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As a scholar studying working-class and rural whites, I have written about this subtle but consequential divide. I have also lived it. I grew up working-class white, and I watched my truck driver father and teachers aide mother struggle mightily to stay on the settled side of the ledger. They worked to pay the bills, yes, but also because work set them apart from those in their community who were willing to accept public benefits. Work represented the moral high ground. Work was their religion.

We lived in an all-white corner of the Arkansas Ozarks, so my parents werent fretting about the Black folks Ronald Reagan would later denigrate with the welfare queen stereotype. They were talking about their lazy neighbors. They called these folks white trash, the worst slur they knew.

Though Vance described this divide in Hillbilly Elegy, readers unfamiliar with the white working class may not have picked up on it. Vances beloved grandparents, Mamaw and Papaw, represented hard work. Papaw had a steady job at the Armco steel millone good enough to draw him and hundreds like him out of the Appalachian Kentucky hills to Middletown, Ohio. Indeed, it was such a good job that Mamaw could stay home and take care of the kids. Though they were crass and unconventional by polite, mainstream standards, Papaw and Mamaws work ethic positioned them in the settled working class.

Vance (bottom) grew up in the shadow of the steel mills in Middletown, Ohio (top), where he became very familiar with two distinct groups of working-class whites. Academics refer to these groups as the settled working class and the hard living.|Al Behrman/AP Photo and Drew Angerer/Getty Images

From that perch, Vances grandparents harshly judged neighbors who didnt work. They even judged their daughter, Vances mother, Bev. Though shed trained for a good job, as a nurse, Bevs drug use and frequent churn of male partners led to the instability associated with the hard living. Indeed, at one point Vance uses that very term to refer to his mother: Moms behavior grew increasingly erratic, Vance writes. She was more roommate than parent, and of the three of us Mom, [my sister], and me Mom was the roommate most prone to hard living as she partied and stayed out til the wee hours of the morning.

Given the childhood trauma associated with his mothers behavior, its perhaps not surprising that Vance came to emulate his grandparents judgmental stance toward the hard living. This is illustrated by his condemnation of shirking co-workers at a warehouse job and those who used food stamps (SNAP) to pay for the groceries he bagged as a teenager. (It seems that Vance also inherited his familys pugilistic tendencies, which have come in handy with his conversion to Trumpism; words like scumbag and idiot, which readers of Hillbilly Elegy can easily imagine coming out of Mamaws mouth, have become staples of Vances campaign vocabulary).

Ultimately, of course, Vance traveled far from his modest roots to graduate from Yale Law School and become a venture capitalist. For this success, he credited the hard work and boot-strapping mentality he learned from his grandparents. What Vance didnt credit not explicitly, anyway were the structural forces that benefitted him and his grandparents. For Vance, these included an undergraduate degree from an excellent public university (Ohio State) and opportunities in the military. For his grandparents, these included that good union job at Armco Steeleven as Papaw complained about the union. (A significant faction of workers believe that hard-working people like themselves dont need unions, that unions simply protect slackers from hard work. My own fathers pet peeve was unionized loading dock employees whose generous breaks delayed getting his truck loaded or unloaded and thus back on the road earning money. The naming of right-to-work laws plays to this mindset.)

Like Vance, settled white workers tend to see themselves living a version of the American dream grounded primarily if not entirely in their own agency. They believe they can survive, even thrive, if they just work hard enough. And some of them are doing just that. Because they lean into the grit of the individual, they tend to downplay structural obstacles to their quest to make a living, e.g., poor schools and even crummy job markets, just as they downplay structural benefits. They also discount white privilege because giving skin color credit for what they have achieved devalues the significance of their work. This mindset is also the reason that when Obama said in 2012, if youve got a business, you didnt build that, the remark landed so badly among the settled working class. Theyre not accustomed to sharing credit for what they have perhaps especially when they dont have much.

Vance and my parents are mere anecdotes, yes, but scholars have documented the phenomenon they represent. Kathryn Edin of Princeton University, Jennifer Sherman of Washington State University and Monica Prasad of Northwestern University have studied folks like them in both urban and rural locales. What settled and hard living express as cultural phenomena, Edin and colleagues express quantitatively as the second-lowest income quintile dissociating from the bottom quintile the very place from whence many had climbed. Edin described that disassociation as a virulent social distancing suddenly, youre a worker and anyone who is not a worker is a bad person.

Journalists have also brought us illustrations of the settled working class. Alec MacGillis did so in a 2015 New York Times essay, introducing us to Pamela Dougherty of Marshalltown, Iowa, a staunch opponent of safety net programs. As a teenaged mother who divorced young, Pamelas own journey had been rocky, and she had benefitted from taxpayer-funded tuition breaks at community college to become a nurse. But at the dialysis center where Pamela worked and where Medicare covered everyones treatment regardless of age, she noticed that very few patients had regular jobs. Pamela resented this. She thought the patients should have hoops to jump through to get the treatment, just as shed had to keep up her grades when she was getting assistance with college. She thought they should have some skin in the game.

Atul Gawande brought us a similar tale in a 2017 New Yorker article about whether health care should be a right. He introduced us to Monna, a librarian earning $16.50 an hour in Athens, Ohio. After taxes and health insurance premiums were deducted, Monna was taking home less than $1,000 a month, and her health insurance annual deductible was a whopping $3,000. It was her retired husbands pension, military benefits, and Medicare all benefits considered earned, not handouts that kept them afloat. In spite of this struggle, Monna didnt support health care as a right because it was another way of undermining responsibility. Noting that she could quit her job and get Medicaid for free like some of her neighbors were doing, Monna explained that she was old school and not really good at accepting anything I dont work for.

Exit polls from 2016 also reflect this division, with the lowest-income voters supporting Clintonand therefore safety-net programs associated with Democratsby the greatest margin, 53 percent to 41 percent over Trump. It was folks earning $50,000 to $99,000, those who depending on region and family size might be considered settled working class, who preferred Trump by the greatest margin of all income brackets 50 percent to 46 percent.

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There Is a Major Rift Dividing the White Working Class And Democrats Are Clueless - POLITICO

FAIRVIEW PARK -- In 1989, the national Democratic Party was coming off three straight blowout presidential election losses. In response, the Progressive Policy Institute published a detailed paper that identified the Partys central problem its leaders practiced the politics of evasion.

In doing so, they refused to acknowledge any problems with the partys appeal while relying on mythical cures like mobilizing imaginary non-voters or advocating for even more liberal positions.

Today, Ohio Democrats face a situation that is even more dire than the one faced by national Democrats in 1989.

Since 2014, only one person listed on the statewide ballot as a Democrat has won. In the other 13 statewide races, the Republican candidate won, and often by significant margins. Down-ballot, Democrats have fared no better as Republican supermajorities dominate the General Assembly.

This decade of cascading losses must force Ohio Democrats to face the stark reality: That most Ohioans have come to see the party as unresponsive to their economic needs, hostile to their cultural mores, and indifferent to the rise of crime in their communities.

But too many Democratic leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality.

Instead, they rely on trite slogans of avoidance like Ohio is not a red state, it is a gerrymandered state, Democrats win if more people vote, and Democrats will win if they act like Democrats. In short, too many Ohio Democrats today are practicing the same politics of evasion that national Democrats practiced in 1989.

Rick Raley is political director of the Cuyahoga County Young Democrats, treasurer of the Fairview Park Democratic Club, and a member of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Central Committee.

Data shows that Ohio Democrats consistently lose statewide elections because they have lost the support of middle-class Ohioans and lost ground with moderate voters.

Since 2016, statewide Democrats have only averaged 44% support from voters with yearly incomes between $50,000 and $100,000. And, losing statewide candidates in that timeframe have only averaged 54% support from moderate voters, which is far short of the 60% threshold that Ohio Democrats need to win to be competitive.

Ohio Democrats cannot stick their heads in the sand when confronted with this data. Increased turnout will not save the party. After all, the 2020 election featured the highest turnout in decades, and President Biden still lost by eight points.

Creating a more liberal electorate is a fantasy, too. Since 2000, the Ohio electorate has been remarkably consistent with only about 20% of voters identifying as liberal. The only thing that Ohio Democrats can do to achieve a governing majority is to increase their support among moderate and middle-class voters.

By relying on cliched myths and failing to appeal to the voters who decide elections, Ohio Democrats have ceded the state to extremist Republican ideas like massive giveaways to the powerful, a gun in every classroom, and a bureaucrat in every doctors office.

Now is the time for Ohio Democrats to correct course by reaching out to moderate and middle-class Ohioans who recoil from those ideas. They must communicate that the Partys policies are laser-focused on rewarding those who work hard and play by the rules. They must meet voters where they are while remaining dedicated to non-discrimination.

And, they must commit to fighting both the crime in our streets and the underlying causes of that crime.

Today, Ohio Democrats face a choice: Do they want to sit in an echo chamber as the state descends further into right-wing extremism or do they want to do what it takes to win a governing majority? The choice must be easy because too much is at stake for Ohio Democrats to remain sidelined.

When national Democrats cast aside the politics of evasion in 1992, the Party won its first presidential election in 16 years and President Clinton was the first Democratic president re-elected in 50 years. Doing the same thing here in Ohio in 2022 will produce the durable governing majority that Ohio Democrats need to make the state a place of equal opportunity for all, not special privilege for a few.

Rick Raley is political director of the Cuyahoga County Young Democrats, treasurer of the Fairview Park Democratic Club, and a member of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Central Committee.

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Ohio Democrats need to abandon the politics of evasion if they expect to win elections : Rick Raley - cleveland.com

Democratic darlings Stacey Abrams and Sen. Raphael Warnock have recently released a slate of policy proposals on energy, crime, and abortion rights in an effort to energize their party's base and turn the political conversation away from President Joe Biden's dismal approval ratings and toward their plan for Georgians as they head into tough midterm matchups.

Abrams, the gubernatorial candidate running against incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in a rematch of 2018, announced a multipronged plan on Thursday that includes pay raises for law enforcement officers and public school teachers if she wins. She also goes all-in on gun control, making it a central focus in her race as she seeks to turn crime into a liability for Kemp.

Abrams and Warnock, an at-risk Democrat running against former Georgia football standout Herschel Walker, have also stressed their support for codifying abortion rights ahead of the Supreme Court's decision on Roe v. Wade.

The two Georgia candidates are not relying on Biden to pump up the electorate but instead are hoping their take on divisive issues will be enough to get voters to the polls.

PRO-TRUMP REPUBLICANS ARE ON THE RISE, EVEN AS HIS ENDORSEES FALL IN PRIMARIES

"Abrams and Warnock know they're extremely vulnerable given Biden's low approval ratings," Karen Owen, a University of West Georgia political scientist, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "And they know they need to shift to bread-and-butter kitchen table issues like energy prices."

In recent days, Warnock has even gone out of his way to dodge direct questions about wanting Biden on the campaign trail.

"I know that the pundits are focused on the campaign," he said. "I really am focused on serving the people of Georgia."

The president's underwhelming performance has led to uncomfortable conversations about how much to lean on him as Democrats try to hold on to power. The Senate is currently deadlocked at 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris's tiebreaking vote giving Democrats the majority. In the House, Republicans need to net only five seats in the midterm elections to win back the majority they lost in 2018.

In swing states such as Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire, candidates have resorted to running against Washington as a whole even though their party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House.

"I'm running for reelection because you deserve a senator who will cut through the gridlock and dysfunction in Washington and deliver real results for your family," Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who has been in Congress for nearly six years, wrote on her website. "I'll work with anyone Democrats, Republicans, and independents to help Nevada's families succeed."

Masto's strategy is born out of necessity, as frustration over soaring gas prices and inflation deepens and confidence in Biden tanks.

A Gallup poll found that the mood of the nation is the worst it has been in any midterm election since 1974, the year the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Even though it's normal for a president's party to lose seats in the midterm elections, Democrats could be looking at larger than usual losses unless Biden can turn public opinion around.

Biden has burned through almost all of the political capital he had when he was sworn into office last year. His popularity has taken a nosedive amid his struggles to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring gas prices, and multiple foreign crises. His public approval rating fell for a fourth straight week to 36%, matching its lowest level seen in May, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released Thursday. His overall approval rating has stayed below 50% since August.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told the Washington Post his organization is spending big to "make sure voters know that Senate Democrats have supported Joe Biden and his inflation-inducing, gas price-raising, border crisis-creating agenda almost 100% of the time."

Biden's popularity problems are threatening to overturn gains in state legislatures.

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In Arizona, Democrats have all but given up hope that they will be able to flip the state House, which had been a major target for party strategists.

"We have to be cognizant and realistic about where and how we can win," Chad Campbell, a former state lawmaker and Democratic consultant, told the New York Times. He added that the goal now is to contain the bleeding and look ahead to 2024.

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At-risk Democrats distance themselves from Biden ahead of midterm elections - Washington Examiner

A trio of progressive groups on Thursday endorsed a primary challenger to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), escalating a campaign of retribution against the man in charge of salvaging House Democrats' majority in November.

Why it matters: Progressives have waged a nationwide effort to take out moderate and establishment incumbents, and Maloney would likely be their highest-profile ouster of the cycle.

Driving the news: On Thursday, a trio of progressive groups the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, New York Progressive Action Network and Democracy for America endorsed state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in her bid against Maloney.

The backdrop: Maloney stoked anger from the left by running in a redrawn district mostly represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), a progressive freshman who is now running for an open seat in New York City miles away from his home turf.

But, but, but: There are some key differences between Maloney and other progressive targets.

What they're saying: Maloney's allies argue that support from outside left-wing groups will do little to help Biaggi build support for a seat in which she's a relative newcomer.

What to watch for: Maloney has considerable structural advantages, including endorsements from local party leaders and unions, but recent history suggests Biaggi has a fighting chance.

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Progressives turn up the heat on House Democrats' campaign chair - Axios

CHICAGO For the first time in nearly four decades, Illinois House Democrats are seeking to defend their dominance in Springfield without the chief architect of their supermajority, indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan, at the helm of their campaign operation.

As new House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch and his members try to turn the page on the Madigan era without losing ground to the Republicans, their first test will be defending incumbents who are facing tough competition in the June 28 Democratic primary.

The challenge for Welch and the House Democrats, who currently outnumber Republicans 73-45, will be to build on past successes while trying to jettison the baggage of connections to the former speaker, who pleaded not guilty after being charged with racketeering and bribery in a 22-count federal indictment this spring.

All 118 seats in the House and all 59 in the Senate are up for election this year under new district boundaries drawn to maximize the Democrats advantage. Of the 50 contested primary races this summer, perhaps no contest better exemplifies the political Catch-22 facing the majority party than state Rep. Mike Zalewskis bid for an eighth full term.

The moderate from Riverside is facing a challenge in the near-west suburban 21st House District from a progressive opponent Abdelnasser Rashid, a technology consultant for the Amalgamated Transit Union who is seeking to make Zalewskis deep ties to Madigan the central theme of the race.

Rashid, 32, of Justice, who lives just outside the district, is making his third run for public office after failed bids for the Cook County Board in 2018 and the Board of Review in 2020.

Zalewski, a 43-year-old attorney, was appointed to fill a vacant seat in 2008 by a group of local Democratic leaders that included Madigan and Zalewskis father, then-23rd Ward Ald. Michael Zalewski. He hasnt faced a primary or general election opponent since 2010 as he rose to become chairman of the powerful House Revenue and Finance Committee and, more recently, a member of Welchs budget negotiating team.

Zalewskis father is a key figure in the federal case against Madigan, with prosecutors alleging the former alderman was among those whom Commonwealth Edison paid for lobbying in an effort to curry favor with the longtime speaker. The elder Zalewski, whose home was raided by federal agents in 2019, has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Those connections created an opportunity for Rashid, backed by progressives including former Cook County Clerk David Orr, to challenge the longtime incumbent, who he excoriated as part of the corrupt Madigan machine.

This corruption is a family affair, Rashid said.

Rep. Zalewski has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and the Tribune has previously reported that he testified before a federal grand jury in the bribery case against former Rep. Luis Arroyo, who last month was sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

But Rashid has poked at the issue by noting Zalewskis campaign fund has paid out more than $130,000 in legal fees in the past three years.

Without specifying what the legal fees were for, Zalewski noted that politicians can use campaign funds for a variety of reasons that include document review and advice on election law and ethical issues.

I dont think anyone should play a guilt-by-association card in a campaign, especially in a Democratic primary, Zalewski said, though he has attacked Rashid over campaign contributions from a former Republican donor who has a more recent track record of backing Democrats.

With abortion thrust into the spotlight by an expected U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Zalewski has had to defend his record on reproductive health issues due to his vote last year against legislation to repeal the states parental notification requirement for minors seeking to terminate a pregnancy.

Rashid has used the vote to paint Zalewski as an opponent of reproductive rights, though the lawmaker points to his long record of supporting other key priorities for abortion rights advocates, including the 2019 legislation that established the procedure as a fundamental right under state law.

Zalewski is backed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has made staunch support for reproductive health care a central theme of his own reelection campaign and who has contributed $55,000 to the legislators campaign.

Both candidates say pocketbook issues are top of mind for voters in light of soaring inflation and gas prices, with Zalewski noting his role in shepherding a $1.8 billion tax relief plan another central theme of Pritzkers campaign through the House this spring. Rashid, like other critics of the plan, notes that the relief is largely temporary.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Matthew Schultz of Brookfield in the Nov. 8 general election.

The Madigan factor also weighs heavily in Addison Democratic Rep. Kathleen Willis bid for a sixth term representing the 77th House District, which spans portions of west suburban Cook and DuPage counties.

Willis, 60, became majority conference chair under Madigan and regularly used her campaign fund to help candidates in key races for House Democrats.

But Willis was among the 19 House Democrats who came together in January 2021 to oppose Madigans reelection as speaker. The lone member of House leadership to take that stand, Willis also briefly put herself into consideration to be the next speaker.

Nonetheless, her long-standing relationship with Madigan has helped inspire a challenge from Triton College trustee Norma Hernandez, 31, who has the backing of progressive U.S. Rep. Jesus Chuy Garcia.

I honestly think that the reason I have a primary is because of that, Willis said. And I tell the people in my district Im asking for their support to prove that I did the right thing by going against Madigan.

While questions about her Madigan connections have come up as she campaigns, Willis said constituents are more concerned about the economy and public safety.

Willis, who sponsored a 2019 state law that allows courts to order guns be taken away from those who pose an immediate and present danger to themselves or others, said theres more work to do on gun safety issues, such as raising the legal age to buy semi-automatic weapons.

Hernandez, who won her seat on the Triton board last year, said she thinks the district and its large Latino population is ready for more progressive representation in Springfield.

Theres a lot of opportunity for us to really think about how were designing and creating communities for them to continue thriving in this area, said Hernandez, a community development planner at the University of Illinois at Chicagos Great Cities Institute.

Anthony Airdo of Melrose Park is running unopposed on the Republican side.

In the North Side and north suburban 16th House District, Garcia has thrown his support behind a challenger to first-term state Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback of Skokie.

Kevin Olickal, a 29-year-old-law school student, is back for another try after losing to Stoneback, 52, by more than 3,000 votes when he finished last in a three-way primary in 2020.

While she has the backing of Welch and some fellow House members, Stoneback been criticized by Olickals supporters for giving contract work to a former Evanston human resources official who had been disciplined for allegedly mishandling sexual misconduct complaints from teenage girls who worked at the citys beaches. That story was reported by WBEZ-FM.

In a statement issued via social media, Stoneback said shes been the victim of deceptive, sensationalized attacks and has a strong record fighting for women.

Shes also being challenged for sitting out a vote on legislation that made submitting fingerprints optional for state firearm owners identification card applicants. Stoneback, whos been a staunch gun control advocate, had backed an initial House proposal that would have made the fingerprinting mandatory.

Olickal, whose backers also include the areas state senator, Democrat Ram Villivalam, and the Gun Violence Prevention PAC, said Stoneback refused to come to the table because she wasnt getting 100% of what she personally wanted on the legislation.

Stoneback did not respond to requests for comment.

The winner will face Republican Vince Romano of Skokie in November.

Despite concerns about the perception of corruption, House Democrats are backing an incumbent who is under federal criminal investigation.

Rep. Thaddeus Jones, who also is Calumet Citys mayor, is being challenged in the 29th House District by Calumet City Ald. Monet Wilson, who last year became the first Black woman elected to the south suburbs City Council. There is no Republican candidate for the seat.

The Tribune reported in April that a federal grand jury subpoena was issued in January to the state Board of Elections on three campaign funds controlled by Jones, 51, who has been a House member since 2011.

In recent days, the chief campaign fund for House Democrats has given Jones campaign close to $79,000 for mailings, state records show. Whats more, Welchs campaign fund has given Jones close to $25,000 for mailings, records show.

Jones campaign reported having just over $52,000 in its account through the first quarter of 2022.

Jones declined to comment for this story.

Democrats for the Illinois House supports incumbent candidates, and Rep. Jones is an incumbent candidate, said TaQuoya McConnico, a spokeswoman for the House Democrats campaign.

On Tuesday, Welch announced a slate of endorsements that includes three candidates running in contested primaries with no Democratic incumbent.

Wilson, 45, who was an office administrator for the Illinois Department of Corrections, said in an interview that it is time to get rid of career politicians.

Aside from the federal scrutiny, Wilson takes issue with Jones support for a sweeping criminal justice overhaul pushed by the Legislative Black Caucus and signed into law by Pritzker last year. She said there should have been more bipartisan discussion about the provision to eliminate cash bail in 2023, and about policies related to electronic monitoring.

Theres good and bad in everything in life, Wilson said. But for the most part, the men and women who sacrifice their lives on a daily basis to keep communities safe, we have to start listening to them.

She said she supports common sense good steps in the law, such as the requirement for all officers in Illinois to use body cameras by 2025.

The controversial criminal justice law also is playing a pivotal role in a hotly contested Democratic primary in the Northwest Side and northwest suburban 10th Senate District.

Sen. Robert Martwick, 56, has represented the area since being appointed to a vacant seat in 2019, moving over from the House, where hed represented a portion of the same territory since 2013.

The district is home to many Chicago police officers, firefighters and other public employees, and Martwick has become accustomed to challenges, both in primaries and general elections, from more conservative candidates.

This year, hes a top target for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police largely because of his vote for the criminal justice legislation. His opponent is Erin Jones, 45, a Chicago police officer whose husband is a city firefighter.

She declined to comment, but FOP President John Catanzara, whose union has given $55,000 to Jones campaign, said Rob Martwick has proven to be anti-law enforcement, citing his support of the criminal justice legislation.

Martwick said he backed the bill not only because he supports police reform but also because the measure preserves collective bargaining rights for police.

You cant do something as monumental as that and make everybody happy, Martwick said. Was it perfect? No. But weve had intense negotiation sessions and trailer bills that cleaned up all of the problems that have been identified with it.

While Jones has requested a Democratic Party ballot in at least three past primary elections, she was also aligned with the Northwest Side GOP Club, a Republican organization that operates in Chicagos 41st Ward and its surrounding areas.

Matt Podgorski, who heads the GOP Club, said Jones was active with the organization only for certain issues, including its opposition to Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx.

Martwick has the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2. He helped pass key legislation supported by each union, including the creation of an elected school board for Chicago Public Schools.

There is no Republican candidate in the primary.

Farther north, the retirement of Grayslake Sen. Melinda Bush has set up a contested Democratic primary race for Lake Countys 31st Senate District seat.

The race pits five-term Rep. Sam Yingling of Grayslake against former one-term Rep. Mary Edly-Allen of Libertyville, who lost her 2020 reelection bid to Republican Chris Bos by 1,149 votes.

Despite Yinglings longer tenure in Springfield, Edly-Allen, 61, has the backing of both Bush and Pritzker, who contributed $55,000 from his campaign fund.

In a statement, Pritzker called Edly-Allen a fierce advocate for womens reproductive rights and critical investments in mental health care, child care and violence prevention programs that strengthen public safety.

Yingling, 41, didnt endear himself to Pritzker when he spoke publicly against the governors graduated-rate income tax proposal in 2019. He ended up voting in favor of putting the question to voters after Pritzker agreed to the creation of a legislative task force to make recommendations for alleviating the states high property tax burden.

The task force devolved into partisan squabbling in early 2020 and never released final recommendations, and voters overwhelmingly rejected the graduated income tax at the polls that fall.

Yingling said that with Madigan gone, he thinks voters may be ready to revisit the issue of how to overhaul the states tax system, which relies heavily on real estate taxes to fund schools.

Yingling, who was among the 19 Democrats who opposed Madigans reelection as speaker last year, said constituents hes spoken with while campaigning have been incredibly appreciative of that effort.

Edly-Allen, who teaches English as a second language, also publicly opposed another term for Madigan, though losing her reelection bid meant she didnt get a vote in the selection process of a new speaker.

Edly-Allen said having the support of the districts outgoing senator is important to Democratic primary voters because Bush is a workhorse and people know her as a workhorse.

The winner will face Republican Adam Solano of Third Lake in the fall.

The intraparty squabbles arent limited to the majority Democrats.

Rep. David Welter of Morris, an assistant GOP leader running for a fourth full term, is being challenged by Jed Davis of Newark, a civil engineer who also is board president of a Christian school that has fought Pritzkers pandemic orders. Theyre running in the 75th House District, which stretches from exurban Oswego and Yorkville to LaSalle County.

Davis has criticized Welter for votes in which hes sided with Democrats, including the measures in 2019 that legalized recreational marijuana and doubled the gas tax to pay for road projects, and an energy and climate package last year that supporters say preserved jobs at nuclear power plants in Welters current district.

Davis campaign is largely funded through a political fund run by the caucuss most conservative faction, allies of Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, whos running in the Republican primary for governor. Davis also has tried to appeal to the partys conservative base by highlighting Welters ties to local U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump.

Im going to cast conservative votes in Springfield, without question, Davis said.

Welter, whose better-funded campaign has the support of party leaders and labor unions, among others, said its disheartening to see a very small group within my caucus that I would say are on the fringes of our party trying to get involved in another members primary.

There is no Democratic candidate on the districts primary ballot.

Everyones grandparents had one of Betty Crockers cookbooks on the shelf, and after watching this @timecapsulecafe video youll understand why. Angel sherbet should be the pretty pastel dessert we bring back this summer.

TikTok creator @paige.berndt pulled this recipe from the Arthur United Methodist Church Cookbook. The ham and broccoli casserole is kid-friendly but once you remember how satisfying a casserole can be you might want to keep it for yourself.

This super 60s recipe came from and old cookbook gifted to @mrsshoemaker by her grandmother. This super nostalgic recipe is worth passing on to the next generation.

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Illinois House Democrats try to maintain their edge over GOP without Madigan - The Pantagraph