While it may have begun as the political equivalent of Rebel Without A Cause's "Chickie Run" scene, the fight between Illinois State Democrats and Gov. Bruce Rauner has long since sent the budget off a cliff. The resulting number of casualties in critical public and nonprofit service organizations and the people they serve has meant March 15 primary races are no longer referendums of frustration but, for many voters, fear coupled with disgust.
Challengers to House incumbents are taking full advantage of public sentiment towards Springfield. The 5th House District race for the Democratic seat between Rep. Ken Dunkin and challenger Juliana Stratton ( whom President Obama recently endorsed ) has become one of the most expensive in Illinois state history, with both sides pouring money into planting the perception that a vote for Dunkin is a blank check for Rauner's agenda and a vote for Stratton adds another marionette to the end of House Speaker Michael Madigan's strings.
Defending his seat in the 22nd District, Madigan himself is facing accusations from opponent Jason Gonzales that he has neglected the needs and concerns of the people of his district. Editorials have asserted that the Gonzales campaign is being funded by Rauner's supporters. Gonzales has admitted to both that and the jail time he served for credit card fraud when he was a teenager.
The prevailing insinuation that incumbents are not doing their jobs is much the same in the 26th District, where Rep. Christian Mitchell is up against a second challenge to his seat from Jay Travis who has attacked Mitchell for not listening to his constituents. Despite Mitchell's voting record of 95 percent against Rauner, in a Feb. 8 press release, the Travis campaign declared "local leaders: Time to replace 26th District "Rauner" Democrat."
In a letter to the Forest Park Review, 7th District Democratic candidate Chris Harris went even further than assertions of an overall poor job performance in Springfield. He believes the entire system is on "a path to self-destruct." He added that his district "suffers from neglect but our rep [Emanuel "Chris" Welch] and the state. His responses to the Windy City Times candidate questionnaire, indicate that the LGBT community's interests will not suffer from a similar neglect, having "seen the struggles" for himself.
Cynthia Soto has held the 4th District House seat for 15 years. Democrat businessman Robert Zwolinski wants to change that with a campaign message stating that 15 years is "too long" for residents of the 4th District to have "lacked a voice in Springfield."
"One of the reasons why we got into this mess is due to career politicians," Zwolinski claimed in a campaign video.
Responding to the Windy City Times questionnaire, Soto highlighted her support for the LGBT community as a significant part of her career including marriage equality, HIV funding and increased funding for LGBTQ homeless youth. Zwolinski's campaign website makes no mention of those or any LGBT issues.
In the 40th District, immigrant and entrepreneur Harish Patel has declared war on the "old-style political machine" represented in Jaime Andrade Jr. who succeeded Deb Mell when she vacated the seat to represent the 33rd Ward as alderman. Patel called Rauner's budget cuts "outrageous." Should one of Rauner's fellow Republicans win the White House in November, any agenda to round up and deport the state's community of undocumented immigrants will find unashamed defiance in Patel who pledges to make Illinois a sanctuary state.