Thursday, after seeing a Chicago Tribune story about a bill Jack Franks sponsored that Governor Bruce Rauner decided to implement, I thought that Franks was kissing up to Rauner.
After reading a follow-up article in the Northwest Herald, I’m now wondering if the reverse was the case.
It is clear that Franks is disturbed at Rauner’s having $20 million sitting in his campaign fund.
Read the story entitled, “There’s no longer a safe seat anywhere.”
Even with $485,000 sitting in his campaign fund, Franks can be beaten.
He knows that.
In 2010, he got 64% of the vote.
In 2014, Franks’ percentage slid to 56.8%. [A commenter points out I got the wrong percentage. Sorry. Don’t know if I pulled up an incomplete election night number or what. Franks got 58.53%; Reick 41.45%, according to McVote.]
That’s after spending $56.000 to defeat Reick.
Reick, on the other hand, spent $12,500 during the same time period (from October 1st through the end of December.)
Steve Reick’s campaign against Jack Franks did not have the benefit of mailings like this.
However, in the short-run, Rauner needs to pick up a House Democrat who will be willing to sustain his vetoes.
Since the Dems have 71 members and Franks is getting along so well with Rauner, he could be that vote.
Some think that a detente between Republican Party leaders and Franks explains the lack of well-financed challengers to the Democrat since Tom Salvi almost cleaned his clock in 2000.
If Rauner and Franks get along, that is, if Franks does what Rauner wants, one can imagine pressure being put on local Republicans to leave Franks alone.
That’s despite the many votes that have made Franks vulnerable since he decided he wasn’t vulnerable.
Is Rauner kissing up to Franks?
Rauner is a pretty smart cookie and I think he knows exactly what he is doing and kissing up to Franks, I don’t think so.
voter: You don’t know Rauner.
well that may be true but I hope I’m right.
Not a fan of Franks
I’m glad our Republican Governor is willing to work across the AISLE.
Working across the AISLE is an integral part of politics.
If you are a GOP Governor and face a Dem supermajority, then you need to work across the AISLE otherwise you will end up on an ISLE.
I’LL vote for Rauner again if he is pragmatic and realistic not a VILE Tea Bagger idealist.
Observer?
Why would you slander a group of people you don’t agree with?
I am absolutely chagrined that you would use that term – and on Cal’s blog, to boot!
I’ll talk about it over coffee with you, Cindy.
The Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal does not give information about pay.
It lists gross pay.
Is that pensionable income?
Many times pensionable income is larger than gross pay.
Sometimes there are bonuses or other pay that are not pensionable income.
So really we need more information.
Also, no benefits are listed.
Benefits are part of overall compensation.
Benefits should be listed as line items.
There’s no way of knowing if any pension pick-ups aka board / state paid pension are taking place.
What’s the employee contribution to their pension?
What’s the employer contribution to the pension?
In the case of school district teachers and administrators, and state employees, what’s the state contribution to the pension.
What’s the employee contribution to their current health plan?
What’s the employee contribution to their retiree health plan?
What’s the employer contribution to the current health plan?
What’s the employer contribution to the retiree health plan?
What’s the name of the pension fund?
Answers to those questions and more are one reason why we are in our current financial mess.
“Gross pay” doesn’t give us nearly the information we need to evaluate the overall compensation of a government employee.
It in fact understates overall compensation.
As in general Illinois government employees have better benefits than the private sector.
The Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal does not give enough information about pay.
Plus, all the data on the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal website should be downloadable to an Excel spreadsheet or csv file for further analyses.
Plus there should be a column for years worked for the employer.
Cal, your point would be stronger if two things were true that aren’t.
One, you misreported the percentage of the vote that Rep. Franks got. You should check your numbers before you make anything public. Your dad would be disappointed in you as a journalist.
Two is a much larger point.
Franks certainly has a big war chest, but if he is so beatable, why didn’t he put out mail like the examples you provide.
I have a hard time understanding what Frank Mautino’s mailers have to do with Jack, beyond the fact that his first name and Jack’s last name are analogues of one another.
He didn’t need to beat Steve Reick; Steve had no chance.
Had Franks spent any of that war chest, his percentage would certainly have been higher than both the incorrect number you reported and the actual percentage of the vote that he received.
I just looked at the vote totals and see 58.53% for Franks and 41.45% for Reick.
The mailers were from Mautino’s opponent, not Mautino.