OT- Congratulations to Bradley grad Mike Unes!

[Da Coach]

I just wanted to say congratulations and good luck to a good friend and a great guy Mike Unes. Mike was elected as the Illinois state representative for the 91st district tonight in a bit of an upset (not reallly if you know what a hard worker and good guy Mike is!).
Mike and his beautiful wife Natalie are grads of Bradley University (1996).

http://www.centralillinoisnewscenter.com/news/local/Rep-Mike-Unes-Wins-for-91st-District-106582758.html

Another BU grad, Aaron Schock was also re-elected tonight to the US House of Representatives. Congratulations to Aaron, too.

Another BU grad, Robin Kelly, lost her bid for Illinois State Treasurer (Alexi Giannoulias old office) to Republican Dan Rutherford (ISU grad!)

[it's boogie time]

Back in December when Mike Unes announced he was running, he just wanted to get Mike Smith's attention. He ended up getting his job.

[Air Petey]

Mike - Congrats!! You're a great guy and will do well in Springfield.

Congrats to all the winners last night. It was a great night!!

[theBUer]

I'm interested in who will be the next governor.

[BradleyJD]

I am interested in people who actually get results instead of blaming other people.

Unfortunately, there are very few people who do this.

[BU Firsty]

Unes/Smith

I think this situation is absurd. You have two guys spending nearly $2,000,000 in an election that has 31,000 votes cast.... $65 per vote! All this for a job that pays $70,000 annually...

I know they control a lot of money. That is the point - how do they not give in to special interests if they know they will need to accumulate $500,000 a year to get re-elected? We need both term limits and some sort of spending caps (not sure how to do that though...).

PS - Sorry Robin lost...she is absolutely a first class lady.

[Da Coach]

Dan Rutherford is a good guy, too (even if he is an ISU grad ).

Mike Unes never expected such high spending, but the Chicago Democratic party (Speaker of the House Mike Madigan) was intent on trying to preserve this district for Mike Smith because he votes to support Madigan almost 100% of the time, more than any other state legislator.
Madigan sent in about $1,000,000 to help Smith win. Unes was forced to spend money to defend himself from the many false charges leveled at him by Mike Smith.

Here was the PJ Star's endorsement of Mike Unes that outlines some of the desperate tricks that Smith used to try to win. That's why the PJ Star "strongly endorsed" Unes, despite Smith's 16 years of experience.

http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/ourview/x370073421/Illinois-state-House-91st-District-endorsement-Mike-Unes

[amckillip]

Dan Rutherford is a good guy, too (even if he is an ISU grad ).

Mike Unes never expected such high spending, but the Chicago Democratic party (Speaker of the House Mike Madigan) was intent on trying to preserve this district for Mike Smith because he votes to support Madigan almost 100% of the time, more than any other state legislator.
Madigan sent in about $1,000,000 to help Smith win. Unes was forced to spend money to defend himself from the many false charges leveled at him by Mike Smith.

Here was the PJ Star's endorsement of Mike Unes that outlines some of the desperate tricks that Smith used to try to win. That's why the PJ Star "strongly endorsed" Unes, despite Smith's 16 years of experience.
http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/ourvi...ment-Mike-Unes

I don't want to get into a political debate, but let's be clear, they both spent the same amount of money, both backed by their parties. You can speculate as to why said candidate got money, but that's all it is. Most democratic races, as well as republican, were given significant financial backing from their respective parties, and really there is nothing different between the two parties, other than one was sitting so you have ammo to speculate.

[BuBraves55]

I don't want to get into a political debate, but let's be clear, they both spent the same amount of money, both backed by their parties. You can speculate as to why said candidate got money, but that's all it is. Most democratic races, as well as republican, were given significant financial backing from their respective parties, and really there is nothing different between the two parties, other than one was sitting so you have ammo to speculate.

I think it'd be interesting to see an independent party run with the same financial backing that the two main ones get..
but congrats to Mike, good for him.

[wily coyote]

Congrats, Mike great win Tues night. My daughter is good friends with Mike. They were in the same class in HS. I've known Mike and his family for a long time and this is proof the system works. I'm not saying Big Mike is not a good person but, I think his sleazy ads did him in. Unes was an unknown and Big Mike had 16 years experience, just goes to show dirty politics may work in Chicago but not downstate. Great job Mike U.

[Da Coach]

I don't want to get into a political debate, but let's be clear, they both spent the same amount of money, both backed by their parties. You can speculate as to why said candidate got money, but that's all it is. Most democratic races, as well as republican, were given significant financial backing from their respective parties, and really there is nothing different between the two parties, other than one was sitting so you have ammo to speculate.

I am not sure how you can say this. They are required to report all their donations so we know where they come from, it's not speculation. Smith spent significantly more than Unes spent, and very little of Smith's money was donated by sources in central Illinois or people in the 91st district.

Read the Peoria Journal Star editorial- Over 90% of Mike Smith's money came from Mike Madigan and the Democratic Party and other sources in Chicago such as the big unions. Here it a quote directly from the editorial regarding Mike Smith-

92 percent of his nearly $1 million campaign warchest coming from outside central Illinois, meaning from the Democratic Party, meaning from Chicago.

For the record, though Unes did receive money from the Illinois Republical Party, the majority of Unes' money came from "individual contributions from within central Illinois".

[amckillip]

I am not sure how you can say this. They are required to report all their donations so we know where they come from, it's not speculation. Smith spent significantly more than Unes spent, and very little of Smith's money was donated by sources in central Illinois or people in the 91st district.

Read the Peoria Journal Star editorial- Over 90% of Mike Smith's money came from Mike Madigan and the Democratic Party and other sources in Chicago such as the big unions. Here it a quote directly from the editorial regarding Mike Smith-

92 percent of his nearly $1 million campaign warchest coming from outside central Illinois, meaning from the Democratic Party, meaning from Chicago.

For the record, though Unes did receive money from the Illinois Republical Party, the majority of Unes' money came from "individual contributions from within central Illinois".

I would love to see where the '92%' quote came from as the stats from the public record differs greatly, including from the article you just provided that has to meet higher journalistic standards than the editorial you previously provided. I can say that, because it's very easy to look at the actual records and see that more than $80,000 (or 8%) came from local donations, it's a no-brainer, but I'm guessing you're a republican and chose not to look at that (everyone does it, not just you by any means). I get very frustrated by the lack of factual support for claims made regarding $ figures in politics by both sides. A high school with basic algebra who took the time to think these things through could disprove most of the claims thrown out by politicians and even moreso the fear-mongers on television. It is so easy to go look at CBO estimates and see these people are completely fabricating #'s. So, my point being, if you think only $80,000 of his money came from outside of Chicago, go right ahead. I'll look at the numbers for myself.

[Da Coach]

I don't wish to prolong a political topic, so I'll leave it at this- take it up with the editorial staff of the Peoria Journal Star. They do their homework, and their figures came directly from the Mike Smith himself! and from other sources of public reporting. The candidates are sent an extensive questionnaire by the PJS to report all their views, as well as the sources of all their donations.
those numbers are based on Mike Smith reported himself.

This was the editorial from Sunday, Oct. 31st, just 2 days before the election-

http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/ourview/x370073421/Illinois-state-House-91st-District-endorsement-Mike-Unes

One of the knocks on Smith is that he isn't visible or accessible except at election time. He's had 16 years to make things better, 16 years to challenge leadership, yet those things have not happened, and likely won't with 92 percent of his nearly $1 million campaign warchest coming from outside central Illinois, meaning from the Democratic Party, meaning from Chicago.

Personally, I don't care where his funding came from, though obviously it does matter to some people. I am neither a republican nor democrat, but Mike Unes is a friend of mine and I did support him, but I was interested in this race because we needed a better representative than we have had, not solely because of Smith's extreme Chicago-influence and support. I live in the 91st Illinois district, and I cannot find a single person who can tell me what Mike Smith has ever done for our district in his 16 years in Springfield (as exemplified by all of Smiths ads which attacked Unes, but never stated a single accomplishment of Smith's). I also cannot find a single issue where he ever voted against the Chicago democratic machine, and I have never met or talked to a single person who has ever seen Smith out in public, except during an election period when he re-emerged briefly to campaign. I think the voters of the 91st district finally realized they simply needed better representation.

[dogsrus]

I'm just worried about the placing of any Senior in a Nursing home now though........

[Da Coach]

That's so wrong, it's just so wrong....