month yet in Illinois.”

Four more states approved recreational marijuana use in Tuesday’s election, while six Chicago suburbs joined a growing list of Illinois municipalities allowing adult use cannabis dispensaries.

Other news: Stroger Hospital nurses could face firing after what they say was a Halloween-themed bargaining march — including a plastic rat, skeleton and a bouquet of dried flowers, the Tribune’s Alice Yin writes.

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Twitter @byldonovan

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