McHenry County Blog

This information arrived from the polling firm We Ask American today.  The Joe Walsh data has been published before, but the rest is new.

Illinois Orphans

Posted: 12 Oct 2012 03:46 AM PDT

Illinois is one of those areas considered by some as an “orphan state.”

Barack Obama will surely win here easily with Chicago leading the parade. Like the other orphan states (California & New York) candidates in key Illinois congressional races cannot count on millions of dollars being spent to by the campaigns of Barack Obama or Mitt Romney to persuade voters to put their state in the red or blue column on magic white board election night.

The congressional races are in essence the campaigns leading the parade but they are on their own.

It also means that in some of these targeted districts, President Obama’s home state advantage is a bonus for Democrats aspiring to knock off Republican opponents.

Just so we can pile on even more, the new congressional maps in Illinois were drawn totally by the controlling Democratic Party.

Since some of the polling we’ve done for clients here have recently been released or leaked and we’ve received requests to publicly poll these races, we went back into these six key districts over the past two days to offer up public results.

We’ll give you a thumbnail sketch of each with the basic numbers.

Illinois 17 (NW Illinois)

Located in Northwest Illinois, IL-17 is chock full of blue-collar conservative Democrats. While the new map makes it bluer than the current district, Republican Bobby Schilling was a surprise winner here in the 2010 against incumbent Phil Hare. When We Ask America first wrote about that race and showed Schilling ahead, we were subject to a cascade of skepticism. We stuck by our guns, and affable pizza restaurant owner Schilling stuck to the campaign trail to pull out a surprise victory. This time his opponent is former journalist and city council member Cheri Bustos, the daughter of a powerful Illinois Democrat and family friend of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. The right-leaning Chicago Tribune has endorsed Schilling and tsk-tsked Bustos for her less-than-forthcoming opinions on key issues. Still, the new 17th District heavily sways Democratic and by all accounts Bustos is a worker. Here are our results from this week’s poll there:

Poll type: Automated Date: October 9, 2012 – Participants: 1,183 Likely Voters – Margin of Error: ± 2.9%

Cheri Bustos (D)	Bobby Schilling (R)	Undecided
46.14%	45.81%	8.05%

Illinois 13 (East Central)

IL-13 invokes lyrics from the Grateful Dead: What a long strange trip it’s been. Long-time GOP incumbent and human Q-Tip Tim Johnson was all set to defend his seat against physician David Gill who had won the silver medal in three previous attempts to unseat him. Then Johnson abruptly decided to call it quits. An eclectic groups of wannabe candidates quickly emerged, including a former Miss America who is best known for her crusade against pre-marital sex…not a well-received message among the 30,000+ randy college  students residing in the district. The ultimate choice was Rodney Davis, a respected congressional aide to John Shimkus. While Davis is well know in political circles, his name ID wasn’t great and he found himself starting from Square One this summer. Both Davis and Gill are hard workers in this district that runs the gamut from extreme right to extreme left. On average, it’s leans a bit Democratic, and Independent John Hartman is also on the ticket. Here are our results from this week’s poll there:

Poll type: Automated Date: October 7-9, 2012 – Participants: 1,253 Likely Voters – Margin of Error: ± 2.8%

David Gill (D)	Rodney Davis (R)	John Hartman (I)	Undecided
41.81%	43.92%	5.55%	8.72%

Illinois 12 (Southern Illinois)

The retirement of long-time congressman Jerry Costello (D) threw the doors wide open for this Democratic-leaning but conservative district. Like IL-13, the 12th District traveled down a bumpy road in deciding it’s final pairing: Democrat Bill Enyart and Republican Jason Plummer. Plummer, an executive in a well-known family-owned lumber business, surprised the state as a newcomer in 2010 by beating better known challengers in the GOP’s Lt. Governor race. Plummer and his running mate lost the general election but the 30-year old retained his desire to run for office. Enyart is a former State Adjutant General who came to the party late when the Democratic Primary winner pulled out (he was trailing Plummer and had some baggage). President Obama isn’t very popular in the bucolic southern portion of the state. A Green Party candidate, Paula Bradshaw, is also on the ticket.

Here are our results from this week’s poll there:

Poll type: Automated Date: October 10, 2012 – Participants: 1,247 Likely Voters – Margin of Error: ± 2.8%

Bill Enyart (D)	Jason Plummer (R)	Paula Bradshaw (G)	Undecided
41.78%	43.86%	3.36%	11.00%

Illinois 11 (Western Collars)

This district pits a Republican incumbent–Judy Biggert–against former 14th District Democratic Congressman Bill Foster. Foster is a physicist who surprised many when he won the seat of former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert in a 2008 special election. His votes in Congress didn’t quite track with the more conservative area of the district and he was defeated in 2010 by Republican Randy Hultgren. Biggert is a socially moderate Republican from Hinsdale with a reputation as a fiscal conservative with an independent streak. Neither candidate is well known in this newly configured evenly split district. The lead in polls here have teetered back and forth and so far, no one can seem to keep a lead. Here are our results from this week’s poll there:

Poll type: Automated Date: October 10, 2012 – Participants: 1,253 Likely Voters – Margin of Error: ± 2.8%

Bill Foster (D)	Judy Biggert (R)	Undecided
44.32%	46.05%	9.63%

Illinois 10 (Northern Collars)

The 10th District in Illinois is known for disregarding political party labels but essentially leaning left. Yet, Republican congressional candidates have done well in this area for decades no matter which presidential candidate won. Barack Obama won big here in 2008, as did former Congressman (and now U.S. Senator) Mark Kirk (R). Republican Bob Dold won in 2010 and has kept the district’s tradition for independent thought. He has focused on job-creation issues and been a successful fundraiser. His opponent is Democrat Brad Schneider, a business consultant and political newcomer who survived a hard fought primary in the spring. President Obama is doing very well here, but for now Dold his holding a narrow lead:

Poll type: Automated Date: October 9, 2012 – Participants: 1,172 Likely Voters – Margin of Error: ± 3%

Brad Schneider (D)	Bob Dold (R)	Undecided
45.42%	47.29%	7.29%

Illinois 8 (North Central Collars) 

Two years ago, We Ask America was the only pollster we know of that predicted little-known Republican Tea Party advocate, Joe Walsh, would win his race against Democrat incumbent Melissa Bean. Walsh won that contest in a squeaker and now faces Democrat Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth is a disabled Iraqi war veteran who lost her legs in a helicopter accident. She lost a close 2006 bid for Congress in another district, but IL-8 leans slightly left and most pundits felt she was a shoo-in against the brash Walsh. Walsh has been a magnet for the wrong kind of press, but his Howard Beale-ish “mad as Hell” attitude attracts more local support than many recognize, and this race has become a real zinger that can now go either way. For a great overview of this race, click HERE. Here are our latest results from October 10:

Poll type: Automated Date: October 7-9, 2012 – Participants: 1,158 Likely Voters – Margin of Error: ± 2.9%

Tammy Duckworth (D)	Joe Walsh (R)	Undecided
45.18%	47.89%	6.93%

John Kass lamented the lack of an Illinois Scott Walker last Thursday.

He certainly is asking the right question:

“Where is Illinois’ Scott Walker?”

I was tempted to prepare a sign to affix to me chest asking.

“Are you the Illinois Scott Walker?”

but didn’t get around to it.

That thought pretty much left my mind until Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady started throwing red meat to the audience at the Tinley Park Convention.

“Isn’t it nice to see courage rewarded?” Brady asked after explaining his joy at watching Walker beat back the Democrats’ recall effort.

He noted with irony and derision Pat Quinn’s reaction, “Illinois is different.”

“We are under the thumb of a controlling, vindictive, ethically challenged, self-serving leprechaun, and I mean no disrespect to leprechauns, Speaker Mike Madigan,” Brady said, setting the tone of the gathering.

Brady pointed out that a mere 5,000 votes in the right House districts could have made Tom Cross Speaker.

And just 31,000 votes would have meant Bill Brady would have been elected Governor, instead of Quinn.

A pick of six seats in the Senate and six in the House would turn control over to the GOP.

Next came speeches by elected officials.

First up was Peoria’s Aaron Schock, first elected in 2008.

He told of passing federal free trade legislation for Columbia and having received a call from the CEO of Caterpillar Corporation, based in his home town. He was congratulated and told the a new plant would be built that would create 1,400 new jobs.

But, that the plant would not be build in Illinois because of our Workers’ Comp and tort liability laws.

“If we keep the same boneheads in Springfield, we won’t get the benefits,” Schock said.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross was next.

Signaling a line of attack against Democrats outside of Chicago, he pledged opposition to Mike Madigan’s and John Cullerton’s proposal to transfer $20 billion of teacher pension burden from state taxpayers to property taxpayers.

The man whose rant against Madigan’s one-man rule spread throughout television and the internet was introduced next.

“We want Mike! We want Mike!” spread throughout the room.

“If you take one thing out of this, other states don’t have one person that has total power,” Bost emphasized. “That’s a dictatorship!”

Former State Rep. and State Senator Randy Hultgren, elected to Congress in 2010 followed former colleague Bost.

“Illinois is broke.

“Illinois is broken.

“Reduced to a punchline.”

He told of being in Indiana and talked to its Governor, Mitch Daniels.

“Being Governor in the state next to Illinois is like living next to Homer Simpson.  Anything you do looks good.

“If Wisconsin can do it, Illinois can do it,” Hultgren concluded.

Adam Kinzinger, also elected in 2010, was next up.

“America is the greatest hope for civilization,” the Air Force pilot, now in the Illinois National Guard, started out.

He observed that young folks signing up for the Armed Forces today at age 18 were only 7 on 9-11.

“America is worth defending and I will defend it,” he said movingly.

“The American DNA is a winning DNA.

“The defense of this country also extends here at home.

“We have to beat Mike Madigan.

“We have to build a brick wall in Illinois” so Nancy Pelosi’s prediction that “the route to the [Democratic Party congressional] majority goes through Illinois.,”Kinzinger concluded.

Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno  stepped to the podium.

“We need reinforcements.

“We can’t do it without you.

“You are the grass roots.

“The wave is coming and we’re going to ride it.”

Brady then introduced Congressman Joe Walsh, also in his first term.

He noted that Walsh got no help from the Republican Party in his narrow victory over Democrat Melissa Bean, but “that won’t happen again.”

“There is no person they want to beat more than Joe Walsh.”

Walsh entered to a standing ovation.

He began his speech by relating that he was a naturally smiling Irish Catholic guy.

Then there was the “but.”

“I did not go to Washington last year to smile.

“There’s very little subtle about Joe Walsh.

“When I say the President has not freaking clue what he is doing, I mean every word of it.”

Then Walsh took after Mike Madigan.

“No one person should run a state.

“He is a king.

“He is a dictator.

“He is corrupt.

“He symbolizes everything that is wrong in Illinois.

“Shame on us for not having the courage and the fortitude to say that.”

Moving on to his re-election race against Tammy Duckworth, whose name he did not mention, Walsh said, “This White House and the entire Demcoratic Party has a target on my back.

He explained that he “just goe[es] and say[s] what [he] mean[s].

“Amazing things begin to happen.”

Walsh referenced John Kass’ column:

“Where is Illinois’ Scott Walker?”

[At this point I began wondering if he was standing on the stage.]

“The Republican Party has been compliant.

“We’ve lost our way.

“Every nine minutes somebody move out of this state,” he said emphasizing it was taxpayers moving elsewhere.

“That’s terrible.

“We can’t let that happen.”

Ratcheting up the rhetoric Walsh proclaimed Illinois Republicans “must stand for everything that the Mike Madigans don’t.

“We don’t stand for making everybody dependent on government.

“We stand for the opposite.

“We’re the party of everything else.

“I’m gong to ask you to be responsible for your own life.”

[Hear Joe Walsh's speech, posted by The Prairie State Review, here.]

Another standing ovation occurred after Walsh finished his speech.

Freshman Congressman Bobby Shilling spoke next.

I didn’t get a chance to take notes, but I did get a decent close-up.

After him State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, head of the Mitt Romney effort in Illinois in 2008 and 2012, spoke.

He is widely thought to be laying the groundwork for a campaign for Governor in 2014.

A video greeting from State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka completed the speeches.

The Chicago Tribune article by Rick Pearson failed to mention that Walsh even spoke, not to mention that he was greeted with a standing ovation and another one after he finished his speech.

He did note the attacks on Mike Madigan.

= = = = =

In the John Kass piece, the columnist mentions Walsh, but not favorably.

“I’m not talking about a Republican who’d scream with veins popping out of his or her neck and a wild angry look in the eye.  If you want someone in your face, you’ve got Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, and you can have him.  What was compelling about Walker wasn’t his in-you-face personality.  It was his ideas.”

But, as Party Chairman Pat Brady reporting Demcoratic Party Governor as saying, Illinois is different.”

From the crowd’s reaction to Walsh, I think Kass’ take on Walsh was not shared by a large proportion of the Republicans in attendance.

Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh is off to Rockford for the third time I have noticed in order to participate in a third anniversary celebration of the local group.

Here’s what I found in an email:

“Hey Rockford Tea Party…

“We’re having a big outdoor 3-year Anniversary Tea Party celebration at Sinissippi Park on April 15th starting at 1 pm in the Band Shell.

“Guest Speakers include:

• Congressman Joe Walsh
• Congressman Bobby Schilling
• Pastor Don Lyon [a former Congressional candidate and John Anderson]
• Northern Illinois Tea Party Leader Jane Carrell
• Rockford Tea Party Co-Coordinator Ulysses S Arn
• Illinois Conservatives Leader Zach Oltmans
• Illinois State Rep Rich Moreland

“Please make signs and bring them!”

= = = = =
Note that Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who beat hometown favorite Don Manzullo, is not scheduled to speak.

Since the deadline for reporting third quarter of the year campaign contributions and expenditures is mid-October, I decided to take a look at how Illinois Republican Congressmen/woman are doing.

I looked at the 14th District GOP candidates first. It pits freshmen Congressmen Randy Hultgren and Joe Walsh against each other.

Randy Hultgren shows net contributions of $165,945, after $21,000 of refunds from July 1st through September 30th.  He has $275,810 in the bank.  Details are below:

Joe Walsh has $446,058 available.

Although Hultgren outraised Walsh during this quarter by about $16,545, Walsh has over $190,000 more in the bank.

Walsh owes $44,000; Hultgren $55,000.

Looking at where the money came from, Walsh got $118,700 from individuals (after refunds);  $27,000 from Political Action Committees (no refunds).

Hulgren’s contributions from individuals after refunds totaled $107,345.  He received $55,900 from PACs (after refunding $1,000).

So, total contributed this quarter:

• $163,245 for Hultgren
• $145,700 for Walsh

Of the donations this quarter, Walsh has a higher percentage from individuals:

• 81.5% for Walsh
• 65.8% for Hultgren

Conversely, Hultgren received a higher percentage from PACs:

• 34.2% for Hultgren
• 18.5% for Walsh

Total available for the coming primary election:

• $446,058 for Walsh
• $275,810 for Hultgren

The other Illinois race pitting two incumbents is the 16th, where 10-term veteran Don Manzullo is being challenged by freshman Adam Kinzinger.

Manzullo raised $316,558 during the three-month period and has $483,994 in the bank.

The 14th and the 8th are the only two congressional districts where it’s incumbent Republican versus incumbent Republican.

Kinzinger, in contrast, has $567,012 cash on hand, after raising $202,441 during July, August and September.

Other Republicans are in danger, however.

Veteran Judy Biggert will be running against former Democratic Congressman Bill Foster.

She has $298,250 in the bank vs. Foster’s $339,687.

Foster has about $40,000 more in hand, but it’s a Republican year, so who knows?

Freshman Bobby Schiller has been put into a convoluted district whose edge nearest McHenry County is Rockford. The potential opponent I have heard most about is Cheri Bustos, who has been endorsed by Emily’s List, the national Pro-Choice group that endorsed opponents of mine in times past.

Schilling has $450,290 available.  Cheri Busto reported $131,451 on hand.

There is another Democratic Party candidate in the face, State Senator David Koehler of Peoria.  He raised $121,777, less than Bustos this quarter.

Congressman Tim Johnson might or might not have former State Rep. Jay Hoffman, a former Rod Blagojevich House floor leader, challenge him in a district Mike Madigan (or maybe it was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) drew.

Johnson has $379,425 on hand versus $131,564 in Hoffman’s bank account.

There’s speculation that Hoffman might want to run in retiring Democrat Jerry Costello’s district farther south, but based in the Metro-East area across from St. Louis.

The North Shore’s Robert Dold is running for re-election against a Democrat to be named in next March’s primary election.

He has $367,665 available.  This is a Chicago TV market district in which a lot more than that will be needed.

The biggest Republican congressional campaign fund in our area I have left until last. It belongs to Congressman Peter Roskam.

Unless the Federal Court reverses the Democrats reapportionment map lines, Roskam will represent our household in 2013.

Roskam has $1,767,463 in his campaign coffers.

I looked at Republicans in the 8th Congressional District, too.  The only one reporting that I could find was Barrington’s Andrew Palamo, who had $4,484 on hand.

Peoria’s Aaron Schock reported having $1,9323,275 to spend on his campaign.  That’s even more than Roskam has.

Veteran John Shimkus filed late on Saturday.  He had about $1.2 million available for his re-election campaign.

Rep. Walsh Asks Governor Quinn to Address Challenges Facing Small Businesses and Illinoisans

Sends Letter Today with Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation

WASHINGTON – Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-08) along with Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation – Reps. Don Manzullo (IL-16), John Shimkus (IL-19), and Bobby Schilling (IL-17) – sent a letter (letter attached) to Governor Pat Quinn conveying how hard it is for their constituents to live and work in Illinois.

The letter details how the state’s budgetary issues have led to higher income taxes on families and higher corporate taxes on businesses.

“Higher taxes are not the answer to end the hemorrhaging of jobs in Illinois,” said Congressman Walsh.

“Illinoisans are tired of years of poor job creation and new taxes that are taking more and more of their hard-earned pay.”

“That is why I, along with several of my colleagues from the Illinois delegation, sent this letter to our governor.

“I hear every day from my constituents how difficult it has become to run a business and raise a family here – and higher taxes are not the answer.”

“While the state budget is certainly a mess and budget deficits continue to occur each fiscal year, we need to look at different ways to cut government costs and expand the tax base.

“We face very similar issues on the federal level and hope Governor Quinn will consider working with us to soon address these serious challenges.”

Here’s the text of the letter:

As Members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, we write to you today because Illinois is facing challenges that must be addressed.

Since January of this year, our state has lost a total of 89,000 jobs. Our unemployment rate in the State of Illinois has risen for the third straight month in a row. We cannot stand by and watch these numbers get even worse – and we cannot let more jobs slip away to other states that have a more pro-business environment.

We hear from constituents every day about just how hard it is to live and work in our state. Whether it is the small business owner struggling to find capital to reinvest in their venture or the parent who is seeing more of their income taxed to pay for budget deficits, Illinoisans are tired of more taxes, regulations, and uncertainty.

As Members of Congress overseeing a vast federal budget that itself is in the red, we certainly understand the difficulty in trying to solve budgetary issues. However, raising individual income taxes by 66 percent will only exacerbate our wider problem and take more Illinois residents off the tax roll when they leave our state. Middle class families are already stretched thin. A family of four earning $60,000 a year right now has an additional $1,040 to pay in taxes each year.  We understand this might not seem like much but for the families in our districts this is money that they cannot afford to lose.

The largest employers in the state of Illinois are struggling too. Illinois has the third highest corporate tax rate in the country and this takes away from their competitive edge and ability to create new jobs. Many of our large employers based in Illinois could leave as a result of the new 9 percent corporate tax rate that was raised from 6.8 percent in January. These are critical jobs that must be protected. We are willing to work with you on this issue as similar measures are considered right now in Congress.

We ask that you immediately look at measures that can help Illinois families and small businesses. This can be done through lower taxes, less regulations, and a balanced state budget. America needs to know that Illinois is serious about job creation and that this is the best place to raise a family and start a business – and we want to work with you in any way we can to do this.

Sincerely,

Joe Walsh, Member of Congress

•  Don Manzullo, Member of Congress
•  Bobby Schilling,  Member of Congress
•  John Shimkus, Member of Congress

All Illinois Members of Congress were given the opportunity to sign this letter.

Edward McClelland, author of “Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President” and NBC’s “Ward Room” criticized the four “busybodies”:

NBC's Ward Room criticized Joe Walsh for offering advice on state government policy.

“Aren’t Republicans against the federal government sticking its nose into the states’ business?”Federalism and the 10th Amendment have been popular themes in this month’s GOP presidential debates, as Republicans insist President Obama is out of line by imposing his health care plan on states that would rather allow the uninsured to die.

“We elect congressmen to run the country.

“We elected Pat Quinn to run the state.

“He doesn’t give advice to Congress, and he doesn’t need advice from congressmen, either.”

I seem to remember that Illinois maintains a lobbying operation in Washington, D.C. Perhaps they don’t talk to Congressmen, but I’ll bet they do.

Interesting headline on a Smart Politics story with a local twist:

Head of the Class: The Most Buzzworthy House Freshmen of the 112th Congress

The article by Eric Ostermeier tells of an analysis of media appearances/mentions on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and NPR.

The top four are

1. Allen West
2. Joe Walsh
3. Tim Scott
4. Sean Duffy

The reporter points out that the top three who have become “media darlings (or fodder)” have gotten over one-third of the coverage given to the whole freshman class.

148 for Walsh.  12% of the total for first-termers.

West had 17.9%.  (He and Scott are the only two black Republican congressmen.)

30% for the two of them.

Potential Walsh primary opponent Randy Hultgren appeared on five broadcasts.

The next highest publicized Illinois freshman congressman was Adam Kinzinger.  He appeared 22 times.  Bobby Shilling scored 11 broadcasts.  Robert Dold had four.

It is unclear where Congressman Joe Walsh will run for re-election.  It is clear he will run somewhere.

But, he has announced that he will run for re-election.

Walsh now shares McHenry County with veteran Congressman Don Manzullo.

His district includes the townships on the northern tier of McHenry County from Hebron east.

 

But, he was in Harvard’s Milk Day Parade.

Justifiable since it is an agricultural-centered celebration and Walsh represents lots of farmland in northern McHenry County.

Then, last week, Rockford Foresters Baseball Team President Joe Stefani announced that Walsh and Congressman Bobby Schilling would be honored guests at the Tea Party baseball game on July 9th.

You can bet that Rockford TV will be filming, because Schilling has been assigned the City of Rockford under the Illinois Democrats’ remap.

When I lived at 360 S. Madison Street in Woodstock, we could get Rockford TV. Surely, Harvard and Marengo can as well.

All have been drawn into the new 14th Congressional District.

Then comes a press release from the Walsh campaign announcing 4th of July parades in which Walsh will participate.

While reading it below figure out which parades would influence people in the new 14th District:

SHOW YOUR PATRIOTISM AND COME WALK WITH JOE

IN OUR 4TH OF JULY PARADES!

Join us for a great day of celebration and patriotism in one of the many Independence Day parades throughout Illinois 8th Congressional District!

All parade themes this year are very patriotic so please wear red, white and blue if possible. Joe Walsh for Congress T-shirts will be provided if you would like. Don’t forget to wear your sun screen & to drink lots of water earlier in the day. We will provide water along parade routes too.

We encourage any/and all to wear their military uniform if they would like when they march with any one of our parade entries.

If you have any questions regarding parades, please call 847-849-9508 or email Nicole@walshforcongress.com.

SCHEDULE:

Friday, July 1 – Decorate the Float & 4th of July kick-off BBQ
Time 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Location : TBD
If you plan to attend this event please call 847-849-9508 or Nicole@walshforcongress.com.

Saturday, July 2– Palatine
Line up begins at 9:00 a.m.
Start time 10am
Slot: TBD
If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or .
-Parade line up will proceed east down Wood Street from the South on Quentin ONLY. Step-off will be promptly @ 10:00 a.m. and proceed south on Cedar St., east on Slade St. to Brockway, north on Brockway to Wood St. and east on Wood St into Community Park

Parking is best @ public lot located at Smith & Colfax next to Dirty Nellie’s

Saturday, July 2 – Fox Lake
Line up begins at 9:00 a.m.
Start time 10:00 a.m.
Slot: TBD
-If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or Nicole@walshforcongress.com.
Chamber Trophies to be presented for most patriotic entry will be held at the Gazebo at Millennium Park at 12:30 PM

Parade line up will be in VIP lot off Grand Ave in front of Grant Community High School (Corner of Grand Ave & Rt. 59) Parade ends at Rollins & Grand Ave. Please park in Plaza at Rollins & Grand but do not park near the theater

For more details go to www.discoverfoxlake.com.

Sunday, July 3 – Crystal Lake
Line up begins at 12 noon
Start time 1:00 PM
Slot: TBD
-If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or Nicole@walshforcongress.com.
Parade starts at N Walkup Ave & E Woodstock St, Crystal Lake and ends at 401 Country Club Rd. We will provide transportation back to your car

For more details go to www.clchamber.com.

Sunday, July 3 – Wonder Lake
Line up begins at 12:30 PM
Start time 1:30 PM
Slot: TBD
-If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or icole@walshforcongress.com.
Line up is at Christ the King Church, 5006 E. Wonder Lake Road

For more details go to www.wonderlake.org or call #815-728-0682

Sunday, July 3 – Mundelein
Line up 1:00 PM
Start time 2:00 PM
Slot: TBD
-If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or Nicole@walshforcongress.com.
Line up is at Prospect & McKinley Avenues. Parade ends at Mundelein High School

For more details go to www.mundelein.org

Monday, July 4th – Barrington
Line up 8:30 a.m.
Start time 10 a.m.
Slot: TBD
-This year’s theme is “Traditions and Memories” The founding members of Barrington’s VFW will be the Grand Marshals. We encourage any military supporters to wear their uniforms and march with us.
If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or Nicole@walshforcongress.com.

Staging area for the parade is the Barrington High School parking lot. The parade route starts at the high school and proceeds east on Main Street, ending at the train station, north commuter parking lot, via Wool Street.

Monday, July 4 – Spring Grove
Line up 10:30 a.m.
Start time is 12:00 Noon
Slot: TBD
If you will be participating in this parade please call 847-849-9508 or Nicole@walshforcongress.com.
-Drop off is at Actown. Then proceed across Winn to Intermatic. The parade route starts at Intermattic and will move north on Winn, turn right on Main, then Left on Blivin then left into Horse Fair Park. Parade entrants that must leave immediately will not pull into Horse Fair, but will continue North on Blivin (Richardson Road) Parade entrants will enter Horse Fair Park and take a left into the parking lot of Spring Grove School and will proceed around to the front of the school and park. Once the parade crowd has dispersed, the parade entrants will have access to Main Street

For more information you can go to www.sg4thofjuly.org.

HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!

You might also want to keep in the back of your mind that there will be a court challenge to the Democrats’ congressional map. If it is successful, no one knows where the 2012 lines will be.

A press release from Joe Stefani, President of the Rockford Foresters Baseball Team:

FORESTERS TO HOST TEA PARTY NIGHT

FEATURING TWO CONGRESSMEN

ROCKFORD, IL – June 17, 2011 – The Rockford Foresters Baseball Team announced today it will be hosting “Tea Party Night” at the game on Saturday, July 9 at 6pm at Historic Marinelli Field in Rockford. Special guests for the night include Congressman Joe Walsh and Congressman Bobby Schilling, both of Illinois.

The night will start at 5:15 pm where the Rockford Tea Party, Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling will address the crowd.

At 5:30pm, Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling will take the field in a home run competition to benefit charity.

Before the game, both Congressman Schilling and Congressman Walsh will be throwing out ceremonial first pitches.

Congressman Walsh represents the 8th district of Illinois, which includes parts of McHenry and Lake County, was elected in 2010 by beating an incumbent Congressman. Walsh is a Tea Party conservative activist and is a consistent guest on national news media shows.

Congressman Schilling represents the 17th district of Illinois, which includes the Quad Cities. Elected in 2010 by beating an incumbent Congressman, Schilling is a restaurateur and has 10 children.

“The Rockford Foresters are honored to be hosting Tea Party Members from across the State of Illinois in addition to Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling,” said Majority Owner/President Joe Stefani.

“This is a great opportunity for members of the community to come out and meet tea party favorite Congressman Walsh as well as Congressman Schilling, who will be representing the Rockford area in the future with the new Congressional maps.”

Tickets for the game and pre-game activities are free and can be obtained by calling the Rockford Foresters box office at 815-312-2115 or by emailing tickets@rockfordforesters.com.

About the Rockford Foresters:

The Rockford Foresters are a member of the Midwest Collegiate League, which is a summer collegiate wood bat league that is based in Northern Illinois and Indiana. Going into their second season, the team comes off winning the league’s championship. The Rockford Foresters play at the historic 2,357 seat Marinelli Field, which is owned by the Rockford Park District. The Rockford Foresters are owned by majority owner Joe Stefani, who is the youngest majority owner of a sports team in the United States, in addition to a group of shareholders.

Did you know that each congressional district but two in Illinois have 712,813 people?

The other two have 712,812.

So, as far as making them of equal size, Illinois Democrats did a superb job.

Although the ethnic concentration requirements, which have never held much interest for me, even though they will be the basis of any challenge by Republicans, how the electorate was rearranged does pique my curiosity.

The following table shows this information for each of Illinois’ congressional districts:

Let’s take a closer look at the three districts into which McHenry County is or will be.

First, Don Manzullo’s 16th congressional district.  Here’s where the 718,791 people in the current 16th District ended up.

Most remained in the 16th District.

314,072, to be exact.

209,889 were placed in the 17th District.

That’s a district that goes to the Mississippi River hooking around the new 16th District’s north-south portion as it pretty much rings the collar counties from the Wisconsin border on its way to the Indiana border south of Kankakee.

It also hooks around the upper part of the 18th District like a cloud forming into a tornado.

The vast majority live in the City of Rockford.

106,441 were from Alden, Chemung, Coral, Dunham, Grafton,Hartland, Marengo, Nunda, Riley and Seneca Townships in McHenry County.

Basically, the western half of McHenry County, plus Grafton Township and the Crystal Lake part of Nunda Township.

88,389 gave been assigned to the 6th congressional district.

That is the Algonquin Township part of the current 16th District.

They will presumably be represented by Congressman Peter Roskam after the next election.

Congressman Joe Walsh’s current 8th District is split asunder.

104,825 go into the District numbered 6.

That’s the one where House Republican Deputy Whip Peter Roskam now resides.

Most of that population comes from McHenry County’s Algonquin Township, but some is from the lower tiers of townships in southwestern Lake County.

185,195 of the most Democratic parts of the 8th District that could be found were kept in the new 8th District, which is based in Schaumburg, which is no longer the solid Republican territory it was when Don Totten was Republican Township Committeeman.

So the new 8th is less than one-third of the old 8th.

233,771 people in the 8th were assigned to the 10th district.  That’s the part in the upper part of Lake County.  It actually contains Joe Walsh’s Fox Lake congressional office.

Almost as many people–215,049–ended up in the new vertical McHenry-Kane-DuPage County district.  Incumbent 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren resides just inside its eastern border in DuPage County.  Joe Walsh lives near its northern border–the Wisconsin-Illinois state line, in McHenry.

With more of Joe Walsh’s district’s population going to the new 10th District, which has no resident incumbent, it occurs to me that Walsh might decide to run there, instead of in the 14th.  (The 6th with GOP Leader Peter Roskam in it, is pretty much out of the question, although Walsh has significant connections in the Barrington portion.  That’s where he grew up.)

But, 60% of the voters in the new 10th District were in the old 10th District, which Robert Dold took over from now-U.S. Senator Mark Kirk.

The 431,609 people being carried over from the old 10th District are pretty far from Dold’s home.

As you can see, 1,508 people are shunted to the 14th District.

Finally, let’s take a look at the 14th District.

Randy Hultgren is its congressman and it now butts up against the McHenry-Kane County line.

Similar havoc can be expected in states controlled by Republicans.  See if you can pick them out from the map below, which shows which states got extra congressional seats and which, like Illinois, lost one or more.

The largest portion–293,306 people–are still in the same numbered district.

But 293,306 out of 712,813 is only a bit over 40%.

The next largest contributor of constituents to the 14th District is number 11.   There are 184, 335 from there.

That’s fellow freshman Adam Kinzinger.

The 8th contributes 93,602 from McHenry County.

88,879 come from Congressman Don Manzullo’s district, also primarily from McHenry County.

Finally, 33,641 are now represented by freshman Bobby Schilling.

The Chicago Sun-Times focused in on Congressional health insurance on page of its Sunday edition.

It wasn’t a locally written article, however, by one by Bill Straub of the Scripps Howard News Service.

It seems congressional Democrats, I an attempt to embarrass congressional Republicans “offered a measure that would have required members of Congress to disclose whether they benefited from government-sponsored health care.”

The vote was defeated 240-191 by the GOP, the article says.

Next comes this paragraph:

“But two Illinois freshman—Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party-backed Republican from McHenry and Republican Bobby Schilling, a Tea Party favorite from Downstate Colona—vow not to use the insurance available to Congress.”

The rest of the article explains congressional health care benefits. Congressman Don Manzullo covered a good part of it at the Mark Kirk-Don-Manzullo-Joe Walsh Town Hall Meeting at McHenry County College the weekend before last. Manzullo explained the out-of-pocket expenses when his wife had cancer.

Scripps Howard adds that all Federal employees have the choice of almost 300 private plans, including “high-deductible, tax advantaged plans.”

Employees pay about 30% of the cost, the taxpayers about 70%.

In addition, if taken sick in DC, they can get “priority care at military hospitals” as well as free outpatient care at Washington military hospitals like Walter Reed (where my brother-in-law, Navy Chaplain Mike Peters, fought a losing battle with cancer).

The Capitol also has an Office of the Attending Physician where congressmen and Supreme Court members can get care for $503 per year. (I remember when Congressman Arch A. Moore spoke at a n early 1960′s Oberlin College Young Republican Lincoln Day Dinner, he told us the Capitol Physician had pumped him full of medicine so he could make the visit, even though he was sick.)

Tomorrow, we’ll get back to the title of this article.