Big Names and Big Money in Illinois as Governor Faces Challenges on All Sides (17ilgov) (17ilgov)

I voted for Daniel Bliss and I don't regret it in the slightest; with a degree from MIT in mathematics and a fiercely progressive agenda, he was the only candidate with whom I matched over 50%. Now are options are a rich tycoon and a rich tycoon; one who is the most oddly liberal Republican in our state but somehow too conservative for Democrats and a man who makes big promises but has questionable words and actions. Yeah, sounds about right for Illinois politics.

Illinois does not need another millionaire or billionaire as governor. It is time for public financing of politics. Illinois has the worst pension funding problem in the nation. There is a hundred billion dollar liability that the state has to our pension systems. This is what all the candidates should be talking about. The NYT should be telling voters how each candidate stands on funding the pension systems. For years Illinois borrowed money from pensions and then underfunded it. Illinois has a flat rate tax system and a change to a more progressive tax would entail a change to the constitution. Illinois has a funding problem and 'kicking the can' down the road for more years won't solve anything.

Kennedy says that Rauner is the worst governor in the history of Chicago despite the fact that at least two former governors are jailbirds. Carpetbaggers always have a problem with local history.

Pritzker has run tv ads since August. Kennedy started tv ads really late. Biss is not really known. Madigan is the King. Can a Jewish candidate win state wide office? I can’t ever remember it happening. A jumble with a lot of mumble going on is the Illinois race.

To restore real democracy, private money must be removed from the election process. Rich people now rule - whether it's in office or from behind the curtaion of a PAC. Billionaires pull the strings of government while we watch their reality TV shows and stare at their phones. We are drugged by technology. All elections should and could be funded by public money. And where would the money come from for such a process? A progressive tax system that is fair and equitable would help the poor and the middle class as well as fund elections. Rich people owe society at least that much. A local mayor with no big backers should have the same opportunity on the debate stage as rich guy. We are the richest nation to have ever existed. There is plenty of money to orchestrate fair elections, fix roads and bridges, build out an affordable world class internet system, provide high quality education to every kid and to offer good health care to every American. That money is there. It's just in the wrong places. We are rich but we are poor in values and pathetic in systems for equity.

Watching this race from afar is highly amusing. It really doesn't matter who wins. The democratic legislature in Illinois will pass no meaningful pension reforms and the public unions will continue to extort the taxpayers. Listening to the debates they talk only of revenue generation and nothing of expense cutting. At least Rauner is trying his best to fight for pension reforms against the massive democratic public union machine that runs the state. With Madigan controlling the state house what did the voters think Rauner could possibly do? I feel for the private sector in Illinois. They are getting absolutely buried. Its sad to see a great state and city(Chicago) going down this rapidly. Public unions(not private) are a complete menace and are destroying multiple states(Ohio included). Can the Janus decision come quick enough to save Illinois???

It benefits Mr. Biss that he received little coverage in this article. That coverage would surely mention his past efforts to deny pension benefits to Illinois teachers and other deserving constituents who are protected by the state constitutions. Pension critics really need to get a grip on how much money the average state pensioner brings home--not much. The egregious cases are those of a few highly connected and highly paid politicos. The present financial debacle stems from years of underfunding decisions by law makers. They created this mess. These were primarily Democrats. No one is ever held to account for their malfeasance, but discussions of those greedy teachers abound. Mr. Biss will never get my vote. Mrs. Ives is a right-wing fanatic who will never receive much of the vote. Mr. Kennedy has a name and an attitude, but little history, so also slim chances. Mr. Rauner could not pass a state budget for over two years. That leaves JB, and all we can do is hope that due to his wealth he won't steal too much of the people's money for his friends and prevent Mr. Madigan from doing the same. Want progress? Demand accountability.

Illinois is indeed in a mess. I am a Democrat and liberal, but voted for Rauner last time. It was an agonizing decision for me, but ultimately I hoped he would/could bring some change. I will not vote for him again. As to Madigan, I think he is a problem and should be out of there. That said, I do not live in his district and can do nothing if they keep electing him - and there is little backbone in Springfield to remove him from his seat of power as Speaker. The race as shown in the TV ads has been dirty to say the least. Rauner tries to hang either Blagoiavitch or Madigan around everyone's neck including a distorted message trying to make Ives into Madigan's lackey. She is a right wing extremist, not a Madigan crony. As to Bliss - his whole message boils down to 'vote for me, I'm middle class - look I live in a little house and send my kids to public school.' While I think that politicks are too much a rich man's game, the answer to that is campaign finance reform, not just voting for the guy who's not rich.

I've seen the Biss ads - they are lackluster, his kids go to public school, in the wealthiest suburbs. The Pritzker ads show what he has done and what he plans to do. Kennedy has good ideas, outside the box thinking, but he may not be able to implement them. If you closely examine the people Rauner chose to surround himself with as advisors you will find people who worked on his campaign but are not necessarily the best and the brightest; bereft of financial acumen. They are very adept at spouting Republican talking points however. Rauner had no clue how to govern or to achieve a compromise with the legislature re the state budget. Rauner bought into the Republican millionaire class misconception that if he broke the unions and got rid of Madigan he could balance the state budget. Rauner has a deer in the headlights quality about him when it comes to Illinois state politics. Rauner can best serve the people of Illinois by returning to the private sector. The Pritzker tapes are a non sequitur.

The Chicago (Cook County) Assessor's race is also an indicator of how Democratic politics play out locally where the current Assessor is the chairman of Cook County Democrats and is corrupt according to recent reports. His office (among other things) supposedly shifts the real estate tax burden from higher value properties to less valued ones. One of his two challengers has been crossed off the ballot that has been sent to early voters and now it seems she is back on again. The NYT could fill an entire front page on all these local and state wide Illinois shenanigans.

Daniel Biss is the brother of pianist Jonathan Biss and the son of violinist Miriam Fried.

I cannot help but admire and respect Mr. Kennedy for walking off the stage. Controlling the gun violence requires some logical control over the guns capable of mass murders. People can own guns but there must be some sanity. Common sense vs. the NRA - In the long run, the NRA will lose.

It's impossible to get all the crazy shenanigans that have been going on in this race in one article. I thought the point was going to be that it is the most expensive governor's race but then got off course. Because of the example of Rauner and Trump, I did not want to support a candidate that didn't have legislative experience. That left me with one option. ( only one of the other 5 candidates has been elected to office, but not statewide) I know that the two wealthy Dem candidates have very good intentions and are nothing like Rauner. (Rauner was a known bully from the start , IMHO)But it is not enough in the case of Illinois. Too much at risk for these guys who are used to delegating, and have probably have never had someone tell them no in a business environment. I dislike that Biss has a couple of items on his platform which he highlights but that I disagree with, but still think he is best option. I am confident he will listen to others and seek help and guidance on issues.

Well, I have huge sympathy for Mr. Kennedy going back 50 years, when his father was shot by a Palestinian creep who should have been executed. Even as a Republican, I was going to vote for Senator Kennedy. Sadly, if one considers the fate of a couple of Mr. Chris Kennedy's brothers, a father in the home might have done some good. Kennedy seems like a nice man, no longer young, he tempers his criticism of the governor as a gentleman should, but the governor appears to have been sabotaged by machine Democrats in the notorious Ill. legislature. Ms. Ives seems to be an understandable counter force to the identity politics on the left. If she got the nomination, she wouldn't even carry the traditionally Republican Gold Coast.

This is a disappointing article. It makes no mention of the state budget crisis being a manufactured crisis, nor does it address the profound problems that have followed (such as the decline of public higher education). Though Daniel Biss appears to lead Chris Kennedy in polls, Biss gets a mere namecheck. And thus the Times casts the Democratic race as a battle between a billionaire and a millionaire. Those who don’t follow Illinois politics should be aware that the article omits reference to the ugliest elements in a wiretapped 2008 conversation between then-governor Rod Blagojevich and J.B. Pritzker. What the Times article does include is ugly enough, but it’s far from the whole story. You can listen to excerpts from the conversation (Chicago Tribune) and decide for yourself.

This story hardly gives an overall view of the top Dem candidates. Chris Kennedy is barely mentioned and there's no info at all on state senator Daniel Biss, who has years of legislative experience and a strong progressive record. And if you're going to cover Pritzker, you should include his offshore, tax-avoiding investments, as well as his record of cheating on his real estate taxes for two big Gold Coast houses.

Tell me where big money doesn't come into play in the upper reaches of American politics? Even at local levels. candidates are spending millions. Thank you, Supreme Court.

Rauner has been an awful governor and I struggle to objectively see one positive thing he has done for the state. He seemed to focus on dominating Madigan, his Democratic foe, for most of his term. All I can say is, “Good riddance” to Mr. Rauner.

If the media has already pre-ordained that the most significant candidates worthy of being at the center of the story about the campaign should be ranked by their financial resources then it is treating as axiomatic that money equals power. Instead the focus should be on the issues of what the people need and want; and, most importantly, how to fulfill those needs and to satisfy those wants. Then the story of the campaign can be based upon which candidates are judged most capable, by word and deed, to carry out such a task.

Illinois is an example of what government looks like in a one-party system. Democrats have run this state for decades (Rauner has no power) and there is essentially NO compromise at the political level. We citizens are left to fend for ourselves, as Chicago drives party affiliation statewide year after year. I have no fundamental problem with Democrats or Republicans in power, as long as there is a balance of ideologies over time that results in gradual change and experimentation. Here, there is no balance. Just strife at the top. I could hardly care less what billionaire becomes our governor next; people are voting with their feet and leaving Illinois anyway. We are #1 in departing residents.

Wrong, Julie Bosman! Pritzger and Kennedy are the two wealthiest candidates, while Daniel Biss is betterr known and a bigger name in this race, than Kennedy. But outside information bias, like yours, could irresponsibly change that. It is time that consolidated media from New York cease trying to make, rather than report. our midwest news. Get out New York Oligarch club!!

The current governor has failed to deliver on his promises. While true that a "betting man" needs to know the wealth of the self-funding candidates, a thinking voter needs to know the policy issues and the experience of the candidates.

I am really annoyed at the NYTimes for only mentioning Daniel Biss as a candidate for governor and then completely failing to give any information about him. But wrote plenty about Pritzker and Kennedy.. the two billionaires. This is why it’s impossible to change our moneyed political class with people who want real change for American workers. Major national media outlets are complicit because they completely ignore other strong candidates because they are working people who don’t have the money, family connections and fame. Disappointing and shoddy reporting on this one NYTimes!!!

I guess we'll see how much money it costs to get a chance to run this state. If you're born with a billion dollars, you might as well run for office.

This article is incredibly biased in its portrayal of the Democratic side of the race. It spends most of the time basing Pritzker, then at the end makes Kennedy look like a hero. And it doesn't even mention a huge story in the race which is Daniel Biss using grassroots support to be a contender against Pritzker who has a lot of establishment support and has donated over $60 million dollars to his own campaign. I hope no one is reading this article and thinking that based on it they now understand the dynamics in this race.

A Democratic governor + Democratic legislature means tax armageddon for Illinois residents.

Unbelievably bad reporting on the part of the NYT . Not all candidates for the gubernatorial race in Illinois come from big money. And is that a requisite for public office? State senator Daniel Biss is a widely respected man of integrity and intelligence who does not come from the monied classes. He has a solidly progressive platform, has been endorsed by many organizations and as a major candidate, has a good shot at becoming our next governor. As the one candidate who is neither a billionaire nor a millionaire but is offering concrete solutions to the real problems facing working people in Illinois, why not talk about him?

In my previous comment I meant to say "bashing", not "basing".