Illinois Review

These 10 Examples of Defensive Gun Use Underscore Second Amendment’s True Purpose

Here are examples of why the right to bear arms is so essential. Amy Swearer writes:

Every day, untold numbers of Americans rely on their Second Amendment rights to protect their lives and livelihoods.

According to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost every major study on the issue has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times a year. There’s good reason to believe that most of these defensive gun uses aren’t reported to police, much less make the local or national news.

For this reason, The Daily Signal each month publishes an article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read accounts from 2019 and so far in 2020 here.)

Di Leo: The Biden Campaign: Explaining the Incomprehensible

By John F Di Leo - 

In this, the strangest of all years, certain things are inexplicable.  The DNC’s decision to coalesce around Joe Biden in the primaries, always odd, today seems like madness.  But was it? 

Consider where we are, at this particular moment in the season... in terms of the election process. 

The rules for replacing a candidate on the ballot – late in the season - vary from state to state, and from office to office. 

Angry Duckworth spews more venom at Trump in fundraising letter

From Duckworth's Twitter feed

CHICAGO - Illinois' junior US Senator Tammy Duckworth succeeds in drumming up sympathy for the serious injuries she sustained while serving in the US military. Every American is thankful for the sacrifices she and all our troops have made and are committed to showing his appreciation when men and women that bear scars of those sacrifices run for political office. We want and need their input, voters think. 

But during the time Duckworth has served with US Senator Dick Durbin, she's become more and more vocal in expressing what could be pent up anger - especially against the Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump. She was being considered for the vice-presidency bid with Biden, but lost out to Kamala Harris. She could be angry that she lost the chance to be Commander-in-Chief, succeeding Biden. 

Observers are concerned that Duckworth's simmering animosity and hatred appears to be on the verge of an emotional explosion - all expressed with the purpose of raising funds to be re-elected to a second term in a few years. She may need counseling before then. At least anger control help.  

Here's the fuming fundraising letter Duckworth's campaign sent out this week - in its entirety. In it, she leads with a statement that is an outright lie about the president. But it gets worse: 

 

Di Leo: Those 100 GOP Traitor Endorsements Are Not What They Seem

By John F. Di Leo - 

The Democrat Party may have saddled themselves with the worst presidential nominee in history – elderly, corrupt, arguably befuddled to the point of senility – but they do still have many brilliant political statisticians on their payroll, as evidenced by their effort to win back the week’s news cycle with a powerhouse list of endorsements. 

On September 3, the Biden/Harris campaign proudly announced a huge list of fresh Republican supporters. Now, in any general election campaign, you expect all the members of candidate’s party to support him, plus perhaps a few friends or renegades from the opposition party.  The hoped-for shock value of this announcement was that it was a list of 100 Republican officeholders, all endorsing the Biden/Harris campaign. 

This raises questions, as it should. What would possess so many prominent Republicans to abandon their own party at the risk of never being elected again, especially in favor of a man literally on tape proudly boasting of blackmailing foreign governments with our tax dollars? How is this possible? 

Well, as we learn from a little digging into the article, all is not as it seems.

Londrigan's support for Pritzker's Progressive Tax becomes issue in 13th CD campaign

Betsy Londrigan, a liberal Democrat, is once again challenging Rodney Davis in IL'S 13th CD

TAYLORVILLE -- Governor Pritzker's effort to change the Illinois Constitution from a flat state income tax for all to a progressive rate requiring more taxes the more one makes has become a campaign issue in a downstate Congressional race.  

Earlier this week, Democrat challenger Betsy Londrigan broke her silence and announced her support for Governor Pritzker and Speaker Mike Madigan’s graduated income tax hike, which would raise taxes on many small businesses and farmers in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

That move provoked a response from Republican incumbent Rodney Davis' re-election campaign.

“Betsy Londrigan’s support for Mike Madigan’s tax hike is shameful, yet unsurprising. Londrigan always chooses her corrupt party boss over Illinois families. Madigan’s tax hike that Londrigan supports would raise taxes on family farmers and small businesses in the middle of the pandemic, just as they struggle to keep their doors open. Giving more power to politicians in Springfield to raise taxes in this tough economy would lead to disaster, but that hasn’t stopped Londrigan from supporting Madigan’s tax hike. Illinois can’t afford Londrigan’s liberal policies,” Aaron DeGroot, Davis' campaign spokesperson said.

Trump Tweets "Esther is Great!" about 17th CD Republican candidate

Over the weekend, President Trump drew attention to 17th CD Republican challenger Esther Joy King. King is hoping to oust far Left incumbent Democrat Cheri Bustos in the November 2020 election. 

King was interviewed earlier this year by a local news show - and shared her thoughts about a number of issues: 

Di Leo: From Local Riots to Societal Collapse, From Paris to Kenosha

By John F Di Leo -

Politicians have an old joke – maybe too truthful and unfunny to be called a joke – about the politician who sees a crowd marching along, and mutters to himself, “I’d better find out where they’re going, so I can wriggle my way to the front and lead them there.”

This date in history, August 26, holds a worthwhile lesson on this subject.  It was on August 26, 1789, when the Marquis de Lafayette and the Abbe Saiyes (allegedly with lots of advice from the USA ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson), published their Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, designed to be one of the cornerstones of the French Revolutionary government.

They didn’t intend for the French Revolution to be a bloodbath, after all.  Much of the French nobility was honestly trying to do the right thing, to gradually and responsibly guide the country toward republican governance under a figurehead monarch.  They thought the Paris mob, already visibly dangerous from their ghastly behavior at the practically-empty Bastille, could be controlled, their energy harnessed in support of this worthy goal.

Di Leo: Pushing the Envelope: Using a Pandemic to Undermine our Elections

By John F. Di Leo - 

The question of the year is, how should we manage our elections?

Perhaps this should actually be the question every year, as study after study, and numerous convictions – all over the country - have proven that vote fraud is real and widespread, not just some localized Chicago problem or political red herring.

But with pandemic-related calls for sweeping changes in our voting methods this year, with an effort to rush them through without so much as a chance for analysis and discussion, we risk turning our elections from merely imperfect to worse than useless.

Wallace: Political Corruption, Not Racism, is Cause of Disparities

Senate GOP candidate Eric Wallace (r) w/ Bremen Township GOP Chairman Kevin Suggs (l)

By Dr. Eric Wallace - 

People have been marching in the streets about social injustice and disparities. They have been calling out White privilege and racism as the main causes of the disparate racial and economic differences in outcomes for people of color. However, one thing they have overlooked in the state of Illinois is the consequences of the corruption and the “pay to play” government politics that have once again been exposed by the ComEd bribery scheme.

Marchers have failed to understand how Democrat political boss Michael Madigan has controlled who gets hired and fired. He controls who gets money to run for office and who gets a primary challenger. He controls what happens in Springfield by controlling what bills get released for a vote or not.

The recent scandal exposes the fact that the average person’s utility bill has spiked up because Madigan was profiting off the backs of Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. You may say, "Well, that’s an equal opportunity scam." I would argue that the scam makes it harder for the poor to pay their bills. Unless they are politically connected it makes it hard for many, especially Blacks and Hispanics, to advance unless they kiss the ring of Michael Madigan.

Durbin still pushing out 2016 Russian election interference conspiracy

Illinois US Senator Dick Durbin is still seriously pushing this conspiracy theory Wednesday ... and he links to an NPR story entitled "Senate Report: Former Trump Aide Paul Manafort Shared Campaign Info With Russia."

The story doesn't mention the ties between the FBI and their FISA requests that failed to mention they were based on a false Russian-based affidavit paid for by the Clinton campaign. 

Di Leo: Truth, Lies and Journalism in decline

By John F. Di Leo - 

Kamala Harris' Eligibility Question and the Brick Wall of the Cancel Culture

What is truth?  This can be a challenge, but no matter whether one is a journalist, politician, mechanic or baker, it should be everyone’s quest.  In Western Civilization, from religion to science to philosophy, one of the key goals in life is the search for objective truth, however elusive though it may be. 

What is a lie?  Is it simply the opposite of truth?   

Not necessarily.  This can be harder to determine, in fact, because to be a lie, there must be intent behind it.  A statement or belief may be honestly held, but still be wrong.  Is it then a lie? 

So what do we do with the world of opinion, that broad realm in between?  Time was, a newspaper tried its best to put objective truth on every page but one: the editorial page was the home of the in-between, the opinion, the presently unprovable but fervently believed. 

Thorner: Chaos and Mass Disenfranchisement Plague Mail-in Ballots

Bay News photo

By Nancy Thorner -

Trump is correct regarding problems with mail-in voting.  It is an invitation for Voter Fraud, even though Democrats insist that fraud doesn't exist.  A search on Goggle likewise counters the existence of mail-in ballot fraud and further calls out President Trump for suggesting that fraud does exist.

The Trump administration, as well as the Republicans in Washington, have been warning about the potential for all sorts of problems related to mail-in voting in this year’s election, not to be confused with absentee ballots.

With the COVID-19 issue still lingering, Democrats are going to continue their strong push toward voting by mail as a way to prevent large crowds from gathering at polling places, fully realizing this method of voting is conducive to voter fraud in the upcoming November election.

Durbin challenger Mark Curran tells supporters "We can win this!"

LAKE COUNTY - Deep blue Illinois' political pendulum could swing away from its decades-long Democrat Party grip, says Illinois' GOP US Senate candidate Mark Curran. 

That's despite the Republican National Committee telling Curran (far right in photo) he won't be getting much help from the party's top levels.

"The Democrat strategy of hiding until the online censors and left wing media get them elected is working. They don't debate, they don't talk to voters, they just trust the machine to hand them power again, so they can continue to self-enrich, while America burns," Curran told supporters in an email over the weekend. 

"That means the folks at the RNC are busy playing defense," his campaign wrote. "They aren't paying much attention to my Senate race - but that's not me!"

 "We can win this," Curran says.

Di Leo: Funerals and Hypocrisy, in an Election Year

By John F. Di Leo -  

The week of July 26 saw six days of memorial services for the late congressman, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D, GA).  Some were big events, with lots of people in attendance. Since he was a politician, he had politicians speaking at his nationally-televised funerals.  And that’s certainly fair.

But here’s the odd thing…

I lost a very dear friend, a few months ago. Not from “The Virus”… no, she was 89, and she had been suffering from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's for 5 years. It was just old age.

She hasn't had her funeral yet.

Di Leo: American Elections and the Ballot Generator System

By John F. Di Leo - 

Despite having stuck themselves with a presidential nominee with boatloads of ethical, policy, and likely mental health problems, Democrats don’t seem scared of this November.  Some believe that’s because the Democrats will just “steal it”... as if the Democrat party can suddenly just decide to turn on the vote fraud machine, and steal the five million they’ll need to win the presidency. 

It doesn’t actually work that way.   

Those who follow the business pages might have a better analogy:  it takes time, but if you build a funnel, a system, a regular flow of steady clients, then that flow can keep producing revenue for your restaurant chain, your consulting business, or your retail business, without added management.   Such a clockwork "revenue generator" is the goal of every business.

That’s how vote fraud is today, in America.  There's a ballot generator that operates under the surface, not in one city or state, but to varying extents and by various methods, all across the country.

Illinois Rising Action Launches Paid Media Campaign focusing on Pritzker’s Failures

CHICAGO, IL – Illinois Rising Action launched a television and digital campaign last week exposing the Pritzker administration’s record of serving the political class while burdening families with higher taxes and failing to assist thousands of Illinoisans with unemployment claims when they needed help most.

“Tax hikes, taxpayer-funded pay raises for Springfield politicians, and a broken unemployment filing system embody Governor Pritzker’s record in office for Illinoisans,” said Kayleen Carlson, executive director of Illinois Rising Action. “It is clear that he and his administration have forgotten that they don’t work for the politicians in Springfield, they work for Illinois families.”

Illinois Rising Action is associated with America Rising  - a political action committee made up of Republican operatives that have worked for high profile politicians from Congresswoman Liz Cheney to former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk.

The campaign’s ad, “Failed”, is appearing throughout the state.

Di Leo: The Demands of the Day: Lessons from a Seattle Mob

by John F. Di Leo -

In Seattle this week, a group of assorted Democrat activists (some Antifa, some BLM, some veterans of earlier radical groups like Occupy, and of course some garden-variety looters and thugs) took over an eight block section of Seattle and declared it the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone, imagining themselves a new and independent country.

The establishment of CHAZ has naturally inspired an endless number of jokes, from comparisons of the area to Sonny and Cher’s daughter of the same name, to humor at their first action: shameless begging for vegan food and comfortable pants for today’s fashionable radical.

But this is a serious issue, one that requires our full attention. Unlike the legitimate residents and governments of a town or state severing ties with the national government (like our own Civil War or our War of Independence), this is a criminal band, gathered together from other places, to take over (squat on) other people’s land, kidnap its residents, and declare an overthrow of the rule of law over their captives.  They have fenced it in, and stationed armed guards along the perimeter (meaning that they obviously do have heavy funding, despite their pretense at poverty and hunger).

Winning for Women Endorses Mary Miller for IL-15

OAKLAND, IL – Winning for Women, an organization dedicated to amplifying the voice of women who adhere to conservative principles, is endorsing Republican candidate Mary Miller for Congress in the 15th District in Illinois.

Winning For Women (W4W), a 501c4 with a connected federal PAC, announced its second round of candidate endorsements for 2020, and Mary Miller was one of five candidates running for the US Representatives to be selected. W4W bases its endorsements off a number of metrics, including: significant fundraising numbers proportionate to the candidate’s district; an established campaign team; and a viable path to success through the primary and general elections.

“We’re excited to announce our support for a new round of strong, qualified conservative women. More women than ever before are running for Congress, and these represent the best of them,” said W4W Political Director Micah Yousefi. “Not only will Winning For Women’s PAC provide critical hard-dollar support to their campaigns, but it will also activate on their behalf a grassroots army of 800,000 members nationwide. We’re proud to stand behind these incredible candidates.”

Gov Pritzker blasts "Re-Open Illinois" protests; accuses GOP lawmakers, US Senate candidate of being "dangerous"

From video taken at Chicago rally Saturday 

CHICAGO - Monday, Governor JB Pritzker told reporters he feared for his and his family's safety because of signs that were displayed at protests in Springfield and Chicago last Saturday. 

In response to the press conference question from NPR-Illinois, "Governor, are you worried about you, or your family’s safety after anti-Semitic hate speech was used during protests over the weekend?" Pritzker said he was - because of protest signs.

"Yes, I have to admit that I am worried about my family’s safety. You saw some of the signs, some of the vehemence - those people were carrying signs with swastikas and pictures of Adolph Hitler - uh, references to me and my family. Um, yeah, I’m concerned," he said.

Photos of the Springfield rally showed one handmade sign with two swastikas and Pritzker wearing a Hitler-like mustache. A video of the Chicago rally shows protesters loudly rejecting a person flaunting a flag with a swastika. "He's not with us," the protesters said. "Soros plant!" others shouted at the flag bearer.

Di Leo: Living a May Day in a Shuttered World

By John F. Di Leo - 

For centuries now, even millennia, May 1 has been a very big day.

Ancient Romans, Etruscans, Greeks and Celts had seasonal festivals as May began, celebrating the coming of summer… modern European countries have May Day carnivals, flower sales, and dances.  The Catholic Church considers May the month of Our Lady, a special time of devotion to that greatest of mortal role models…  for kids, May is the winding down of the school year, and for adults, it is the long-awaited beginning of planting season (here in the north, at least).

And so of course the Left had to go and ruin it. 

Ever since the mid 1800s, the Left has tried to take over the First of May, calling it International Workers’ Day.  Each year, the communists call for a general strike on May 1, and 2020 is no different.  As so much of the country is on shutdown for the Wuhan Virus, they may well try to take some credit for it this time… and perhaps they should.

Thorner/O'Neil: Will the liberal media succeed in its message of deception?

By Nancy Thorner & Bonnie O'Neil - 

There continues to be undeniable proof that many news sources can no longer be trusted with reporting the facts, but instead they resort to opinion journalism. Unfair and biased reporting must be exposed, especially when the news involves politics.

Consider how CNN avoided covering the accusations by Tara Reade, who over a month ago accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her.  This avoidance of coverage occurred despite an interview with Tara Reade’s friend who says she was told about Biden’s assault.

Politicians, of all people, should avoid anything that might cause them to be vulnerable to blackmail, especially one who is a candidate for president of the United States who already has many questionable activities in his background. Lack of virtue could also provide a window into an elected politician's character. Consider if a foreign agent had evidence of a deep dark secret of a public official. The risk this poses cannot be ignored by voters.

Political analysis says Illinois Republicans could lose even more in 2020

NOTE: Illinois Review offers a platform for conservatives to share ideas, information and opinions. Opinion pieces are not to be considered Illinois Review's position or opinion on topics our gracious contributors submit to share with our readership. We encourage responses and comments in support or opposition.

Opinion analysis by Cor Strategies - Collin Corbett, Founder & President -  

Like you, we’re hunkered down at home quarantining ourselves to do our part in reducing the spread of COVID-19. But what does a company full of politicos that just finished a Primary Election do when they’re put on a stay-at-home order?

We start looking at election results – and by looking, we mean analyzing in depth. And, unfortunately, this 2020 Primary Election has shown some alarming trends Illinois Republicans should be worried about when it comes to voter turnout.

Di Leo: Laundry Lists, Stimuli, and Pop Culture Propaganda

NOTE: Illinois Review offers a platform for conservatives to share ideas, information and opinions. Opinion pieces are not to be considered Illinois Review's position or opinion on topics our gracious contributors submit to share with our readership. We encourage responses and comments in support or opposition.

By John F. Di Leo - 

When Republican members of Congress joined the Trump administration to work on a proposed stimulus plan to address the Wuhan Flu epidemic – a relief package for employers that had to close the doors for a shutdown, and for citizens on layoff as a result – the House Democrats refused to participate, smugly saying “We’ll write our own bill.”

In a single weekend, they presented an 1119-page COVID-19 relief bill of their own, and it was a doozy.  Chock full of pork for the House Democrats’ special interests, it included union giveaways, student loan write offs, institutionalized vote fraud techniques, and more.  A veritable wish list of American statists that they could never pass in normal times, so they threw a Hail Mary pass in the hope that they might sneak it through in an emergency.

Most shocking, perhaps, was the list of Green New Deal elements that the Pelosi bill included.  One after another, it looks like a laundry list provided by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’ puppeteers:  mandates for airlines to “offset” their harmless “carbon emissions,”  a push for airports to destroy perfectly functional equipment, yet another new commission for the “study” of the utterly discredited theory of global warming, and more. 1119 pages of this stuff.

Di Leo: Thanks to COVID-19, American Left awakens to human life value

Recent Korean Wedding - from commisceo-global.com

By John F Di Leo - 

There are politicians, media figures, and pop-culture influencers, too, jumping on the coronavirus scare, warning of its dangers, and perhaps, using it to demonstrate their bona fides as caring individuals, dedicated to the protection of human life.

Largely due to the western world’s foolish dependence on mainland China as a source for both finished goods and components for manufacturing elsewhere, the coronavirus is currently causing a global short-term economic downturn. There should be no reason for this trouble to be lasting - if we keep our heads -but it is almost certain to be destructive if an economic panic gains traction due to these inflated health-related fears.

Over just a couple of weeks’ time, we have seen major conventions and trade shows canceled, and both personal and business travel plummet.  Now, even local activities like sporting events and concerts, some that don’t even attract international travel, are being threatened with cancellation as well, threatening the viability of the always-fragile hospitality and retail industries.

Di Leo: One Election Day and a Thousand Regrets

By John F. Di Leo - 

The primary season has only just begun, but already, it has reminded us of several truisms that the major parties always forget from year to year:

• That young people just don’t vote in the numbers that older people do, so don’t build your hopes upon changing the makeup of the electorate…
• That money can’t make up for a lack of charisma, so a rich bore can’t just spend his way to victory…
• and of course, That our primary calendar looks like something designed by a practical jokester rather than someone who wants the best for America.

But the most definitive truism that was reinforced the week of Super Tuesday, 2020, is this:

For a republic’s election process to function properly, each election needs to be a snapshot in time. The same information needs to be available to all participants before they cast their ballots, so a proper election must take place on a single day.

Di Leo: Michael Bloomberg Raises Question of the Year

By John F. Di Leo - 

The most important question raised in the Democratic Party’s South Carolina debate did not concern such foolish measures as Medicare-for-All, reparations for slavery, or Joe Biden’s imbecilic exaggeration about murder statistics (150 million murders in the USA? Really?).

The key issue of the day was only mentioned in passing, by Michael Bloomberg, of all people, and it was immediately set aside… and of course, he got it wrong.

Michael Bloomberg tried to make a case for his nomination, on the grounds of his own extensive business experience… and his own long and happy collaboration with Mainland China. He talked about the importance of dealing with Red China, as if this interdependence is a given, because, as he said, “our economies are inextricably linked.”

Di Leo: "Numbers Don't Lie" - A Timeless Truism, However Inconvenient

By John F. Di Leo - 

At this writing, early Wednesday morning, the Democratic Party has still not released the full results of Monday evening’s Iowa caucus.

The Democratic Party tells us this is because of a technological failure - that some new app failed in tabulating the votes.

Hogwash.

Tarter responds to Log Cabin Republicans' endorsement

SPRINGFIELD - Earlier this week, the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of Republicans committed to LGBT rights, announced their pick in the March 17th GOP primary for US Senate. 

Their pick, Springfield area cancer surgeon Tom Tarter, had answered the group's questionnaire satisfactorily, earning him their support.

"Dr. Tarter wil be a strong voice to fix our broken healthcare system. He supports the President, he's a conservative, and he supports inclusion in the Republican Party," said Alex Walker, the Log Cabin Republicans' communications manager.

Tarter responded to the group's endorsement and confirmed that he was also standing by the positions he took on the Illinois Family Action's questionnaire as well. IFA is a firm supporter of the traditional family and opponent of groups and movements that work to limit religious rights when they collide with LGBT rights.

UPDATE x1: LGBT Republicans endorse Tarter; Family group questions rationale

UPDATE: Illinois Family Action, the state's most prominent traditional values' group, says they're confused by this announcement. See below for what they're thinking ... 

SPRINGFIELD - The Log Cabin Republicans of Illinois announced Tuesday they are endorsing Tom Tarter, a cancer surgeon from the Springfield area, as their pick for the US Senate GOP primary on March 17th.

In light of DMV voter registration "mistake," should Sec of State White resign?

CHICAGO - Should someone at the top of the Department of Motor Vehicles step down in light of the revelation that 574 non-citizens were "mistakenly" registered to vote last year? Illinois Review is running a survey on our Facebook page - asking their readers if Secretary of State Jesse White should resign.

Thus far overwhelmingly, participants are saying "Yes, White should resign." Voice your opinion.

Chicago Women Marchers promote Left-wing causes

CHICAGO - "This is the beginning of the end," shouted marchers at the Chicago Women's March Saturday. The theme repeated over and over by marchers and speakers was the needed ousting of not only President Donald Trump, but Vice-President Mike Pence in 2020. 

Signs featured on local television news called for reproductive rights, human rights, LGBT rights and union rights. They also called for Medicare for All and full 2020 Census participation.

Controversial State's Attorney Kim Foxx at Women's March

Among those making appearances at the march included Chicago's Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and US Senator Dick Durbin.

Chamber of Commerce's Maish: Illinois' Flat tax is really a fair tax

Illinois voters will be asked to amend the State Constitution next November. The Left - led by Gov. JB Pritzker with $5 million of his own money - desperately wants to oust the state's "flat tax." Illinois Chamber of Commerce's Todd Maisch explained why Illinois' flat tax is really the "fair tax" Pritzker wants to remove:

Chicago Prolifers to feature Democrat that voted to impeach Trump

CHICAGO - Saturday, Chicago's annual March for Life will feature a Democrat Congressman - the only remaining Democrat in Congress that is pro-life. 

But while Congressman Dan Lipinski is prolife, he's not so big on what many national pro-life leaders call "the most pro-life US president in history" - Donald J. Trump. 

Trump's views on abortion did not "trump" what he did wrong concerning Ukraine, because Lipinski pointed to his concerns about Trump's behavior as a reason he voted in the US House to impeach Trump last month.

Thorner & O'Neil: Beware of Ballot Fraud in 2020 Presidential Election

By Nancy Thorner  & Bonnie O'Neil - 

California is the most populous state in our nation, arguably because it is a large state, but it is undeniably beautiful as well, with majestic mountains, the magnificent Pacific Ocean coast, and lush valleys that produce an abundance of fruit and vegetables. No matter what type of weather one prefers, California has it in one county or another. But perhaps the most important reason American citizens should be interested, if not concerned, about California is because it also has become the epic center of societal and political change, which is then often copied by our other states.

As to political unrest, a few years ago there was a strong effort by some California counties to succeed from the state and form their own state. There have also been serious efforts to split the State into three different States, because there is such a diversity of needs from counties that border Mexico and those that border Oregon.  A year ago there was a strong effort to  recall California Governor Gavin Newsom.  Many California citizens believed he was unwilling to be fair and/or as concerned about some counties as he was of others.

1st CD GOP candidates Franco, Tillman propose changes

IL GOP candidates Lynn Franco (center) and Jimmy Tillman (right) 

TINLEY PARK - Republican candidates Jimmy Tillman and Lynn Franco, along with Philanise White and John Wassenaar, are competing for the GOP nomination in the 1st Congressional District. The 1st CD has been long held by Democrat Bobby Rush, who himself is facing four primary opponents in March 2020.

Chicagoans Tillman and Franco participated in an IL GOP candidates forum last Thursday night, hosted by the Bremen Township GOP and Will County Republicans.

Tillman emphasized the need for the USMCA to be enforced, and Franco emphasized the need for trade training and raising the standards of education in the black community.

Four IL Republicans file to challenge Durbin in 2020

SPRINGFIELD - As of noon the last day that 2020 GOP primary candidates can submit petitions to be on the ballot, four Republicans could be on next March's GOP primary statewide:

• former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran,
• Springfield area cancer surgeon Dr. Thomas Tarter,
• Belleville area former veteran and law enforcement officer Peggy Hubbard and
• Glenview businessman, as well as former President of the Polish American Congress – Illinois Division Casey Chlebek. 

Whichever of these Republicans that wins the March 2020 primary will challenge US Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin in the November 2020 presidential election. 

The 75 year old Durbin first was elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 1996 - defeating Republican Al Salvi with the help of former President Bill Clinton at the top of the ticket. 

Thus far, 7 GOPers file to oust Dem Lauren Underwood in IL's 14th CD

SPRINGFIELD - Thus far, seven Republican candidates have submitted petitions to challenge first term Democrat incumbent Lauren Underwood in 2020 in a district in which Donald Trump won in 2016. 

Today begins the filing of candidates in both Republican and Democrat Parties to compete in the March 17, 2020 Primary election - and candidates lined up at Springfield's Board of Elections to be the first to submit their petitions of candidacy. 

The Illinois 2020 campaign officially begins with getting one's name on the ballot - although it takes a campaign and organization of sorts to accumulate those valued petition signatures.