They're all veteran lawyers, longtime judges in their early 60s. And they're all women, although there's nothing particularly ladylike about the political brawl in which they're now engaged. Meet the candidates for a crucial seat on the Illinois Supreme Court from Cook County, perhaps the liveliest race on the March Democratic primary election ballot—and arguably the most meaningful.
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Pat Quinn still hope they can talk enough Republicans into borrowing money to pay off the state's backlog of bills, but negative marks by two bond rating agencies may snuff out what little hope they had of getting GOP lawmakers to budge.
Republicans trying to block a Democratic-drawn congressional redistricting map have told a federal court panel that documents show a concerted effort from Springfield to Washington to “get more Democratic pick-ups” at the expense of GOP members in the Illinois delegation.
GOP pressure at the Statehouse mounted Thursday on state Sen. Suzi Schmidt to either forego re-election next year or to resign after the release of politically toxic 911 recordings stemming from an ongoing domestic dispute with her husband.
Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford is defending his decision to use state funds to pay for a brochure that went largely to campaign contributors and other supporters of the Republican Party.
