(The Center Square) – A slate of Democrats running in statewide races appeared at the Illinois State Fair on Wednesday during a campaign event, discussing what they could do to push back against President Donald Trump’s administration during a campaign event.
Retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., appeared alongside the slate of statewide officials and candidates.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul let other politicians, such as Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his running mate, Christian Mitchell, did most of the talking about the state suing the federal government repeatedly over a variety of different policies alongside other Dem AGs.
For candidates in some of the upcoming elections, such as Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton, who is seeking to replace Durbin in the Senate, their Republican opponents came more as an afterthought.
Stratton didn’t mention her GOP opponent, Don Tracy, in any speech, but told members of the media she’s taking the race seriously.
“My job is to tell people what I want to do as their next U.S. Senator and the record that I’m running on,” Stratton said. “He’ll be here tomorrow on Republican Day to tell everybody how he wants to, again, rubber stamp Donald Trump’s agenda.”
Stratton said she agreed to debate Tracy before the election.
Notably absent from the annual event, familiar faces of attendees didn’t show for Governor’s Day events, though their names did.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch didn’t appear, despite spending time at multiple campaign events in Springfield the night before.
Welch was followed by an advertising truck funded by the Illinois House Republican Organization, featuring videos calling into question his social media interactions with female House staffers.
Pritzker was asked again about Welch’s recent handling of complaints made against a former representative, accusing the lawmaker of sexual harassment.
“What we ought to be focusing on now is, how are we going to address the problem of sexual harassment,” Pritzker said. “We’ve got to make sure people know what the reporting mechanisms are, and that it’s dealt with in a timely fashion. I don’t think those things were happening under the system the House of Representatives had before.”
Though Welch was in Springfield on Tuesday, social media posts show Welch has been on a string of visits to schools in his district for their first days, including sending two of his own children back to school Wednesday.
Welch’s office and multiple communications staff haven’t answered The Center Square’s recent requests for statements or interviews with the speaker.
Also absent was Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who isn’t running for reelection in November in favor of her running in the Chicago mayor’s race early next year.
Mendoza’s nominated successor, state Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, spoke highly of the comptroller and said she’d work to continue the comptroller’s key initiatives, such as paying state bills on time.
Mendoza appeared at one event earlier in the day, the Illinois Democrat County Chairs brunch.
“I’m not running because I’m all in for Chicago,” Mendoza said. “And you deserve a candidate who’s going to be all in for the position they’re asking you to support them for, a statewide position.”
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias spoke at the campaign event, highlighting his bid for reelection, despite simultaneously also being a candidate for Chicago mayor.
Giannoulias didn’t discuss his bid for mayor, instead focusing solely on reelection efforts, despite subtle criticism from Mendoza earlier in the day, and less subtle previously, over his parallel bids.
