TGIF, Illinois. After the storms rolled through and the skies finally cleared, Mumford & Sons took the stage last night at Wrigley Field and played for nearly two hours, wrapping up around 12:35 a.m. Curfew rules may have been bent, but it was the kind of Chicago night that turned a weather delay into a badge of honor.
BIG NAMES: The first Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention since the death of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. brought some of the Democratic Party’s biggest names to the South Side on Thursday, offering a sign that the organization Jackson built still carries political weight.
In the room: Gov. JB Pritzker, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all appeared Thursday at Rainbow PUSH headquarters, echoing the days when Jesse Jackson regularly drew top Democrats to the organization he built into a civil rights and political powerhouse.
The challenge for Rainbow PUSH is not just preserving Jackson’s legacy but also sustaining the resources to continue its civil rights, social justice and voter engagement work in Illinois and across the country. Drawing national political figures is one way to demonstrate the organization remains a force in Democratic politics — and it can attract donors.
The notable lineup also reflected Rainbow PUSH’s political value. Both Pritzker and Buttigieg are widely viewed as potential Democratic presidential contenders, and both would welcome support from an organization with deep roots in Black communities and a long history of successful voter registration drives.
At the event, Pritzker praised Jackson’s legacy while also criticizing current efforts to “eviscerate the Voting Rights Act” and “wipe out Black representation” in Congress, a nod to the Supreme Court’s recent Callais decision that gutted the VRA.
Pritzker also condemned a recent cross-burning in Grant Park,saying “it speaks to what happens when the seeds of racism and fascism grow unchecked in our country.”
Earlier in the day, Clinton and Buttigieg joined new Rainbow PUSH CEO Yusef Jackson (a son of Rev. Jackson) for separate conversations centered on voting rights and what they see as growing threats to democratic participation.
“There is nothing more important than turning up and voting,” Clinton said, arguing that Democrats need to make voter turnout their top priority heading into the midterms.
Hometown girl: The former secretary of state, who grew up in suburban Park Ridge, said younger Americans often don’t fully appreciate how much work went into securing voting rights and political representation because many came of age assuming those victories were permanent.
“We had the Civil Rights Act. We did have the Voting Rights Act. We had a Supreme Court that was on the side of justice, not privilege and power,” Clinton said. “But the forces against that never disappeared.”
The Trump factor: Buttigieg argued Democrats should not simply focus on pushing back at President Donald Trump but on changing the political system itself.
“The day will come when this president leaves the political scene,” Buttigieg said. “We cannot just go back.”
He called for ending partisan gerrymandering, overhauling campaign finance laws, restructuring the Supreme Court and eliminating the Electoral College.
Buttigieg also mocked Republicans defending redistricting. “They say, ‘Oh, we’re not manipulating the map to disempower Black people, we’re manipulating the map to disempower Democrats who happen to be Black people,’” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg, like Pritzker, also called for a constitutional amendment on money in politics.
“If it takes an amendment, let’s do an amendment,” Buttigieg told the crowd. “This is after all a country that amended its Constitution, so that you could not go and get a beer,” he said, referring to prohibition and then to the amendment to that amendment that ended prohibition.
The convention continues today, featuring the Rev. Al Sharpton, who heads the National Action Network. He’ll present awards to Bishop-elect Michael Eaddy, Bishop Byron Brazier III and Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. Saturday’s programming includes Congressman Jonathan Jackson and former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (two other sons of the late Rev. Jackson), Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones and Judge Greg Mathis.
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THE LOUDEST APPLAUSE LINE of the day came during the Q&A with Buttigieg when he was asked whether the Bears should stay in Illinois or move to Indiana, where he once served as mayor of South Bend.
Buttigiege hedged: “Presidential politics is one thing,” he said. “Some issues are just too divisive.”
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— School board race: Jennifer Custer’s campaign for president of the Chicago School Board just got a boost in an endorsement from Ald. Debra Silverstein, who represents Chicago’s 50th Ward on the North Side.
— 2027 mayor’s race: Mayoral challenger Susana Mendoza vows to use financial acumen to tackle Chicago’s $36B pension crisis: “The outgoing state comptroller said the next mayor of Chicago needs to have a “come to Jesus moment” with union leaders and demand the concessions needed to prevent city employee pension funds from going bankrupt and dragging the city under,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.
— Illinois Dems blast GOP for inviting MAGA YouTuber: Republicans defend gala speaker Nick Shirley, calling him an independent journalist willing to go where mainstream media won’t, by the Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles.
— Disability rights advocates file lawsuit over Illinois’ ‘dangerous’ right-to-die law: “The advocates oppose the legislation, which takes effect in September. The suits, filed in Illinois and New York on Thursday, contend the act discriminates against people with disabilities,” by the Sun-Times’ Cindy Hernandez.
— Attorneys general from Illinois, 19 other states sue feds for ‘overreach’ in contract changes on DEI, by the Sun-Times’ Violet Miller
— Why Springfield sirens didn’t sound during the storm: ‘Everything escalated quickly,’ by State Journal Register’s Tom Ackerman
— Illinois bill and court ruling could help more people move on after wrongful convictions, by Injustice Watch’s Dan Hinkel
— After judge threatens hearing over grand jury misconduct, feds drop charges in case tied to Loretto exec: “The feds are not dropping charges against former Loretto Hospital chief financial officer Anosh Ahmed, who has been held in Serbia and is fighting extradition. Rather, they moved Thursday to drop charges against two co-defendants who once worked for him: Mahmood Sami Khan and Suhaib Ahmad Chaudhry,” by the Sun-Times’ Jon Seidel.
— RTA Chair Kirk Dillard sends veiled warning shot to Mayor Brandon Johnson over CTA leadership: “A letter sent to transit officials this week [warns] that any changes to executive leadership at the CTA now need the OK of Illinois’ brand-new transit governing body,” by the Tribune’s Talia Soglin.
— John Tillman, who founded the Illinois Policy Institute, is trying to raise $400M to build a museum for entrepreneurs, by Crain’s John Pletz
— Héctor Lozano, Chicago’s longest-tenured active sports anchor, primed to lead Telemundo’s World Cup coverage, by the Sun-Times’ Jeff Agrest
— Eric Smith, the Buffalo Grove village president, was sworn in Wednesday as president of the Northwest Municipal Conference, becoming the regional organization’s 68th president. The installation took place during the group’s annual gala at Independence Grove in Libertyville, where nearly 180 local officials and guests also recognized outgoing president and Libertyville Mayor Donna Johnson. Other new officers: Mount Prospect Mayor Paul Hoefert is vice president, Wilmette Village President Senta Plunkett is secretary and Barrington Village Manager Scott Anderson is treasurer. Their terms run through June 2027.
— Sara Crown Star, a venture capitalist and civic leader and the daughter of billionaire industrialist Lester Crown and Renée Crown, was honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday with the organization’s humanitarian award. In the room: state Sen. Laura Fine, Ald. Debra Silverstein, state Comptroller and mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza, lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Del Mar and Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Elad Strohmayer.
We asked about your life on the farm.
Robert Barry: “A right of passage growing up in Ottawa in the 1970s was corn detasseling in junior high.”
Lisa Brasch: “When I taught special education, my 9-year-old students — most from low-income city neighborhoods — took a field trip to a pumpkin patch. One activity was milking a cow. To my surprise, many of them had no idea milk came from animals. They thought it was made in a factory. Their reaction turned from curiosity to disgust when the cow picked that exact moment to relieve herself. For quite some time, the kids refused to drink milk.”
Cameron Davis, an MWRD commissioner: “In addition to serving at MWRD, I’m an organic blueberry farmer. The intersection between political systems, food systems and ecosystems is something that demands great stewardship.”
Charles Keller: “My maternal grandparents, immigrants from Germany, were sharecroppers outside of LaCross, Wisconsin.”
Dave Lundy: “Growing up, I spent weeks every summer working on a farm, bailing hay and shoveling poop, which I like to say prepared me for my career. Truth is it was a wonderful and formative experience for a kid from the North Shore to get that far afield (literally) from my then daily life.”
Ed Mazur: “My brohter-in-law was a goat farmer in Gays Mills, Wisconsin. He asked me to ‘muck the stalls.’ Had no idea — hard work and very smelly.”
Patricia Ann Watson: “My paternal grandparents in Arkansas and Missouri were independent Black farmers who grew sweet potatoes, melons and corn, raised livestock and owned stores — what a loss of generational wealth.”
John Williams: “I grew up on the same corn and soybean farm in northwest Ohio as my dad. He bought it with his dad in the late 1960s after his family had farmed it as renters for about 25 years. Dad passed 12 years ago, but we still have the farm in our family.”
Next question: What do you do to hold your tongue?
— CME’S Terry Duffy takes aim at crypto push: The Chicago CEO is hitting CFTC Chair Michael Selig over a newly approved crypto product that Duffy warns could threaten market stability, by POLITICO’s Declan Harty and Jasper Goodman.
— White House’s new push to block state AI laws could ride on kids’ safety, by POLITICO’s Brendan Bordelon, Cheyenne Haslett and Gabby Miller
— Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats will prioritize affordability. Not all of his members agree, by POLITICO’s Riley Rogerson
— Angela Manning-Hardimon is now chief financial officer of Cook County’s Bureau of Finance. She starts Monday. Manning-Hardimon most recently was senior director and CFO at Fermilab, where she helped oversee an $850 million operating budget.
— Caroline Kurzawa is now communications director for Congressman Brad Schneider. She was deputy communications director for Congressman John Larson of Connecticut.
THURSDAY’s ANSWER: World War II helped launch Illinois’ soybean industry because demand for soybean oil surged during the war, helping transform soybeans from a relatively minor crop into a major commodity.
TODAY’s QUESTION: How did George Halas come to own the Bears? Email [email protected]
Today: Ald. Emma Mitts, former state Rep. John D’Amico, former Chicago Board of Elections Commissioner William Kresse, retired Circuit Court Judge Nick Ford, congressional candidate Mayra Macías, Jasper Advisors co-CEO Julie Andreeff Jensen, former Women’s Business Development Center CEO Emilia DiMenco, Milwaukee Public Schools Deputy Chief of Staff to the Superintendent Mary Urbina-McCarthy, ABC Communications’ Candice Kuhnen and POLITICO Executive Editor and Executive VP Carrie Budoff Brown
Saturday: State Rep. Dave Severin, retired Cook County Judge John Curry Jr., Cook County Judge Patricia Spratt, chief of staff to Congresswoman Robin Kelly Matt McMurray, former state Rep. Luis Arroyo Sr., City Bureau Senior Manager of Grants Tyra Bosnic, former political candidate Scott Lee Cohen, Surus Illinois Senior Account Manager Chris “CJ” Gallo, securities trader Lee Blackwell, National Multifamily Housing Council PAC Manager Dylan Lopez and attorney Antonio Favela
Sunday: President Donald Trump, Teneo Senior Adviser Peter Thompson, Chicago mayoral adviser Beniamino Capellupo, Illinois Republican Party General Counsel John Fogarty, Illinois Policy Institute VP of Marketing and Comms Melanie Krakauer, career and job-search coach Celeste Wroblewski, Booth School of Business Comms Director Casey Reid, retired teacher Fred Klonsky and Society for the Rule of Law Comms Manager Julia Cohen
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