Reporter for Shaw Media. Married to Carol, dual U.S.-Irish citizen, Rutgers graduate and 4th Degree knight.
La Salle, Ill.
Joined March 2010
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I’m with you! But as much as I love the Eternal City, it’s much easier finding a clean restroom in the U.S. of A.
This is called twisting the knife in: but can you blame him?
ELECTION RESULTS: With 10 (of 40) precincts in Grundy County reporting, Michelle Vescogni leads Melissa Olivero 5,110 to 4,494 for circuit judge. Realistically, Vescogni needs larger leads in Grundy and Bureau to offset a likely Olivero lead in La Salle County’s cities.
VERDICT: The Associated Press called the governor’s race for Pritzker at 7:02 p.m. Would a snowball in hell have lasted 2 minutes?
ELECTION DAY TURNOUT: Spring Valley was busy, with the four precincts at city hall reporting 143 at 9:30 a.m. "That is very good," said election judge Faith Whightsil. But then she noted the brisk rainfall: "Maybe that's why we just had a mad rush."
ELECTION DAY TURNOUT: The La Salle VFW was busier than expected. At 8:45 a.m., the four precincts reported 209 voters. La Salle precinct 9 was busiest with 75. Each reported "solid" to "above average" turnout. Are voters trying to beat the rain?
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: Tom Kammerer will be the next Bureau County sheriff. Democrat Mike Wittig has a solid base in Princeton and Hall Township, but Kammerer isn’t taking this one for granted and should spur enough voters to put this one away.
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: Bishop-Briel 2.0 is considered too close to call. GOP sources say state Rep. Murri Briel is vulnerable and won’t ride predecessor Lance Yednock’s popularity as she did in 2022. The Dems say Republican Liz Bishop hurt her own favorability by going negative.
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: La Salle County Clerk Jennifer Ebner is considered the most vulnerable among local incumbents. Democratic newcomer Charlie Mitchell is making headway, but the bigger issue is Ebner’s lackluster support among GOP leaders.
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: La Salle County Judge Shelly Vescogni likely returns to the bench. Democrat Melissa Olivero has worked tirelessly on the campaign trail, but can Olivero pull enough La Salle Co. votes to offset Vescogni’s support in heavily red Grundy and Bureau? Doubtful.
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: So, what are the picks? Lauren Underwood is projected to return to Congress while crushing perennial GOP candidate James Marter. Yes, the district was drawn to favor Dems; but Marter’s MAGA-leaning platform won’t win him independents.
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: (continued) Put another way, the Democrats all hate Trump but the Republicans all hate Gov. JB Pritzker and will come out to vote even though nobody (and I mean NOBODY) thinks Darren Bailey has a snowball’s chance in hell.
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: (continued) Yes, Trump’s polling is bad and zero-shot Darren Bailey might not provide a down-ballot spark. But outrage over property taxes has Illinois Republicans projected to turn out in higher numbers than in some tossup states. MORE
ELECTION DAY WHISPERS: I talked to prominent Democrats and Republicans about Election Day. The consensus is there won’t be any ‘blue wave’ in the Illinois Valley. MORE
ELECTION DAY TURNOUT: One reason early turnout is strong? Rain. The forecast calls for rain at mid-morning, extending until well past when the polls close.