Free Republic

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich argued Gov. JB Pritzker got "outplayed and outflanked" as the Chicago Bears look to leave the state for Indiana. On Thursday, an Indiana House panel approved legislation to help finance a potential new NFL stadium for the team. The facility could be constructed near Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana, just across the state border. "The Indiana legislature did what it did, and it caught our governor asleep," Blagojevich said Saturday on "Fox & Friends Weekend." "Governor Pritzker really is guilty of gubernatorial malpractice, and this isn't the first time a major business is about to...

Juliana Stratton, the state’s lieutenant governor, is running her first TV ad beginning Friday, a spot featuring a series of people, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., all saying “F--- Trump.” “F--- Trump, vote Juliana,” one person after another says in the ad. At least half a dozen bleeps will be audible to obscure the salty language when it airs on TV, according to the campaign. For her part, Stratton does not take part in the cursing. “They said it, not me,” Stratton says as she appears on the screen.

All insurers in Illinois will now be required to cover induced abortions, thanks to a new bill signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker. This week, Pritzker held a signing ceremony for the Birth Equity Initiative, which mandates that Illinois-based health insurance, both private and Medicaid, must cover abortion with no co-pays or deductibles. The ceremony came on the heels of neighboring state Iowa’s law protecting nearly all preborn children from abortion taking effect, which lawmakers appeared to present as a reason for the bill’s passage. “Iowa is now the 22nd state in the nation to enact an extreme abortion ban solidifying...

A virtual rally in support of a proposed constitutional amendment to change Illinois' income tax system to a graduated-rate tax was sidetracked by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle delivering a lengthy pitch for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s reelection. The rally of high-profile Democrats, hosted by the proposed amendment’s chief supporter, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also featured Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton alleging amendment opponents were billionaires fighting against “communities of color and women and working-class families all across the state.” But pro-amendment discussion, dubbed the “fair tax” by supporters, gave way when Preckwinkle, the Cook County Democratic Party chair and a strong...

Hillary Clinton will headline her first public campaign event of the midterms on Monday, a Clinton spokesman tells CNN, when she attends a roundtable in Chicago with JB Pritzker, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Illinois. The event, which will include Juliana Stratton, the Democrats' lieutenant governor candidate, will be a roundtable with high school girls and focus on stressing the importance of leadership, according to the Pritzker campaign. end snip